To Shield Taxpayers from Luxury Trips and Corporate Scams, Defund the U.N.

"Listening to grave pronouncements of U.N. officials these last few weeks, things certainly don't sound pretty. Proposed budget cuts to the organization would make operations "impossible," and planned U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement spells a death knell for Mother Earth. But this alarmism is just a diversion away from the very real problems plaguing the United Nations. And by providing $8 billion a year to the organization, U.S. taxpayers are forced to enable the United Nations' epic dysfunction and incompetence.

Some of the organization's problems are run-of-the-mill bureaucratic malaise. Like any government body, there's little incentive for the United Nations to find the most cost-efficient solution. Few were surprised in 2015, for instance, when the Government Accountability Office released a report detailing the United Nations' extensive cost and schedule overruns in renovating its headquarters in New York City.

Bureaucrats barely blinked an eye, despite a three-year delay and $380 million in unanticipated costs. Other shenanigans, however, fall below taxpayers' already-low standards for the United Nations.

Last month, for example, the Associated Press reported that World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan splurged on hotel accommodations during a trip to Guinea. After honoring the achievements of poorly paid WHO workers in combating the Ebola virus, Dr. Chan retired to the luxurious, top-tier presidential suite at the oceanside Palm Camayenne Hotel. Thousands of dollars were put on the organization's credit card, and U.S. taxpayers by extension were bilked for the luxury getaway.

But this outrageous bill was only the tip of the iceberg; WHO-wide travel expenses in 2016 tallied more than $200 million for the 7,000 staff employees. By way of comparison, this figure exceeds the combined total that the WHO spent on fighting AIDS and hepatitis ($70.5 million), malaria ($61 million), and tuberculosis ($59 million) during that year..."