I said I wouldn’t deal with politics in my blog but I just can’t let this one pass.
Its been an ongoing problem. Diplomats to the UN don’t pay their parking tickets. Now someone at a couple of liberal universities (Columbia and Berkeley) have decided that the reason some countries don’t pay their bills is that they don’t think the Bush administration is a legitimate one. HUH
Take a look at he list — Japan, Canada, UK, UAE, all paid all their tickets, along with 20 odd others. However the worst among the offenders were two countries that should be our best friends. Kuwait, who we saved from destruction in 1991 and Egypt, who receives the most in foreign aid from the US of any country on earth.
Eleven of the top 15 (not including Egypt and Kuwait) are from Africa and have a history of unchecked corruption, at least according to the article. So what does whether or not a country "likes" the US make any difference?
What made a difference was that in 2002 the US government working with the city of New York told the diplomats at the UN if they didn’t park properly and pay their fines, they would not be issued diplomatic plates. Guess what, the problem virtually went away. Nearly 90% of the tickets are paid and the number of tickets has reduced dramatically.
Just another drive by attack on government that makes no sense at all.
J
