U.S. Funding of the United Nations Reaches All-Time High » Spotlight on Sovereignty » Global Governance Watch

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The source and amounts of all U.S. funding to the myriad number of organizations affiliated with the United Nations are difficult to track accurately. This difficulty prompted Congress to pass legislation requiring the Administration to report annually on U.S. contributions to the U.N. A recent report to Congress by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on all U.S. funding to the U.N. system revealed that U.S. contributions to the U.N. system reached record levels in fiscal year (FY) 2009.[1]
Considering budget trends, U.S. contributions will continue to rise. Having an accurateaccount of U.S. contributions to the U.N. is valuable, particularly considering recent revelations about institutional weaknesses in U.N. oversight. Congress should take action to make the current OMB reporting requirement permanent.

U.S. Funding of the U.N. System

The U.S. has been the largest financial supporter of the U.N. since the organization's founding in 1945. The U.S. is currently assessed 22 percent of the U.N. regular budget and more than 27 percent of the U.N. peacekeeping budget. In dollar terms, the Administration's budget for FY 2011 requested $516.3 million for the U.N. regular budget and more than $2.182 billion for the peacekeeping budget. [2]
However, the U.S. also provides assessed financial contributions to other U.N.organizations and voluntary contributions to many more U.N. organizations. According to OMB, total U.S. contributions to the U.N. system were more than $6.347 billion in FY2009.[3] This is more than $1 billion more than total contributions as compiled by OMB for FY 2005,[4] and it is indicative of the rising budgetary trends in the U.N. and the consequential demand on U.S. financial support.

The reporting requirement was instigated by the expansion of the U.N. system. The creation of new U.N.-affiliated bodies over the years that received independent financial support from the U.S. government made it increasingly difficult to calculate how much the U.S. provided to the U.N. system on an annual basis. Past estimates were based on contributions from the State Department to the U.N. system, but this was not comprehensive. Although the State Department is the largest source of U.S. funding to the U.N. system, it is not the sole source.
Be sure to see all the links provided on the pages link above as well.

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Europe's Governance Stalemate Causes Gridlock for Global Governance Reform

clipped from www.brookings.edu Over the last six decades, European countries have moved in what often seemed like a slow and convoluted path toward closer cooperation. Yet, after a history of war and colonialism Europe’s transformation into a peaceful continent, a constructive neighbor and a generous international donor is a great benefit to the world. The consequence of this is four-fold: First, global governance reform faces gridlock. Second, international institutions lose effectiveness and legitimacy. Third, formal European dominance in these institutions is rendered meaningless by the cacophony of European voices and lack of cohesion in votes. Fourth, Europe over time is increasingly marginalized in global decision making. This outcome serves neither global nor European interests. It may be counter-intuitive, but if the Europeans give up votes and chairs in the international institutions, they will wield more influence in more effective global institutions.

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One Global Government

Revelation 17:7 And the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.

8 The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. 12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength to the beast.

14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

clipped from www.cogwriter.com clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com But the one pervading thought was, wherever I went, how badly government was broken The USA will have no serious competition for many generations, China is getting old before it will get rich and Russia is just plain declining, especially in population. Viet Nam will have more people in not many many more years. Joel Kotkin, in his "The Next Hundred Million," provides some reinforcement of this superiority. Thus, the presence of only one superpower can provide some stability as the world attempts to save itself. The European Union (EU) formed in 1993 with the Maastricht Treaty, seeing how well our united concept succeeded. Mind you, they are today a mess, but, still only a teenager, and is a work in progress. We have almost exactly the same Gross Domestic product and they have 500 million people to our 308 million. Let's for the sake of discussion say that someday the world has one government. Won't this be like the United Nations, but worse?

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Europe Rejects Obama’s Request To Share Bank Data & The Administration Wants To Track Your Cell Phone

Image by Xaf via Flickr

clipped from motorcitytimes.com For a bunch of people who supposedly were enthralled with Obama, they really aren’t big fans of his policies. Via the WSJ: The European Parliament exercised its new powers Thursday, rejecting a controversial data-sharing deal between the European Union and the U.S., designed to track international financing for terrorism. Several senior U.S. officials, including Vice-President Joe Biden and the secretaries of state and the Treasury, told numerous EU officials, including parliamentarians, “about the importance of this agreement to our mutual security,” the U.S. mission said in a statement. It seems that the EU is more concerned about it’s citizens privacy than Our Own Government. Speaking of privacy… The Obama Justice Department is pushing for warrantless tracking of cell phones. Via C-Net:

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Obama Surrendering Internet to Foreign Powers

Taking away our Freedom one step at a time.

clipped from newsmax.com Without the ingenuity of America’s brightest minds and the investment of U.S. taxpayer dollars, there would be no Internet, as we now know it today. Now for the bad news: In an effort to show the world how inclusive, sharing, cooperative, and international America can be, the Obama administration set off on a plan to surrender control and key management of the Internet by the U.S. Department of Commerce and its agents. to surrender its control and management of the Internet. They want an international body such as the United Nations or even the International Telecommunications Union, (an entity that coordinates international telephone communications), to manage all aspects of the Internet in behalf of all nations. The Obama administration's actions will set in motion a slow and complete takeover of the Internet by the United Nations or some other equally U.S.-hostile and unfriendly international body. And once it is gone, it will be gone forever.

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