March 13, 2002
By Tom DeWeese
The United Nations continues to deny that it has any intention of
generating global taxes to fund itself. Remember the old kid’s line,
"liar, liar, pants on fire?" Kofi Annan and his aides should
quickly look for a fire extinguisher as their pants are surely blazing.
In January, 2002, Edward Mortimer, Director of Communications for the
Office of UN Secretary General Annan, responded to an article written by
Oliver North concerning UN tax schemes. Mr. Mortimer charged that North
"put words in the mouth of (Annan) that he has never said and put
thoughts in Mr. Annan’s head that he has never thought." Mortimer
goes on to say "the United Nations is not about to start collecting
global taxes." I smell smoke!
I have in my possession several reports written by UN officials which
detail various tax schemes coveted by money-hungry global bureaucrats.
Most important of these reports is one entitled, "Existing Proposals
for Innovative Sources of Finance." Given the UN’s history of
denying any official connection to such reports, one wonders how it will
claim ignorance of this one. The report was written by UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan. Either Mr. Mortimer and the UN are lying to hide these
tax schemes or the UN’s Secretary General is moonlighting on the side as
a tax consultant.
"Innovative," like every other obfuscation the UN uses to
disguise its plans of conquest, hardly begins to describe the breadth and
boldness of its intentions. Here are the bare bones of the proposals in
Annan’s report:
An Air Transportation Tax. As with most UN proposals, this one
is disguised as a solution to "air pollution" and
"noise." The environmental argument has been the mantra the UN
and its vast hidden matrix of support organizations have used to impose
various forms of socialist controls on the lives and the economies of
every nation. This one would take the form of a one percent tax on the
price of all international passenger tickets and freight transport. It
would generate for the UN some $2.2 billion annually. Income from domestic
passenger tickets would generate and additional $800 million.
A Carbon Tax. Here again, the "environmental" argument
is advanced to levy a "carbon" tax on all commercial forms of
hydrocarbon fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) based on their carbon
content. The UN argues that this "would discourage the generation of
carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important greenhouse gas." Unsaid is
the fact that there is no need whatsoever to discourage the generation of
CO2, a gas that human beings exhale with every breath they take. Moreover,
contrary to UN global warming propaganda, more CO2 in the atmosphere would
be beneficial, stimulating the growth of forests and crops, since it’s
the key element plants utilize. The UN estimates that "applied
universally" this single tax alone would "raise about $125
billion." Environmental protection is not the real goal of this tax,
rather it’s UN revenue.
So far, according to Kofi Annan’s report, every time you get on an
airplane, or drive your car or truck, you may be taxed by the United
Nations. But there are more ideas brewing in that clever mind of Kofi
Annan (the one that never even thought of such things, according to Mr.
Mortimer).
A Currency Tax. This tax (also called the Tobin Tax) would be
levied on every transaction in the foreign exchange market, generating
huge amounts of money estimated in the area of at least $264 billion
annually. Some have even estimated the UN take to be as high as $1
trillion. The levy would be applied to wholesale trades at the point of
bank settlement. In other words, the UN tax would take the cash before
anyone even had it in their hands, just as the federal government
confiscates income taxes before American citizens get it into their
pockets. It’s the perfect socialist redistribution scheme. Here again,
the UN seeks a clever plan to control the supply of capital, thereby
controlling capitalism at the primary source from which nations and all
commercial ventures are funded. As Kofi Annan notes, "Richer
countries would be expected to collect a much larger share of the tax than
poor countries." Karl Marx said it better: "From each according
to his ability, to each according to his need." The UN has a lot of
needs.
Taxes on all forms of energy extraction, gun exports and the
internet. The UN wants to impose taxes on the use of what it calls
"the global commons," taxing companies who want to mine the
seabed or make use of outer space for commercial purposes. It would impose
taxes on "natural resource extraction and land." In other words,
on all mining, drilling and timber enterprises worldwide!
It gets worse. The UN is proposing a tax on all arms exports. And they
want to put a tax on the Internet. "At this rate," says Annan’s
report, "Internet data traffic in 1996 would have generated $70
billion."
All of this is being justified by the so-called "weakness" of
the current system by which the United Nations is funded, i.e., voluntary
contributions from member nations. Payment of those contributions today
represent the only real influence member nations have over UN activities.
Withholding payment forces the UN bureaucracy to pause to at least listen
to a nation’s protests. However, give the UN an independent source of
income, such as any type of global taxation, and it will undoubtedly use
those funds to ensure its power and longevity by creating its own military
force, its own courts and, of course, more taxes.
One can imagine the frustration of the UN hierarchy, living on its
measly $1 billion annual budget, while looking out over the wealth in its
self-claimed "global commons." Those riches, of course, must
first be created by individuals and private businesses before being
confiscated by UN looters. But the UN means to do much more than loot. It
seeks to control the means of production, the property it stands on and
the air and water consumed by the producers.
In spite of the denials of his well-trained apologists, Secretary
General Kofi Annan has personally outlined the UN’s intention to tax. He’s
been caught on paper. There is no greater danger to freedom than for the
UN to gain the power to tax. Stop it now or we will all surely suffocate
under the massive weight of feeding UN bureaucrats.
