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Congress Will Probe Special Exemptions to Health-Care Law That Obama Administration Gave Select Unions and Businesses,
By Fred Lucas
The Obama administration’s waivers to temporarily exempt certain companies, unions, and charities from rules established by the new health care law are a “perfect example of special interests” having influence in the administration and will be looked into by Congress, Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee told CNSNews.com.
"You’re going to find out that by the president doing that with the secretary of HHS, he violated one of his main principles when he ran for office--and that was that special interests were not going to have an in in his administration,” said Grassley. “And this is a perfect example of special interests having an in in his administration when they get those waivers.”
Grassley, who has a history of leading Senate investigations into government waste, fraud, and abuse, said oversight of the special waivers will be taken up by the Republican-controlled House.
“There will be [congressional oversight] and it will be done in the House of Representatives,” Grassley told CNSNews.com. “I’ll be glad to help the House of Representatives. We probably won't get chairmen of the committees of the Senate to have that oversight, but if it's done in the House of Representatives, the job will be done and it will be done right.”
The Finance Committee where Grassley serves as the top Republican was the Senate committee primarily responsible for drafting the Obama health-care law.
The waivers allow the health insurance plans, carried by the unions and companies involved, to impose annual limits on what they will spend on a policy holder’s medical coverage for a given year. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, bans annual limits, phasing them out by 2014.
CNSNews.com previously reported that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued waivers to 222 entities – companies, unions and charitable organizations. Among those entities, 45 were labor union organizations. A total of 1,507,418 enrollees were affected by the waivers. More than one-third of the enrollees affected, 512, 315 people, were insured under union health care plans.
Three locals of the powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has spent heavily on elections in favor of Democrats, were among the biggest beneficiaries of waivers, CNSNews.com reported.
The largest beneficiary of waivers is the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), representing New York City public school teachers, with a plan that affects 351,000 enrollees. The UFT is a member organization of the American Federation of Teachers, a major contributor to Democrats. In addition, 10 locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers – also a major Democratic contributor – received HHS waivers.
The new health care law bans annual limits on medical coverage beginning in 2014. These limits are caps that an insurance plan can place on how much it will spend on a policy holder’s medical coverage each year. The HHS regulations are phasing the limits out, as annual limits can be no less than $750,000 for 2011, no less than $1.25 million in 2012 and no less than $2 million in 2013.
In September, HHS announced it would grant waivers to employers to prevent some workers from losing their benefits, if the insurer could not meet the new health care law’s requirements on annual limits. The waivers are granted by HHS if the department determines “compliance in the interim final regulations would result in a significant decrease in access to benefits or a significant increase in premiums,” according to a Sept. 3 memo by Steve L. Larson, director of the HHS Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.
In giving the Tea Party response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) also criticized the waivers.
“Obamacare mandates and penalties may even force many job-creators to just stop offering health insurance altogether, unless, of course, yours is one of the more than 222 privileged companies, or unions, that's already received a government waiver under Obamacare,” Bachmann said. “In the end, unless we fully repeal Obamacare, a nation that currently enjoys the world’s finest health care might be forced to rely on government-run coverage. That could have a devastating impact on our national debt for even generations to come.”
http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/forum/topic/show?id=2600775:Topic:3139633&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic EMBEDDED VIDEO
By Fred Lucas
The Obama administration’s waivers to temporarily exempt certain companies, unions, and charities from rules established by the new health care law are a “perfect example of special interests” having influence in the administration and will be looked into by Congress, Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee told CNSNews.com.
"You’re going to find out that by the president doing that with the secretary of HHS, he violated one of his main principles when he ran for office--and that was that special interests were not going to have an in in his administration,” said Grassley. “And this is a perfect example of special interests having an in in his administration when they get those waivers.”
Grassley, who has a history of leading Senate investigations into government waste, fraud, and abuse, said oversight of the special waivers will be taken up by the Republican-controlled House.
“There will be [congressional oversight] and it will be done in the House of Representatives,” Grassley told CNSNews.com. “I’ll be glad to help the House of Representatives. We probably won't get chairmen of the committees of the Senate to have that oversight, but if it's done in the House of Representatives, the job will be done and it will be done right.”
The Finance Committee where Grassley serves as the top Republican was the Senate committee primarily responsible for drafting the Obama health-care law.
The waivers allow the health insurance plans, carried by the unions and companies involved, to impose annual limits on what they will spend on a policy holder’s medical coverage for a given year. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, bans annual limits, phasing them out by 2014.
