U.S. government cuts UN funding

The UN Cuts Are a Step in the Right Direction - Foundation for Economic Education - Working for a free and prosperous world - Daniel J. Mitchell:

December 28, 2017 - "According to the Associated Press, steps are being taken to reduce the fiscal burden of the United Nations.

The U.S. government says it has negotiated a significant cut in the United Nations budget. The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said on Sunday that the U.N.’s 2018-2019 budge would be slashed by over $285 million. The mission said reductions would also be made to the U.N.’s management and support functions. The announcement didn’t make clear the entire amount of the budget or specify what effect the cut would have on the U.S. contribution. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said that the 'inefficiency and overspending' of the organization is well-known, and she would not let 'the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of.'

"By the way, 'nicked' or 'trimmed' would be more accurate than 'slashed.' Nonetheless, at least it’s a small step in the right direction.

"And the recent U.N. vote against the U.S. may lead to additional budgetary savings, as explained in the Wall Street Journal by John Bolton, a former ambassador from the United States to that bureaucracy.

…the U.N. showed its true colors with a 128-9 vote condemning President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.… Despite decades of U.N. 'reform' efforts, little or nothing in its culture or effectiveness has changed  … largely because most U.N. budgets are financed through effectively mandatory contributions.... The U.S. should reject this international taxation regime and move instead to voluntary contributions. This means paying only for what the country wants—and expecting to get what it pays for. Agencies failing to deliver will see their budgets cut, modestly or substantially. Perhaps America will depart some organizations entirely.

"Bolton has some targets in mind.

…earlier this year the U.N. dispatched a special rapporteur to investigate poverty in the U.S.? American taxpayers effectively paid a progressive professor to lecture them about how evil their country is. The U.N.’s five regional economic and social councils, which have no concrete accomplishments, don’t deserve American funding either....Next come vast swaths of U.N. bureaucracy. Most of these budgets could be slashed with little or no real-world impact.... 

"My view, for what it’s worth, is that the United Nations is better (less worse?) than the OECD or IMF. But that’s mostly because it doesn’t have much power. When it does try to intervene in policy (global warming and gun control, for instance, as well as the Internet, the War on Drugs, monetary policy, and taxpayer-financed birth control), the U.N. inevitably urges more power and control for government."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/the-un-cuts-are-a-step-in-the-right-direction/
'via Blog this'