Frank Gaffney on Global Taxation

Steve Clemons and others on the left are having fun at Frank Gaffney’s expense for this:

Of particular concern is the prospect that the upcoming high-level plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly from September 14-16 will be used to implement various ideas for international taxes.

Mr. Gaffney is arguing that we need to approve the nomination of Mr. Bolton to the UN.

To be fair to Mr. Gaffney, the UN proposal is something I had not even thought about. Gaffney opposes the idea, but let me off a case for it. President Bush has declared a Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) to combat Al Qaeda (OK, the invasion of Iraq was an incredible blunder, but that’s for another discussion). The benefits of GWOT would accrue to citizens in all nations (e.g., the UK which had to endure another terrorist incident today). In a similar vein as Prime Minister Blair’s plea for international cooperation in addressing the problem of global warming, an internationally coordinated effort to fund GWOT might address the problem of free riding.

I trust Mr. Gaffney agrees that the world community needs to do more to combat Al Qaeda’s terrorism. I also trust Mr. Gaffney does not think money grows on trees (even if this proposition seems to lie at the heart of free lunch supply-side dogma). I hope Mr. Gaffney is not proposing that the U.S. free ride GWOT the way we have ignored Kyoto. Rather than mock Mr. Gaffney, why don’t we liberals ask him how the world should fund GWOT?