serves as editor of the Accuracy in Media (AIM)
Report in Washington, DC.
With his record of defending American
borders and national Sovereignty in ruins, President Bush has
decided to conclude his second term in office by making common cause
with those who think America’s future lies in appeasing the
“international community.” He apparently wants his “legacy” to be
that he cared for the rest of the world. Watch your wallets—and your
freedom.
The latest phase of this “legacy building” campaign began with a
plea on Wednesday for more money to fight AIDS. This provided a
photo opportunity for the President to pose with a black child.
So far, about $200 billion has been
spent by the federal government on AIDS, without any cure or vaccine
being developed. But it looks “compassionate” to throw money at the
problem. Tens of billions are now being spent, some of it provided
by agreements brokered through Bill Clinton’s foundation, to fight
AIDS with potentially toxic and lethal drugs.
On the eve of the G-8 meeting of major industrialized nations in
Germany, Bush gave a global warming speech on Thursday at an event
hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign. This is a coalition
of business and non-government organizations that includes:
the
pro-world government Citizens for Global Solutions
Physicians for
Social Responsibility
Ted Turner’s U.N. Foundation
Planned
Parenthood
the American Friends Service Committee
the Alliance for
a Global Community
the United Nations Association
It looks like Bush is abandoning what’s left of his conservative
base before they abandon him.
Bush told the group,
“This is a fine organization and it’s an
important organization. It’s rallying businesses and
non-governmental organizations and faith-based and community and
civic organizations across our country to advance a noble cause,
ensuring that the United States leads the world in spreading hope
and opportunity.”
Another part of this “legacy building” is his decision to seek
ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),
a dangerous document that transfers control of the oceans and much
of the land area of the world as well to a U.N. bureaucracy. It
finances its activities with a global tax. The pact is endorsed by
some of the same groups and individuals involved in the Global
Leadership Campaign.
UNCLOS charges American corporations a “fee” for exploiting ocean
resources for the benefit of America and threatens these same
corporations with global climate change litigation before an
international court if they “pollute” the oceans from anywhere on
the face of the earth.
U.S. Navy support for UNCLOS masks the sharp decline in U.S. Naval
forces. The number of U.S. ships has declined under Bush to 276,
from a high of 594 under President Reagan, who rejected UNCLOS. The
Bush budget projects their further decline to 210. The American
Shipbuilding Association says that, if present trends continue, the
U.S. Naval Fleet will decline to 180 ships by 2024.
Those who haven’t been paying attention think that Bush’s policy for
the last six years has been “unilateralist” and anti-U.N. He did
keep us out of the global warming and International Criminal Court
treaties. He also withdrew the U.S. from the ABM treaty so the
nation could pursue national missile defense. But generally
speaking, he has been pouring huge amounts of money into the U.N.
and associated institutions. Office of Management and Budget figures
show that U.S. financial contributions to the U.N. System under Bush
have gone from $3.1 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $5.3 billion in
fiscal year 2005.
The office of Senator Tom Coburn, who requested and released the
information, commented in a press release that,
“According to the
report, in 2005, the United States gave $5.3 billion to the U.N—a
30% increase from 2004 funding level of $4.1 billion. Almost every
Department of the U.S. government plus several independent agencies
fund the U.N. Although the U.N. does not track this information or
at least does not make such information public, most experts say the
total U.N. budget is between $15-20 billion. The U.S. funded portion
is between 25% and 30%.”
But that’s not good enough for the Global Leadership Campaign. It
thinks too little has been spent on international affairs.
In
his speech to the group, Bush
seemed to be proposing another and much-tougher global warming
treaty.
“By the end of next year, America and other nations will set
a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gases,” he said. “To
help develop this goal, the United States will convene a series of
meetings of nations that produce most greenhouse gas emissions,
including nations with rapidly growing economies like India and
China.”
He said each nation would develop a “national target” of
reducing greenhouse gases.
With this speech, Bush has capitulated to the alarmists who blame
man-made greenhouse gases for perceived changes in climate.
In the past, at the G-8 meetings, the Bush Administration has been
opposed to measures by France and Britain to endorse global taxation
schemes. One of them, an international tax on airline travel, was
sold as a “solidarity contribution” to fight AIDS. A new
bureaucracy, UNITAID, has been created to receive and spend the
global tax revenue.
The U.N. has been pushing a global tax to fight global warming that
amounts to a 35-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax hike.
This time, it can be anticipated that Bush Administration opposition
to global taxes will completely collapse. After all, the White House
has already endorsed a global tax scheme through the Law of the Sea
Treaty.
All of this opens the door for Congress to promote and pass a carbon
tax of some kind, perhaps as part of the new global warming treaty
that Bush apparently envisions. It will be difficult for Bush to
resist such a tax, in light of his recent rhetoric on the subject.
