Quotes

"Fascism and communism both promise "social welfare," "social justice," and "fairness" to justify authoritarian means and extensive arbitrary and discretionary governmental powers." - F. A. Hayek"

"Life is a Bungling process and in no way educational." in James M. Cain

Jean Giraudoux who first said, “Only the mediocre are always at their best.”

If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law. Sir Winston Churchill

"summum ius summa iniuria" ("More laws, more injustice.") Cicero

As Christopher Hitchens once put it, “The essence of tyranny is not iron law; it is capricious law.”

"Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Reagan

"Law is where you buy it." Raymond Chandler

"Why did God make so many damn fools and Democrats?" Clarence Day

"If I feel like feeding squirrels to the nuts, this is the place for it." - Cluny Brown

"Oh, pshaw! When yu' can't have what you choose, yu' just choose what you have." Owen Wister "The Virginian"

Oscar Wilde said about the death scene in Little Nell, you would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.

Thomas More's definition of government as "a conspiracy of rich men procuring their own commodities under the name and title of a commonwealth.” ~ Winston S. Churchill, A History of the English Speaking Peoples

“Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” ~ Jonathon Swift

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Now can't we close this worthless aggregation of wastrels? - Living the High Life at the U.N.

The irony is they all act like the Obamas!


The vast disparity in dues is a recipe for mismanagement and profligacy.


Living the High Life at the U.N. - Brett D. Schaefer - National Review Online
September 25, 2012 - By Brett D. Schaefer


Tomorrow, President Obama will make his fourth address to the United Nations General Assembly. According to tradition, the U.S. leader will follow Brazil, which will officially kick off the start of the 67th session as the first speaker of the “General Debate.” Later in the week, heads of state from Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Haiti will take their turn at the podium.

Why highlight these countries? They are among a select group of 49 “least developed countries” (LDCs) that receive substantial reductions in their assessed contributions to the U.N.

How low are the reductions, you ask? Currently, the minimum assessment is 0.001 percent of the organization’s regular budget. That works out to an annual assessment of $25,852 per LCD.

By contrast, the U.S. is assessed 22 percent of the regular budget: $567 million for 2012. Thus, the U.S. assessment is more than 22,000 times that of the least assessed countries.

That’s not all. LDCs are eligible for a travel allowance to attend the General Assembly. That’s right; the U.N.’s two-year regular budget includes over $2.2 million (about $23,000 for each of the 49 eligible countries) to pick up the travel expenses of five people to attend the General Debate each fall.

All told, after credits and travel allowances are applied, about two dozen countries pay roughly $500 to $1,000 annually in U.N. dues. Other countries also benefit from the travel subsidy, but they have a higher assessment.

The idea behind this subsidy, indeed behind the incredibly low assessments of many U.N. member states, is that developing countries lack the financial means to send representatives to the General Assembly or pay anything more than token amounts for the U.N. Indeed, the minimum assessment has been lowered several times to allow developing countries to “meet their priorities at home.”
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