CNSNews.com previously reported that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued waivers to 222 entities – companies, unions and charitable organizations. Among those entities, 45 were labor union organizations. A total of 1,507,418 enrollees were affected by the waivers. More than one-third of the enrollees affected, 512, 315 people, were insured under union health care plans.
Three locals of the powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has spent heavily on elections in favor of Democrats, were among the biggest beneficiaries of waivers, CNSNews.com reported.
The largest beneficiary of waivers is the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), representing New York City public school teachers, with a plan that affects 351,000 enrollees. The UFT is a member organization of the American Federation of Teachers, a major contributor to Democrats. In addition, 10 locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers – also a major Democratic contributor – received HHS waivers.
The new health care law bans annual limits on medical coverage beginning in 2014. These limits are caps that an insurance plan can place on how much it will spend on a policy holder’s medical coverage each year. The HHS regulations are phasing the limits out, as annual limits can be no less than $750,000 for 2011, no less than $1.25 million in 2012 and no less than $2 million in 2013.
In September, HHS announced it would grant waivers to employers to prevent some workers from losing their benefits, if the insurer could not meet the new health care law’s requirements on annual limits. The waivers are granted by HHS if the department determines “compliance in the interim final regulations would result in a significant decrease in access to benefits or a significant increase in premiums,” according to a Sept. 3 memo by Steve L. Larson, director of the HHS Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.
In giving the Tea Party response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) also criticized the waivers.
“Obamacare mandates and penalties may even force many job-creators to just stop offering health insurance altogether, unless, of course, yours is one of the more than 222 privileged companies, or unions, that's already received a government waiver under Obamacare,” Bachmann said. “In the end, unless we fully repeal Obamacare, a nation that currently enjoys the world’s finest health care might be forced to rely on government-run coverage. That could have a devastating impact on our national debt for even generations to come.”
http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/forum/topic/show?id=2600775:Topic:3139633&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic EMBEDDED VIDEO
TSA Perverts Are At It Again
Elderly woman asked to remove adult diaper during TSA search
A woman has filed a complaint with federal authorities over how her elderly mother was treated at Northwest Florida Regional Airport last weekend.
Jean Weber of Destin filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother was detained and extensively searched last Saturday while trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan to be with family members during the final stages of her battle with leukemia.
Her mother, who was in a wheelchair, was asked to remove an adult diaper in order to complete a pat-down search.
“It’s something I couldn’t imagine happening on American soil,” Weber said Friday. “Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this.”
Sari Koshetz, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration in Miami, said she could not comment on specific cases to protect the privacy of those involved.
“The TSA works with passengers to resolve any security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner,” she said.
Weber’s mother entered the airport’s security checkpoint in a wheelchair because she was not stable enough to walk through, Weber said.
Wheelchairs trigger certain protocols, including pat-downs and possible swabbing for explosives, Koshetz said.
“During any part of the process, if there is an alarm, then we have to resolve that alarm,” she said.
Weber said she did not know whether her mother had triggered an alarm during the 45 minutes they were detained.
She said her mother was first pulled aside into a glass-partitioned area and patted down. Then she was taken to another room to protect her privacy during a more extensive search, Weber said.
Weber said she sat outside the room during the search.
She said security personnel then came out and told her they would need for her mother to remove her Depends diaper because it was soiled and was impeding their search.
Weber wheeled her mother into a bathroom, removed her diaper and returned. Her mother did not have another clean diaper with her, Weber said.
Weber said she wished there were less invasive search methods for an elderly person who is unable to walk through security gates.
“I don’t understand why they have to put them through that kind of procedure,” she said.
Koshetz said the procedures are the same for everyone to ensure national security.
“TSA cannot exempt any group from screening because we know from intelligence that there are terrorists out there that would then exploit that vulnerability,” she said.
Weber filed a complaint through Northwest Florida Regional’s website. She said she received a response from a Homeland Security representative at the airport on Tuesday and spoke to that person on the phone Wednesday.
The representative told her that personnel had followed procedures during the search, Weber said.
“Then I thought, if you’re just following rules and regulations, then the rules and regulations need to be changed,” she said.
Weber said she plans to file additional complaints next week.
“I’m not one to make waves, but dadgummit, this is wrong. People need to know. Next time it could be you.”
LAUREN SAGE REINLIE / Florida Freedom Newspapers
WENDY VICTORA / Florida Freedom Newspapers
http://www.newsherald.com/news/mother-94767-search-adult.html
Elderly woman asked to remove adult diaper during TSA search
A woman has filed a complaint with federal authorities over how her elderly mother was treated at Northwest Florida Regional Airport last weekend.
