U.N. leaders consider world tax to fund social protection, services

Ahh, the UN. That bastion of goodness and warm-fuzzy feelings. They are currently discussing how no one in the world should live below a certain income level and they are now ready to fix it - yes, they are that powerful that they will alleviate poverty with a snap of their fingers. So, let me get this straight. They can't even get Syria to stop killing their own people, but they want to tax the wealthier in the world to ensure that the poorer earn a certain amount? In other words, wealth redistribution on the biggest scale ever. Yeah, like, what could possibly go wrong? Why encourage poorer nations to fend for themselves and build up their own wealth when they can just sit back, put their feet up and get given that lifestyle on the backs of the West?  So, how do they propose collecting this money? Well, they've thought long and hard and decided that to levy a tax of 0.005% on each financial transaction is the fairest way - another great new big whopping international tax! It's not enough that they want to regulate the air we breathe, but now we don't have a say in where our own money goes. I sincerely hope that our governments will NOT sign us up for this new looting scheme from the UN. Do you honestly trust these idiots with this money?? I am sick to death of all this wealth-bashing from organisations like the UN, which has proven time and again how unsuccessful they are as an organisation. The UN is run by Lefty communists who think that everyone in the world should be equal - and they use this type of language and rhetoric to convince everyone that they are just looking out for the poor. Sure you are. I, unfortunately for you, was not born yesterday.

Outside the United Nations headquarters, hundreds of people were shouting and waving banners Tuesday that read "China and Russia – No Veto." These people wanted support from the Security Council of the U.N. to oust the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.

Inside the U.N., another group of civil society leaders demanded a basic level of social security as they promoted a "social protection floor" at a preparatory forum for the Commission on Social Development, which began Feb. 1.

The focus of the forum was "universal access to basic social protection and social services."

"No one should live below a certain income level," stated Milos Koterec, President of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. "Everyone should be able to access at least basic health services, primary education, housing, water, sanitation and other essential services."

These services were presented at the forum as basic human rights equal to the rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

The money to fund these services may come from a new world tax.

"We will need a modest but long-term way to finance this transformation," stated Jens Wandel, Deputy Director of the United Nations Development Program. "One idea which we could consider is a minimal financial transaction tax (of .005 percent). This will create $40 billion in revenue."

"It is absolutely essential to establish controls on capital movements and financial speculation," said Ambassador Jorge Valero, the current Chairman of the Commission on Social Development. He called for "progressive policies of taxation" that would require "those who earn more to pay more taxes."

Valero's speech to the forum focused on capitalism as the source of the world financial problems.

When asked where she expected the money to provide all needy people with a basic income, healthcare, education and housing would come from, Fatima Rodrigo, one of the presenters at the forum, mentioned the "very small tax of .005 percent."

She added, "There is plenty of money, we just need to stop spending it on militaries and wars."

"Military spending is the problem," claimed Winifred Doherty, chairman of the NGO Committee on Social Development and organizer for the CSD Forum.

"There is no scarcity of resources. Where do we put our resources? Destroying people and the planet," said Doherty.

This movement for a social protection floor is becoming solidly entrenched in the United Nations' agencies and programs. Some U.N. leaders are calling for the SPF to become the new focus for the U.N., when the Millennium Development Goals are finished — after 2015.

"Despite the global exhortations of the United Nations, the most successful development efforts clearly arise from grass-roots initiatives, often at the individual or family level," claims Vincenzina Santoro, an international economist, in a new book on the family and the Millennium Development Goals.

A report by the secretary-general on poverty eradication includes other methods for helping rural farmers increase their profit margin and their ability to be more self-reliant. The report says, "key among these is improving yields by ensuring that farmers have better access to high-yielding crop varieties, fertilizers, credit, markets and rural infrastructure."

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