Bush’s toilet bowl treaty

When State Department Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger III gave a controversial June 6 speech on the subject of “The United States and International Law,” he mentioned that the Bush Administration had “put forward a priority list of over 35 treaty packages that we have urged the Senate to approve soon, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.” The latter is now up for Senate ratification, with a vote scheduled on Wednesday, and one of its many controversial provisions is the regulation of land-based sources of pollution. This treaty covers the water and the land. But now we have discovered that the Bush Administration has asked the Senate to ratify a treaty that defines one of those land-based sources of pollution as toilet flushing. No kidding. Read more

What ever happened to cost neutral?

The new Rangel-Pelosi tax plan, like just about every new and improved tax plan since 1913, is being sold to us as “revenue neutral.” The concept of revenue neutrality with taxation is that for every dollar cut from one group’s taxes, a dollar will be added to another group’s taxes somewhere, thus keeping the total revenue stream theoretically unchanged. Read more

Challenges remain for airport security

Within the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration’s mission is to protect the nation’s transportation network. Read more

Senate Republicans may sink Bush’s U.N. treaty

Can the U.N.’s Law of the Sea Treaty not only be delayed but defeated outright in the Senate? That’s the question that conservatives are delightfully pondering as a remarkable series of events has put the pact, supported by the Bush Administration and the liberal leadership in the Senate, in serious jeopardy. Perhaps the most significant development is the announcement by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that he will oppose the White House and vote against the treaty. Read more

Blowing the whistle on U.N. corruption

On the eve of a Senate vote on the U.N.’s Law of the Sea Treaty, a former senior staffer in one of the key institutions created by the treaty says that U.S. senators should have the complete and honest truth about mismanagement and financial corruption there. The International Seabed Authority, which is one of the main organizations created by the treaty, stands to receive millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars if the Senate ratifies the pact. Read more

Why President Bush sided with Mexican killers

The U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing of the case, Medellin v. Texas, has reminded the American people of President Bush’s terrible tendency to put the foreign interests of Mexico above those of the United States. But the case, being heard on October 10, is significant for another reason. It demonstrates the dangers of passing global treaties and getting involved with international courts and tribunals. The Senate should remember this lesson as it ponders ratification of the U.N.’s Law of the Sea Treaty, which creates an International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and various “dispute resolution panels” that will inevitably rule and act against the U.S. The Senate could vote on this treaty shortly and the odds are that it will pass unless the American people voice their objections immediately and vociferously. Read more

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