Jean Weber of Destin filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother was detained and extensively searched last Saturday while trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan to be with family members during the final stages of her battle with leukemia.
Her mother, who was in a wheelchair, was asked to remove an adult diaper in order to complete a pat-down search.
“It’s something I couldn’t imagine happening on American soil,” Weber said Friday. “Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this.”
Sari Koshetz, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration in Miami, said she could not comment on specific cases to protect the privacy of those involved.
“The TSA works with passengers to resolve any security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner,” she said.
Weber’s mother entered the airport’s security checkpoint in a wheelchair because she was not stable enough to walk through, Weber said.
Wheelchairs trigger certain protocols, including pat-downs and possible swabbing for explosives, Koshetz said.
“During any part of the process, if there is an alarm, then we have to resolve that alarm,” she said.
Weber said she did not know whether her mother had triggered an alarm during the 45 minutes they were detained.
She said her mother was first pulled aside into a glass-partitioned area and patted down. Then she was taken to another room to protect her privacy during a more extensive search, Weber said.
Weber said she sat outside the room during the search.
She said security personnel then came out and told her they would need for her mother to remove her Depends diaper because it was soiled and was impeding their search.
Weber wheeled her mother into a bathroom, removed her diaper and returned. Her mother did not have another clean diaper with her, Weber said.
Weber said she wished there were less invasive search methods for an elderly person who is unable to walk through security gates.
“I don’t understand why they have to put them through that kind of procedure,” she said.
Koshetz said the procedures are the same for everyone to ensure national security.
“TSA cannot exempt any group from screening because we know from intelligence that there are terrorists out there that would then exploit that vulnerability,” she said.
Weber filed a complaint through Northwest Florida Regional’s website. She said she received a response from a Homeland Security representative at the airport on Tuesday and spoke to that person on the phone Wednesday.
The representative told her that personnel had followed procedures during the search, Weber said.
“Then I thought, if you’re just following rules and regulations, then the rules and regulations need to be changed,” she said.
Weber said she plans to file additional complaints next week.
“I’m not one to make waves, but dadgummit, this is wrong. People need to know. Next time it could be you.”
LAUREN SAGE REINLIE / Florida Freedom Newspapers
WENDY VICTORA / Florida Freedom Newspapers
http://www.newsherald.com/news/mother-94767-search-adult.html
Nation Without Borders
A nation without borders is not a nation.....
This is only one State...............If this doesn't open your eyes nothing will !
From the Los Angeles Times:
1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people)are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card.
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages..
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south border.
8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L. A. are Spanish speaking.
10. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County )
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare . Over 70% of the United States' annual population growth (and over 90% of California , Florida , and New York) results from immigration, 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.
We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue and the Obama Administration, Democrats and other left-wing radical liberals want to grant illegals further amnesty!
A nation without borders is not a nation.....
This is only one State...............If this doesn't open your eyes nothing will !
From the Los Angeles Times:
1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people)are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card.
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages..
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south border.
8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L. A. are Spanish speaking.
10. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County )
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare . Over 70% of the United States' annual population growth (and over 90% of California , Florida , and New York) results from immigration, 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.
We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue and the Obama Administration, Democrats and other left-wing radical liberals want to grant illegals further amnesty!
Obama Lied About Controlling News Reporting
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced that it has uncovered documents from the Obama Department of Treasury showing that the Obama administration, contrary to its repeated denials, attempted to exclude the Fox News Channel (FNC) from a round of interviews with Treasury’s “Executive Pay Czar” Kenneth Feinberg. The documents, which include email exchanges within the Department of the Treasury and between Treasury and White House staff, also provide colorful evidence of an anti-Fox News bias within the Obama White House.
The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch pursuant to an October, 28, 2009, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, concern a series of interviews with Feinberg, who served as the Special Master for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Executive Compensation, on October 22, 2009, organized by the Treasury Department. According to press reports, the Fox News Channel was specifically excluded from joining the pool of reporters which precipitated a backlash among the networks and a reversal by the Obama Treasury Department.
