Soncat News's Library tagged Politics →  View Popular

"Never in the history of the United Nations have bold decisions been more necessary," remarked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the 60th anniversary of the signing of the U.N. Charter in 2005.1 In an ironic way, Annan is correct: The need to make bold decisions about the proper role and moral purpose of the U.N. has never been more acute.

The esteem in which the American public holds the U.N. is sinking. In the opinion of an increasing number of Americans, the U.N. not only assaults U.S. national sovereignty but also is a corrupt and incompetent organization. A June 2005 survey by pollster Scott Rasmussen found 42 percent of Americans held an unfavorable view of the U.N.2 In February 2006, Gallup's World Affairs survey found a near-historical low of only 30 percent of Americans surveyed agreeing that the United Nations is doing "a good job in trying to solve the problems it has had to face."3 Similarly, the Pew Global Attitudes Project found Americans' support for the U.N. at its lowest level in 14 years.4

What explains Americans' increasingly unfavorable view of the U.N. are an embarrassing and alarming number of serious scandals. The U.N. has been embroiled in an unprecedented degree of controversy in recent years, including the Oil-for-Food scandal, widespread sexual abuse by U.N. peace workers and a record of ineffectually protecting basic human rights. These scandals show that the U.N. is a deeply flawed organization in desperate need of serious reform.

What are the major issues before Congress and who's trying to influence the decisions? What are the special interests looking to get? We've got it all here in a concise, easy-to-follow format.

What are the major issues before Congress and who's trying to influence the decisions? What are the special interests looking to get? We've got it all here in a concise, easy-to-follow format.

February 17, 2006 | To rehabilitate a nation he has diagnosed as “addicted to oil,” President Bush has proposed a number of initiatives to spark alternative energy development. His proposals, outlined in this year’s State of the Union address and his 2007 budget, mark a surprising shift in attitude given the president and Vice President Cheney’s ties to the oil and gas industry that once employed them. Although Big Oil and its alternative little sisters share an objective—to provide energy to the nation’s consumers—campaign finance records indicate they could not be more different politically.

The oil and gas industry, currently enjoying record profits, has contributed more than $186 million to political candidates and parties since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. About 75 percent of the industry’s contributions went to Republicans. Exxon Mobil Corp., which reported the highest profit in U.S. history just before Bush’s January address to Congress, and ChevronTexaco are two of the all-time top contributors to political campaigns.

March 08, 2006 | To raise money for his congressional campaign in Minnesota, Tim Walz first had to learn how to sell himself. It’s a skill he didn’t have much need for in 24 years as a national guardsman, but, he realized, one for which his day job as a high school teacher equipped him.

“I sell things everyday,” said Walz, a Democratic challenger to 1st District Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht. “I have to sell geometry every day to kids.”

Walz is one of at least 14 servicemen and women from the most recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars to have enlisted for a U.S. House or Senate run this year. Veterans of battle but not of politics, these novice candidates must apply their overseas experiences toward a strategy for fundraising and campaigning that will lead them to victory in November.