Global Poverty Act H.R. 1302

[Hootiewho]

Saw this on another forum. What is this world coming to?

http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=5595

Presidential frontrunner Barack Obama is pushing a bill that will lead to the implementation of a UN global tax, costing the U.S. at least $845 billion dollars over thirteen years in the name of fighting worldwide poverty, as well as banning "small arms and light weapons".
The "Global Poverty Act," which is sponsored by Obama, is up for a Senate vote today, and if passed would mandate the U.S. to spend 0.7 percent of the gross national product on foreign aid, on top of the money being sent out of the country already.

The bill passed the House by a voice vote last year because most members failed to read what was actually in it. The words "global" and "poverty" in the title were presumably enough to convince them that it must be good.

In reality, the bill also "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," writes Cliff Kincaid.

"Jeffrey Sachs, who runs the U.N.'s "Millennium Project," says that the U.N. plan to force the U.S. to pay 0.7 percent of GNP in increased foreign aid spending would add $65 billion a year to what the U.S. already spends.

Over a 13-year period, from 2002, when the U.N.'s Financing for Development conference was held, to the target year of 2015, when the U.S. is expected to meet the "Millennium Development Goals," this amounts to $845 billion. And the only way to raise that kind of money, Sachs has written, is through a global tax, preferably on carbon-emitting fossil fuels."

A UN controlled global tax has long been a cherished goal of the elite and they have attempted to piggy-back it on numerous different pretexts, most recently via a global carbon tax on fuel, a move that was advanced at the recent summit in Bali.
During the summit, over one hundred prominent scientists signed a letter dismissing the move as a futile bureaucratic scheme which will diminish prosperity and increase human suffering.

In 2005, former French President Jacques Chirac called for the imposition of a global tax to finance the fight against AIDS.

Perfectly happy with giving Bush carte blanche to continue illegal spying on American citizens with the passage of this week's telecom immunity bill, the Senate seems destined to rubber stamp legislation that would lead to a global carbon tax.

President Bush has overseen the biggest increase in foreign aid since the Marshall Plan and is highly unlikely to veto the bill if it is passed.

Contact the Senate and voice your opposition to this bill. Call the switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and asked to be connected to the office of your Senator.

[graffex]

What a load of horseshit...

Global poverty isn't our problem, aids in other 3rd world countries because they're uncivilized and like to go around humping like rabbits isn't our problem.

I love how the useless UN is always trying to push it's agenda of banning guns and making the world one big utopia :rolleyes: We need to worry about ourselves and ourselves alone, that means packing up our shit and leaving the UN. The last thing we need to be doing is paying some ridiculous tax to the corrupt UN to tell us what we need to do.

[losbronces]

what's the number of the bill in question

This doesn't sound real to me. As for small arms, machetes made from old car and truck leaf springs have killed and maimed a lot of people in Africa and that is not going to stop any time soon. Poverty isn't likely to end either when 'traditional lifestyles' are being preserved.

[Hootiewho]

what's the number of the bill in question

This doesn't sound real to me. As for small arms, machetes made from old car and truck leaf springs have killed and maimed a lot of people in Africa and that is not going to stop any time soon. Poverty isn't likely to end either when 'traditional lifestyles' are being preserved.


Here you go, it is real.
http://http://www.borgenproject.org/globalpovertyact.html

[tugsus]

I read the bill and didn't see anything dealing with arms.

Here it is:

S. 2433: Global Poverty Act of 2007
Bill Status
Introduced: Dec 7, 2007
Sponsor: Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL]
Status: Introduced
Go to Bill Status Page
You are viewing the following version of this bill:

Introduced in Senate: This is the original text of the bill as it was written by its sponsor and submitted to the House for consideration.

Text of Legislation
S 2433 IS

110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2433
To require 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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 7, 2007

Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. HAGEL, and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL
To require 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.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Global Poverty Act of 2007'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) More than 1,000,000,000 people worldwide live on less than $1 per day, and another 1,600,000,000 people struggle to survive on less than $2 per day, according to the World Bank.

(2) At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, the United States joined more than 180 other countries in committing to work toward goals to improve life for the world's poorest people by 2015.

(3) The year 2007 marks the mid-point to the Millennium Development Goals deadline of 2015.