According to The New York Times: “Fox’s television news competitors refused to go along with a Treasury Department effort on Thursday [October 22, 2009] to exclude Fox from a round of interviews with the executive-pay czar Kenneth R. Feinberg that was to be conducted with a ‘pool’ camera crew…”. Fox News Channel’s James Rosen reported this backlash forced the Obama administration to reconsider its position on the matter: “The Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV news network consulted and decided that none of them would interview Feinberg unless Fox was included, and the administration relented…,” reported Rosen. Ultimately, after other media representatives objected, Fox News Channel was allowed to participate in the interviews.
The Treasury Department’s official response, as detailed in back-and-forth emails uncovered by Judicial Watch, included a clear denial of any such plot to exclude Fox News from the interviews: “There was no plot to exclude Fox News, and they had the same interview that their competitors did. Much ado about absolutely nothing.” Moreover, in an October 23, 2009 email to New York Times reporter Jim Rutenberg, Jake Siewart, Counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, repeated the denial that there was an effort to exclude Fox News Channel: “Call me today on your Fox-Treasury report,” Siewart wrote. “Not true that there was an ‘effort to exclude’ Fox.”
However, despite this public position, internal Obama administration emails obtained by Judicial Watch provide evidence that FNC was specifically singled out for exclusion. According to one October 22, 2009, email exchange between Dag Vega, Director of Broadcast Media on the White House staff, to Jenni LeCompte, then-Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the Treasury Department, Vega informs LeCompte that “…we’d prefer if you skip Fox please.”
Regarding general anti-FNC bias within the Obama White House in an October 23, 2009, email exchange between Jennifer Psaki, Deputy White House Communications Director and LeCompte, Psaki writes, “I am putting some dead fish in the fox cubby – just cause”. In an email on the night of October 22, 2009, commenting on a report by Fox News Channel anchor Bret Baier noting the exclusion of the network from the pool, Psaki writes to Compte and fellow White House colleagues, “…brett baier just did a stupid piece on it -- but he is a lunatic”.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest bluntly described the White House’s position on Fox News Channel in an October 23, 2009, email to LeCompte: “We’ve demonstrated our willingness and ability to exclude Fox News from significant interviews…”
The Treasury Department blacked out a key email regarding its refusal to make available Treasury Secretary Geithner for an interview on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.
“The Obama administration seems to have lied about its attempt to exclude Fox News Channel from access to an interview with the ‘pay czar.’ These documents show there is a pervasive anti-Fox bias in the Obama White House,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The juvenile Mafioso-talk in these emails has no place in any White House. For the Obama administration to purposely exclude a major news organization from access to information has troubling First Amendment implications.”
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced that it has uncovered documents from the Obama Department of Treasury showing that the Obama administration, contrary to its repeated denials, attempted to exclude the Fox News Channel (FNC) from a round of interviews with Treasury’s “Executive Pay Czar” Kenneth Feinberg. The documents, which include email exchanges within the Department of the Treasury and between Treasury and White House staff, also provide colorful evidence of an anti-Fox News bias within the Obama White House.
The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch pursuant to an October, 28, 2009, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, concern a series of interviews with Feinberg, who served as the Special Master for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Executive Compensation, on October 22, 2009, organized by the Treasury Department. According to press reports, the Fox News Channel was specifically excluded from joining the pool of reporters which precipitated a backlash among the networks and a reversal by the Obama Treasury Department.
According to The New York Times: “Fox’s television news competitors refused to go along with a Treasury Department effort on Thursday [October 22, 2009] to exclude Fox from a round of interviews with the executive-pay czar Kenneth R. Feinberg that was to be conducted with a ‘pool’ camera crew…”. Fox News Channel’s James Rosen reported this backlash forced the Obama administration to reconsider its position on the matter: “The Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV news network consulted and decided that none of them would interview Feinberg unless Fox was included, and the administration relented…,” reported Rosen. Ultimately, after other media representatives objected, Fox News Channel was allowed to participate in the interviews.
The Treasury Department’s official response, as detailed in back-and-forth emails uncovered by Judicial Watch, included a clear denial of any such plot to exclude Fox News from the interviews: “There was no plot to exclude Fox News, and they had the same interview that their competitors did. Much ado about absolutely nothing.” Moreover, in an October 23, 2009 email to New York Times reporter Jim Rutenberg, Jake Siewart, Counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, repeated the denial that there was an effort to exclude Fox News Channel: “Call me today on your Fox-Treasury report,” Siewart wrote. “Not true that there was an ‘effort to exclude’ Fox.”
However, despite this public position, internal Obama administration emails obtained by Judicial Watch provide evidence that FNC was specifically singled out for exclusion. According to one October 22, 2009, email exchange between Dag Vega, Director of Broadcast Media on the White House staff, to Jenni LeCompte, then-Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the Treasury Department, Vega informs LeCompte that “…we’d prefer if you skip Fox please.”
