As I warned a few months ago in my "Are You Ready for Hundreds of Billions of Dollars of New, UN-inspired Foreign Aid Spending?" article, Senator Obama's Global Poverty Act of 2007 (S. 2433) would prepare the way for hundreds of billions of dollars of new foreign aid spending in support of the UN's Millennium Development Goals over the next seven years or so. Now that the Senate is reconvening for another few weeks before the November elections, it is highly likely that S. 2433 will be brought to a vote on the Senate floor this month. The House version of this bill has already been passed by voice vote late in 2007.

There'll be a lot of motivation for the Democrats to get S. 2433 passed before the presidential election because it would help minimize the criticism that Obama has little legislation to his credit. In fact the official platform of the Democratic Party National Convention indirectly endorses Obama's bill when it states on page 40, "It is time to make the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, which aim to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015, America's goals as well."

But there'll be an even greater impetus for passage of Obama's S. 2433 in September. The UN has scheduled a meeting they refer to as a "High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals" at UN Headquarters in New York on September 25, 2008. The UN meeting has been specifically scheduled to help get those nations who haven't lived up to their global anti-poverty promises made at UN conferences, such as the United States, to get with the program and start forking over hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid to underdeveloped nations. Here's how the UN describes their "High-level Event":

The UN Secretary-General and the President of the UN General Assembly will convene a High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals at UN Headquarters in New York on 25 September 2008. At the halfway point towards the target date, significant progress has been made, but urgent and increased efforts are needed by all stakeholders in order to meet the Goals by 2015. The High-level Event will be a forum for world leaders to review progress, identify gaps, and commit to concrete efforts, resources and mechanisms to bridge the gaps. By asking world leaders to announce their specific plans and proposals, the High-level Event will help accelerate implementation and follow-through.

Passage of S. 2433 before this special UN conference convenes would be a high-profile way for the internationalists in both of our major political parties to assure the UN that the U.S. is still committed to the UN's Millennium Devlopment Goals.

Remember there is no authorization in the Constitution for foreign aid. And, as the movie "I.O.U.S.A." makes so clear, the U.S. is already in the hole for $55 trillion of national debt and unfunded liabilities. Why add another $1 trillion for this UN program when we can't even afford the social security and medicare programs for our own citizens.

Based on the above discussion, a Senate vote on S. 2433 before Sept. 25 is highly likely. If you oppose committing our nation to spending hundreds of billions of dollars in support of UN global anti-poverty goals, you need to let your Senators know immediately, preferably by both email and phone!

Click here to send an editable, pre-written email message of opposition to your Senators. Click here for phone and other contact information for your Senators.

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