THIS IS relevant

[tailfins]

If the UN wants to sponsor stuff like this, they don't need any of our money.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/16/un-agency-funded-with-saudi-money-wants-to-edit-worldwide-textbooks/

[Kathianne]

If the UN wants to sponsor stuff like this, they don't need any of our money.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/16/un-agency-funded-with-saudi-money-wants-to-edit-worldwide-textbooks/

The UN outlived its usefulness for the US 40 years ago or more.

[CSM]

From the article:

"
The Obama administration cut funding to UNESCO in October 2011 after a majority of its members voted to grant the Palestinians full membership. U.S. law mandated the cut.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/16/un-agency-funded-with-saudi-money-wants-to-edit-worldwide-textbooks/#ixzz29aAD4Ofz

[Kathianne]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/obamas-budgets-surprise-restore-unesco-funding/2012/02/16/gIQA9eckHR_blog.html


Posted at 10:19 AM ET, 02/16/2012 <!-- For AP News Registry --> TheWashingtonPost <!-- /For AP News Registry --> Obama’s budget’s surprise: Restore UNESCO funding! By Jennifer Rubin (http://www.washingtonpost.com/jennifer-rubin/2011/02/24/ABbIUXN_page.html)

A sharp-eyed blogger alerted me to one more outrageous request in the Obama budget: Refunding of UNESCO. The chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), blasts (http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press_display.asp?id=2211) the decision to restart funding for the group whose funds were cut off when it unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state:

The Palestinian leadership’s dangerous statehood scheme at the UN was dealt a significant blow last year after the U.S. cut off funding to UNESCO due to its admission of ‘Palestine.’ Now, the Administration is requesting to resume funding to UNESCO, despite the fact that it includes ‘Palestine’ as a member. Resuming U.S. funding would give a green light for other UN bodies to follow in UNESCO’s footsteps and support the Palestinian statehood push.
I am deeply disappointed that, rather than standing up for U.S. law and for our key ally, Israel, the Administration is seeking to remove this roadblock to the unilateral recognition of a ‘Palestinian state.’


Any effort to walk back this funding cutoff will pave the way for the Palestinian leadership’s unilateral statehood scheme to drive on, and sends a disastrous message that the U.S. will fund UN bodies no matter what irresponsible decisions they make.

The request isn’t a mere oversight (Oops, oh yes, we cut those funds last year!). Instead, there is a deliberate scheme to get Congress to reinstate the funds. Ros-Lehtinen’s press release notes: “ ‘A footnote to page 52 of the Executive Budget Summary for Function 150 and Other International Programs states that “The Department of State intends to work with Congress to seek legislation that would provide authority to waive restrictions on paying the U.S. assessed contributions to UNESCO. Should the Congress pass this legislation, this funding is sufficient to cover the FY 2013 UNESCO assessment and the balance of the FY 2012 assessment.’ ”...



Think Progress still carries water:

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/11/990791/unesco-crippled-by-us-cuts/?mobile=nc


United Nations Cultural Organization ‘Crippled’ By U.S. Funding Cuts (http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/11/990791/unesco-crippled-by-us-cuts/) By Hayes Brown (http://thinkprogress.org/author/hbrown/) on Oct 11, 2012 at 1:15 pm

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is reeling after the United States abruptly cut funding to the organization last year. The cuts came following a vote by UNESCO’s Member States to allow Palestine to join the organization as a full member. In response, the United States, which provides about 22 percent of the UNESCO budget, cancelled its allocation to the U.N. body.


The result of these cuts has been that the organization has been “crippled” (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/11/us-unesco-funding-idUSBRE89A0Q620121011), in the words of Director-General Irina Bokova. The U.S. assessment generally equals about $60 million, which is then allocated both to specific projects and general funding for the organization. As of March, the U.S. had withheld about $78 million (http://www.undispatch.com/funds-for-global-holocaust-education-cut-off-over-us-congress-fight-with-palestine), the total of its current dues and amounts previously owed. It’s also unlikely that the United States will pay its dues for 2012, normally handed over at the end of the year. The net outcome of the newly drawn pursestrings is a $150 million deficit in UNESCO’s budget across 2012 and 2013.


Ending UNESCO funding was not the decision of the Obama administration, but rather the implementation of a 1994 law (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/world/PLO-UN-legislation.pdf) that prohibits the United States from providing money to international organizations that accords Palestine the same rights as Member States. The administration has included funds for UNESCO in its Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Request [PDF] (http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/181061.pdf) hoping Congress will amend the law and released a memo (http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/11/14/state_still_making_the_case_for_unesco_funding) on the U.S. interests UNESCO membership bolsters: ...