Global Taxation - Funding Global Governance

The United Nations (UN) claims that it is not interested in governing even while it is standing hip deep in Agenda 21 and other documents which seek to control every aspect of human activity. One of the final hurdles the UN faces in the implementation of global governance is the need for a continual and reliable source of revenue—to the tune of trillions of dollars.

Currently, the UN depends on voluntary contributions from member states. This method is apparently unsatisfactory, both because nations do not always pay, and because the revenue is far too insignificant to achieve the objectives of the UN.

The UN’s Commission on Global Governance has divined a solution to this dilemma. In its report, Our Global Neighborhood, the Commission states, "A start must be made in establishing schemes of global financing of global purposes, including charges for the use of global resources such as flight lanes, sea- lanes, and ocean fishing areas and the collection of global revenues agreed globally and implemented by treaty. An international tax on foreign currency transactions should be explored as one option, as should the creation of an international corporate tax base among multinational companies. It is time for the evolution of a consensus on the concept of global taxation for servicing the needs of the global neighborhood."

Of the numerous possibilities, the so-called Tobin Tax seems to be leading the pack. The idea was first proposed by Nobel-Prize-winning economist James Tobin in 1978, as a way to deter speculation on currency fluctuation. In brief, the Tobin Tax would levy a small amount (less than 0.5%) on all foreign currency exchange transactions. The tax would cut into the profits of speculators moving large amounts of currency as they seek to gain from minute differentials in currency fluctuations. At first glance this levy would seem inconsequential, but since foreign currency exchanges exceed one trillion dollars daily, the UN’s revenue would be boosted from $11 billion per year to a whopping $1.5 trillion!

One threat to the implementation of the Tobin Tax is that it won’t work if all nations don’t throw their hats into the ring. If just one country holds back, then many in the finance industry would relocate to that country, where they could conduct their business unimpeded. On the other hand, a share in the revenue may be all it takes to seduce most nations into compliance.

The need for independent taxation authority is often justified by the fact that nations, like the U.S. do not pay their dues. The Global Policy Forum, one of many non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) working towards a stream of independent revenue for the UN, charges that the United States is lagging way behind in payments to the UN, and that many other nations are behind as well. Presumably because of this, the United Nations is unable to fulfill its role as Big Brother to the many developing nations in financial crisis.

Ironically, the U.S. has actually spent well beyond what it is supposed to owe on UN peacekeeping efforts around the world. According to a General Accounting Office report, peacekeeping campaigns in Rwanda, Somalia, Haiti and the former Yugoslavia (before the current situation) cost the U.S. taxpayers $6.6 billion. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Clinton administration has been providing personnel, equipment and other resources to the UN by diverting funds from federal agencies, especially the Department of Defense. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) has worked to make Congress aware of these activities. He is producing legislation which would force U.S. assistance to the UN to be factored into any payment of debt.

The United States was established as a sovereign nation, which by definition is not subject to any authority higher than itself, or at least that’s the theory. Our Global Neighborhood has called for, "adapting, where necessary, existing norms of sovereignty and self-determination to changing realities," and for nations to exercise their sovereignty "collectively."

Collective sovereignty—how’s that for an oxymoron? Global taxation and collective sovereignty would corrode and eventually eliminate sovereignty. With a tax income in excess of $1.5 trillion dollars annually, the UN would have the resources and the power to force any country into compliance with its view of a sustainable global village — including the United States.

Once global governance is fully implemented, the UN could, and would, level trade embargoes of oil and other essential commodities that would bring the United States to its knees within months. This awesome power sounds strikingly like the fourth beast of Daniel 7:23, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse [different] from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces."

America is facing its greatest threat in its history. It’s time to stop financing our own demise. V ks