(4) The United Nations Millennium Development Goals include the goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, that live on less than $1 per day, cutting in half the proportion of people suffering from hunger and unable to access safe drinking water and sanitation, reducing child mortality by two-thirds, ensuring basic education for all children, and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria, while sustaining the environment upon which human life depends.

(5) On March 22, 2002, President George W. Bush stated: `We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror. We fight against poverty because opportunity is a fundamental right to human dignity. We fight against poverty because faith requires it and conscience demands it. We fight against poverty with a growing conviction that major progress is within our reach.'.

(6) The 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States notes: `[A] world where some live in comfort and plenty, while half of the human race lives on less than $2 per day, is neither just nor stable. Including all of the world's poor in an expanding circle of development and opportunity is a moral imperative and one of the top priorities of U.S. international policy.'.

(7) The 2006 National Security Strategy of the United States notes: `America's national interests and moral values drive us in the same direction: to assist the world's poor citizens and least developed nations and help integrate them into the global economy.'.

(8) The bipartisan Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States recommends: `A comprehensive United States strategy to counter terrorism should include economic policies that encourage development, more open societies, and opportunities for people to improve the lives of their families and enhance prospects for their children.'.

(9) At the summit of the Group of Eight (G-8) nations in July 2005, leaders from all eight participating countries committed to increase aid to Africa from the current $25,000,000,000 annually to $50,000,000,000 by 2010, and to cancel 100 percent of the debt obligations owed to the World Bank, African Development Bank, and International Monetary Fund by 18 of the world's poorest nations.

(10) At the United Nations World Summit in September 2005, the United States joined more than 180 other governments in reiterating their commitment to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

(11) The United States has recognized the need for increased financial and technical assistance to countries burdened by extreme poverty, as well as the need for strengthened economic and trade opportunities for those countries, through significant initiatives in recent years, including the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.), the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, and trade preference programs for developing countries, such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.).

(12) In January 2006, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice initiated a restructuring of the United States foreign assistance program, including the creation of a Director of Foreign Assistance, who maintains authority over Department of State and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) foreign assistance funding and programs.

(13) In January 2007, the Department of State's Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance added poverty reduction as an explicit, central component of the overall goal of United States foreign assistance. The official goal of United States foreign assistance is: `To help build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that respond to the needs of their people, reduce widespread poverty and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system.'.

(14) Economic growth and poverty reduction are more successful in countries that invest in the people, rule justly, and promote economic freedom. These principles have become the core of several development programs of the United States Government, such as the Millennium Challenge Account.

SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

It is the policy of the United States to promote 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.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.

(a) Strategy- The President, acting through the Secretary of State, and in consultation with the heads of other appropriate departments and agencies of the United States Government, international organizations, international financial institutions, the governments of developing and developed countries, United States and international nongovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, and other appropriate entities, shall 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.

(b) Content- The strategy required by subsection (a) shall include specific and measurable goals, efforts to be undertaken, benchmarks, and timetables to achieve the objectives described in subsection (a).

(c) Components- The strategy required by subsection (a) should include the following components:

(1) Continued investment or involvement in existing United States initiatives related to international poverty reduction, such as the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7601 et seq.), the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), and trade preference programs for developing countries, such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.).

(2) Improving the effectiveness of development assistance and making available additional overall United States assistance levels as appropriate.

(3) Enhancing and expanding debt relief as appropriate.

(4) Leveraging United States trade policy where possible to enhance economic development prospects for developing countries.

(5) Coordinating efforts and working in cooperation with developed and developing countries, international organizations, and international financial institutions.

(6) Mobilizing and leveraging the participation of businesses, United States and international nongovernmental organizations, civil society, and public-private partnerships.

(7) Coordinating the goal of poverty reduction with other development goals, such as combating the spread of preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, increasing access to potable water and basic sanitation, reducing hunger and malnutrition, and improving access to and quality of education at all levels regardless of gender.

(8) Integrating principles of sustainable development and entrepreneurship into policies and programs.

(d) Reports-

(1) INITIAL REPORT-

(A) IN GENERAL- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting through the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the strategy required under subsection (a).

(B) CONTENT- The report required under subparagraph (A) shall include the following elements:

(i) A description of the strategy required under subsection (a).