Regarding general anti-FNC bias within the Obama White House in an October 23, 2009, email exchange between Jennifer Psaki, Deputy White House Communications Director and LeCompte, Psaki writes, “I am putting some dead fish in the fox cubby – just cause”. In an email on the night of October 22, 2009, commenting on a report by Fox News Channel anchor Bret Baier noting the exclusion of the network from the pool, Psaki writes to Compte and fellow White House colleagues, “…brett baier just did a stupid piece on it -- but he is a lunatic”.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest bluntly described the White House’s position on Fox News Channel in an October 23, 2009, email to LeCompte: “We’ve demonstrated our willingness and ability to exclude Fox News from significant interviews…”
The Treasury Department blacked out a key email regarding its refusal to make available Treasury Secretary Geithner for an interview on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.
“The Obama administration seems to have lied about its attempt to exclude Fox News Channel from access to an interview with the ‘pay czar.’ These documents show there is a pervasive anti-Fox bias in the Obama White House,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The juvenile Mafioso-talk in these emails has no place in any White House. For the Obama administration to purposely exclude a major news organization from access to information has troubling First Amendment implications.”
President Donates $100 Billion to the United Nations Posted
By Paul L. Williams
No wonder why Obama and the Democrats want to raise the debt limit and increase taxes
The U. S. State Department yesterday announced that the Obama Administration
has agreed to contribute $4 billion to the United Nations Global Fund to fight
AIDs, Tuberculosis, and Malaria from 2011 to 2013.
The $4 billion represents a 38% increase over the previous U.S. commitment to
the fund.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that a total of $11.7
billion has been raised from 40 countries, the European Commission, faith-based
organizations, private foundations, and various corporations.
This means that over one-third of the money will come from the pockets of US
taxpayers.
Oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and the United Arab Emirates
contribute next to nothing, and China, which holds most of the US $14 trillion
debt, agreed to provide a measly $14 million.
In addition to the annual gift of $1.33 billion to the Global Fund, President
Obama has agreed to provide billions more for UN projects.
These allocations are set forth in a 28 page document as follows:
Funnel $63 billion to the Global Health Initiative during the next six years
Make $1 billion annually to education programs
Give $475 million to the Global Agricultural and Food Security Program’
Provide $800 million from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to
Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa. An additional
$3.2 billion will be provided by private equity capital sources to these Muslim
nations
Shell out millions more available through USAID for developing tech hubs in
Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon, South Africa, and Senegal.
Dole out $80 million through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation for
small to medium enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa.
Cough up $2.5 billion annually to 90 countries to “strengthen governance and
democratic institutions.”
Make available $30 billion through the Obama’s Climate Change Initiative to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, $100 billion a year will be
provided through taxpayer and private resources to deal with the alleged threat
of global climate change [1].
The United States is assessed at 22% of the U.N. regular
budget [2] and more than 27% for U.N. the peacekeeping budget.
Mr. Obama has requested $516.3 million for the U.N. regular budget and more than
$2.182 billion for the peacekeeping budget for 2011.
The United States is also assessed for numerous other United Nations
organizations as well. More than $6.347 billion went to U.N. organizations in FY
2009.
The United States also provides money to the U.N. through the State
Department, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of
Health and Human Services, and other agencies.
Andrea Lafferty of The Traditional Values Coalition writes: “The U.S.
taxpayer is forced to pay billions to an inefficient organization run by world
leaders who hate America and the free market system. This doesn’t make any sense
– nor does our paying 22% of the cost to keep this bureaucracy alive when we
have only one vote in the General Assembly.”
Several candidates have called for the U.S. to sever its relationship with
the United Nations. The list includes Dennis Ross, a Republican candidate for
Congress from the 12th Congressional District of Florida.
In a statement to The New American, Mr. Ross said:
An organization that allows nations like Iran and Libya to chair committees
dedicated to human and women’s rights makes a mockery of both. The UN, like any
bureaucracy, must constantly be evaluated and put to the test, and if found
lacking, be dismantled. I believe the US government is perfectly capable of
conducting bilateral and multilateral relations with other nations on our own.
Despots, human rights violators, and tyrants should be confronted, not
congratulated.
Such concerns over the U.S. involvement with the UN are not new.
