A warning bell has soundedis anyone listening?
by Tina Grazier
Senator Obama has run his campaign so far as a charismatic patriarchal guide; someone to lead us through troubled waters. His words, filled with warmth and hope, paint a peaceful picture of the serene place he will take us. He cannot keep this up forever.
His true ambitions and goals, found here and here, have now begun to emerge on the political stage. Perhaps because of Obama’s recent victories, The “Global Poverty Act,” (S.2433) sponsered by Obama, is suddenly being rushed through committee in the Senate. This bill, according to Accuracy In Media, would commit the U.S. to spending 0.7 percent of gross national product on foreign aid, which amounts to a phenomenal 13-year total of $845 billion over and above what the U.S. already spends. I urge you to read the full AIM article. Here are a few highlights:
The legislation itself requires the President “to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.”
The bill defines the term “Millennium Development Goals” as the goals set out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, General Assembly Resolution 55/2 (2000). ** In addition to seeking to eradicate poverty, that declaration commits nations to banning “small arms and light weapons” and ratifying a series of treaties, including the International Criminal Court Treaty, the Kyoto Protocol (global warming treaty), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. ** The Millennium Declaration also affirms the U.N. as “the indispensable common house of the entire human family, through which we will seek to realize our universal aspirations for peace, cooperation and development.” ** Obama’s bill has only six co-sponsors. They are Senators Maria Cantwell, Dianne Feinstein, Richard Lugar, Richard Durbin, Chuck Hagel and Robert Menendez. But it appears that Biden and Obama see passage of this bill as a way to highlight Democratic Party priorities in the Senate.
Information for contacting senators can be found HERE.
Please, consider carefully when you vote in November.