(ii) An evaluation, to the extent possible, both proportionate and absolute, of the contributions provided by the United States and other national and international actors in achieving 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.

(iii) An assessment of the overall progress toward achieving 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.

(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS- Not later than December 31, 2012, and December 31, 2015, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees reports on the status of the implementation of the strategy, progress made in achieving the global poverty reduction objectives described in subsection (a), and any changes to the strategy since the date of the submission of the last report.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES- The term `appropriate congressional committees' means--

(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(2) EXTREME GLOBAL POVERTY- The term `extreme global poverty' refers to the conditions in which individuals live on less than $1 per day, adjusted for purchasing power parity in 1993 United States dollars, according to World Bank statistics.

(3) GLOBAL POVERTY- The term `global poverty' refers to the conditions in which individuals live on less than $2 per day, adjusted for purchasing power parity in 1993 United States dollars, according to World Bank statistics.

(4) MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS- The term `Millennium Development Goals' means the goals set out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, General Assembly Resolution 55/2 (2000).

[HCPrepper]

Last time I checked we had starving people in our own country, and people that didnt have a place to live, and of course we cant forget how many of us are without health care because we cant afford it.

Im not being an a$$ on purpose, but we need to concentrate on the problems we have here, and let the other countries deal with their own. It's a shame that these things happen in other countries, but we should not be made to flip the bill for it.

I stand the same as others do in this thought, you have to walk before you can run. If you dont want to starve, take your happy ass out of the damn desert, move to where the food is, get a job, work and provide same as I do, and others like me.

I also realize that some people are extremely less fornunate than we are in the great USA. Well sorry, guess I am lucky to live here and you are not.

It's been proven for thousands of years, if you want something bad enough, you will find a way to get it !

And taking small arms away from everyone, including nations, only invites some other a-hole nation to invade.

I can promise you one thing, the day may come when some other country feels like it might be able to invade us, I may die defending the great United States of America, and I may lose, but you will damn know I was there ;)

[KintlaLake]

This doesn't sound real to me.

Anything from something called "Blacklisted News" just begs for scrutiny, so...

Here's a link to the text of S.2433: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.2433:.

Here's a link to the text of the House version, H.R.1302 as it was referred to the Senate: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:3:./temp/~c110AVLjxl::.

Here's a link to 55/2. United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted in September of 2000: http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm.

In the declaration, the U.N. General Assembly resolves:


To take concerted action to end illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons, especially by making arms transfers more transparent and supporting regional disarmament measures, taking account of all the recommendations of the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons.

Finally, here's a link to a brochure published by the subsequent 2001 United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons: http://disarmament.un.org/cab/smallarms/brochure.htm.

Read and learn. :)

[losbronces]

This is just a bad bill, we are a net debtor nation though so how can we foot this bill I remember when most economists thought the Euro would never see a value of $1.00 and now its $1.50--almost every other currency is up significantly as well.

Maybe we can repudiate our foreign debts...

[scottp999]

According to the US Treasury and Office of Managment and Budget our federal government was 53 Trillion dollars in debt on 9/30/2007.

The Financial Report of the United States Government:

http://fms.treas.gov/fr/

Using that data and the Federal Reserve Z1 report, The Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States, you can derive that total debt is about 100 Trillion dollars when you add in State, local gov't, and individual debts.

Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/Releases/z1/

I wonder why the US Dollar is in the toilet bowl ready to be flushed? Lets create more debt.

:(

[KintlaLake]

I read the bill and didn't see anything dealing with arms.

Small arms aren't mentioned in the text of the legislation. At the very end (Sec. 5. Definitions) is this:


(4) MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS- The term `Millennium Development Goals' means the goals set out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, General Assembly Resolution 55/2 (2000).

So what we have here is pending U.S. Congressional legislation supporting the goals of an eight-year-old United Nations declaration supporting the recommendations of a United Nations conference that hadn't yet happened when the declaration was adopted.

:rolleyes:

[Hootiewho]

I mainly posted because I think it stupid to allocate tax money toward "ending world poverty". The majority of the world lives in poverty, it has been that way for centuries and will continue to be that way. No matter how much we try, as long as people in poor conditions continue to breed and have offspring, their conditions will only worsen; and there is not much we can do to change that. To take tax $ and spend on this cause will only push the taxpayer close to poverty himself. I realize it is a iffy news link, but it just goes to show what kind of agenda Obama has, and what kind of crap we get to look forward to if he is elected.

