Bush Administration Ahead Of The Republican Curve...Really!

-- The House is telling the United Nations to reform or lose U.S. financial support, and signaling the White House to take a tougher stand. The messages came Friday as the House voted 221-184, with a mostly Republican majority, to withhold one half of assessed U.S. dues - now about $440 million a year - if the U.N. doesn't accomplish nearly four dozen steps to improve its accountability and root out corruption. Failure to comply would also result in U.S. refusal to support expanded and new peacekeeping missions. The Bush administration, while applauding the House for pressing for changes at the U.N., said the automatic withholding of payments could "detract from and undermine our efforts" to work with U.N. members to improve the organization.

You mean you think it's positive to be a working part of the organization based on diplomacy? And that it will never be any better if fighting is better than diplomacy? If that is what you're saying I find it a refreshing and all to rare bout of common sense! What are you guys up to! :)

Oh wait, you have the minions to deal with first. ....The House rejected, on a 216-190 vote, an alternative offered by Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., (check his record, this guy is VERY liberal) that would have made similar demands for change but leave it to the secretary of state to decide whether to withhold up to 50 percent of payments.....That's more comprimise than I'm willing to give.

"Far from promoting justice and respect for international law, the United Nations has become one of the world's greatest apologists for tyranny and terror," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "The U.N.'s corruption is so breathtaking in its scope as to be almost universal."

Thanks Mr. Bugman. I guess the only other possibility is for us free of corruption wildly respected country to show'em how to do it.......Can't you see how, by your actions, you are screwing up any possiblity of anybody biting on that one! ...oh, about that board in your eye.

Over two days of debate, speakers slammed the U.N. for what they said was its wasteful bureaucracy, its anti-America, anti-Israel biases, its seating of tyrannical governments on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and scandals involving the sexual misconduct of peacekeepers and alleged corruption in the oil-for-food program for Iraq.

Hint guys: You'll be more respected when America is seen to live up to the rhetoric. Otherwise they just get the idea you are a hypocritical snob. With more honest respect maybe we could keep some of those despots off the commission. Especially if we aren't supporting some despots over others. Believe it or not, people on the outside looking in have a hard time taking you seriously when you do that.

Democrats, and their few Republican allies, said there was no dispute over the need for U.N. reform, but argued the Hyde approach was heavy-handed. " I can't believe that when our men and women are fighting in Iraq, that we would move forward with legislation like this when we need to draw countries together," said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., who cosponsored the Lantos alternative.

Yeah! Why do they hate our troops!