Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Unfrigg'nbelieveable...
My buddy Kenny is in the hospital; he suffered a mild heart attack.
The guy is 44 years old!
Anyway... he's gonna be fine. He had symptoms over the past few days and thank God his wife made him go to "Urgent Care" center to get checked out and they sent him straight to the hospital where it was determined that he's had a couple heart "episodes" and yes... a mild heart attack.
On the bright side... after this Kenny's gonna be a non-smoker! Colleen too no doubt!
Hopefully a stent or two... some medication... a bit of "lifestyle modification"... and Kenny will be good as new - better than new!
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-30/republicans-to-unveil-bill-to-force-major-changes-at-the-un.html
House Republicans are planning to introduce today legislation that seeks to force major changes at the United Nations, using as leverage the U.S.’s 22% contribution to the world body’s operating budget.
The bill by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would require the UN to adopt a voluntary budget model in which countries selectively fund UN agencies rather than according to a set formula.
It would end funding for Palestinian refugees, limit use of U.S. funds to only purposes outlined by Congress and stop contributions to peacekeeping operations until management changes are made.
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
The U.S. pays 22% of the UN’s regular operations budget and is assessed 27% of the peacekeeping budget.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
The U.S. payments totaled $3.35 billion in 2010, of which $2.67 billion was dedicated to the 16 peacekeeping operations worldwide, from South Sudan to Haiti.
The bill would also withhold funding for the UN Human Rights Council until the State Department can certify that it doesn’t include members subject to Security Council sanctions, under Security Council-mandated investigations for human rights abuses or are state sponsors of terrorism. The council membership had included Libya, until it was suspended by the UN General Assembly on March 1 as Muammar Qaddafi moved to crush protests.
(*SNORT*)
In 2006, President George W. Bush’s ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said the U.S. might push to make contributions to the UN budget voluntary, as Ros-Lehtinen is doing.
Bolton also focused on peacekeeping operations, holding hearings on reports of sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers in Africa and up to $300 million in unnecessary purchases of equipment and supplies for peacekeeping missions.
In 2006, House lawmakers called for withholding half of the $429 million in U.S. funding for the UN’s regular operations that year in an attempt to force changes in the world body. At the time, concern was focused on evidence of graft in the $64 billion UN program that allowed Iraq’s Saddam Hussein to use oil money from 1996 to 2003 to buy food and medical supplies for his people.
On Capitol Hill, the focus is less on global affairs than on getting the U.S. fiscal house in order, as concern about the debt grows.
The U.S. ambassador for UN management and reform, Joseph M. Torsella, wrote administrators there yesterday to complain about a decision to give employees an almost 3% raise.
“Such a raise is inappropriate at this time of global fiscal austerity,” Torsella wrote. Failure to forgo salary increases at the very least “could well lead to more draconian approaches to budget-balancing in the future,” the ambassador warned.
If passed into law, Ros-Lehtinen’s bill would have the U.S. withhold a percentage of its contributions until at least 80% of the UN budget was voluntary.
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