[RojasTKD]

Humm... Seems someone else saw Glen Beck tonight.

He did a segment about this.

[Paladin4415]

Will Congress never learn anything?

[_DR]

I didn't see anything about small arms in the text.

[_DR]

I mainly posted because I think it stupid to allocate tax money toward "ending world poverty". The majority of the world lives in poverty, it has been that way for centuries and will continue to be that way. No matter how much we try, as long as people in poor conditions continue to breed and have offspring, their conditions will only worsen; and there is not much we can do to change that. To take tax $ and spend on this cause will only push the taxpayer close to poverty himself. I realize it is a iffy news link, but it just goes to show what kind of agenda Obama has, and what kind of crap we get to look forward to if he is elected.

History has shown us that throwing money at poverty only enriches the corrupt and powerful. Until the social problems and corrupt leadership are fixed, no amount of money will help, but may instead actually prolong the condition.

[Redmanfms]

Obama supporting global socialism!!!!!!

:eek:

Say it isn't so.....

;)



Yup, saw it on Glenn Beck as well. I heard about it last December and just added it to the long list of reasons I don't like Obama.

Some of the more interesting portions of the UN Millenium Declaration:

• To adopt, preferably by the time of that Conference, a policy of duty- and quota-free access for essentially all exports from the least developed countries;

• To implement the enhanced programme of debt relief for the heavily indebted poor countries without further delay and to agree to cancel all official bilateral debts of those countries in return for their making demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction; and

• To grant more generous development assistance, especially to countries that are genuinely making an effort to apply their resources to poverty reduction.

Makes one wonder why unions are supporting Obama, doesn't it?????

My personal favorites:

• To ensure that the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies, in conformity with recommendations contained in the ECOSOC 2000 Ministerial Declaration, are available to all.

Read: You industrialized nations may have spent the massive sums on R&D toward new technologies, but you must surrender your patents and copyrights for the betterment of the underprivileged. Nice.

• To stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies.

Chuckles. Equitable access. Sure.

[pistolman1974]

Obama might have introduced the legislation but it doesn't seem like the president is against it either.

5) On March 22, 2002, President George W. Bush stated: `We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror. We fight against poverty because opportunity is a fundamental right to human dignity. We fight against poverty because faith requires it and conscience demands it. We fight against poverty with a growing conviction that major progress is within our reach.'.

12) In January 2006, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice initiated a restructuring of the United States foreign assistance program, including the creation of a Director of Foreign Assistance, who maintains authority over Department of State and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) foreign assistance funding and programs.

They are already making prepartaions for a bill that is not law yet. I think bush is going to sign this into law before he leaves office.

[Redmanfms]

Obama might have introduced the legislation but it doesn't seem like the president is against it either.




Read the 22nd Amendment and get back to us......

The "Oh, oh, Bush is doing things almost sorta similar" argument is weak obfuscation and most of us would be displeased and add to the list of things he has done we don't like even if he signed it, but thank you for playing.

[pistolman1974]

Read the 22nd Amendment and get back to us......

The "Oh, oh, Bush is doing things almost sorta similar" argument is weak obfuscation and most of us would be displeased and add to the list of things he has done we don't like even if he signed it, but thank you for playing.


First of all, You missed my point I never said that Bush is doing something similar, I said that he is agreeing. The 22nd amendment has nothing to do with this discussion. This is not about him anymore, its about the next president that we desparetely want to be a republican.

Rule #1 of politics...don't piss off your base! It's bad for the party and people tend to leave the party when that happens.

Look at how close the Democrates are to a possible melt down if things don't go right in Denver.

Now to clearly make my point, since you missed it the first time, both parties have demonstrated the ability to do dumb sh**. Don't just blame one.

[gyp_c2]

...I think it's just the UN trying to get us to voluntarily pay them 3/4 of a trillion for whatever they see fit to spend it on...including who deserves to control the ebb and flow of arms around the world, probably in space too...http://emoticons4u.com/smoking/rauch06.gif