Senator Barry Goldwater was quoted in 1971 by the Congressional
Record as saying:
The time has come to recognize the U.N. for the anti-American, anti-freedom
organization that it has become. The time has come for us to cut off all
financial help, withdraw as a member, and ask the U.N. to find a headquarters
location outside the United States that is more in keeping with the philosophy
of the majority of voting members, someplace like Moscow or Peking.
Article printed from Accuracy In Media: http://www.aim.org
URL to article: http://www.aim.org/guest-column/president-donates-100-billion-to-th...
By Paul L. Williams
No wonder why Obama and the Democrats want to raise the debt limit and increase taxes
The U. S. State Department yesterday announced that the Obama Administration
has agreed to contribute $4 billion to the United Nations Global Fund to fight
AIDs, Tuberculosis, and Malaria from 2011 to 2013.
The $4 billion represents a 38% increase over the previous U.S. commitment to
the fund.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that a total of $11.7
billion has been raised from 40 countries, the European Commission, faith-based
organizations, private foundations, and various corporations.
This means that over one-third of the money will come from the pockets of US
taxpayers.
Oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and the United Arab Emirates
contribute next to nothing, and China, which holds most of the US $14 trillion
debt, agreed to provide a measly $14 million.
In addition to the annual gift of $1.33 billion to the Global Fund, President
Obama has agreed to provide billions more for UN projects.
These allocations are set forth in a 28 page document as follows:
Funnel $63 billion to the Global Health Initiative during the next six years
Make $1 billion annually to education programs
Give $475 million to the Global Agricultural and Food Security Program’
Provide $800 million from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to
Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa. An additional
$3.2 billion will be provided by private equity capital sources to these Muslim
nations
Shell out millions more available through USAID for developing tech hubs in
Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon, South Africa, and Senegal.
Dole out $80 million through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation for
small to medium enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa.
Cough up $2.5 billion annually to 90 countries to “strengthen governance and
democratic institutions.”
Make available $30 billion through the Obama’s Climate Change Initiative to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, $100 billion a year will be
provided through taxpayer and private resources to deal with the alleged threat
of global climate change [1].
The United States is assessed at 22% of the U.N. regular
budget [2] and more than 27% for U.N. the peacekeeping budget.
Mr. Obama has requested $516.3 million for the U.N. regular budget and more than
$2.182 billion for the peacekeeping budget for 2011.
The United States is also assessed for numerous other United Nations
organizations as well. More than $6.347 billion went to U.N. organizations in FY
2009.
The United States also provides money to the U.N. through the State
Department, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of
Health and Human Services, and other agencies.
Andrea Lafferty of The Traditional Values Coalition writes: “The U.S.
taxpayer is forced to pay billions to an inefficient organization run by world
leaders who hate America and the free market system. This doesn’t make any sense
– nor does our paying 22% of the cost to keep this bureaucracy alive when we
have only one vote in the General Assembly.”
Several candidates have called for the U.S. to sever its relationship with
the United Nations. The list includes Dennis Ross, a Republican candidate for
Congress from the 12th Congressional District of Florida.
In a statement to The New American, Mr. Ross said:
An organization that allows nations like Iran and Libya to chair committees
dedicated to human and women’s rights makes a mockery of both. The UN, like any
bureaucracy, must constantly be evaluated and put to the test, and if found
lacking, be dismantled. I believe the US government is perfectly capable of
conducting bilateral and multilateral relations with other nations on our own.
Despots, human rights violators, and tyrants should be confronted, not
congratulated.
Such concerns over the U.S. involvement with the UN are not new.
Senator Barry Goldwater was quoted in 1971 by the Congressional
Record as saying:
The time has come to recognize the U.N. for the anti-American, anti-freedom
organization that it has become. The time has come for us to cut off all
financial help, withdraw as a member, and ask the U.N. to find a headquarters
location outside the United States that is more in keeping with the philosophy
of the majority of voting members, someplace like Moscow or Peking.
Article printed from Accuracy In Media: http://www.aim.org
URL to article: http://www.aim.org/guest-column/president-donates-100-billion-to-th...
Meet the eight freshmen keeping Congress in session this summer:
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.)
Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.)
Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.)
Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.)
Jeff Denham (R-Calif.)
Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.)
Steve Stivers (R-Ohio)
Allen West (R-Fla)
By keeping the House in sesssion, Obama is unable to make recess appointments with fellow Communists.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.)
Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.)
Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.)
Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.)
Jeff Denham (R-Calif.)
Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.)
Steve Stivers (R-Ohio)
Allen West (R-Fla)
By keeping the House in sesssion, Obama is unable to make recess appointments with fellow Communists.