The 600,000-dollar kitchen or why the UN is still relevant to the US

Yahoo! ^ | Wednesday, April 2, 2003 | AFP

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will pay 600,000 dollars to renovate the kitchen at the residence of the US ambassador to the United Nations in a sign the world body may be relevant to Washington despite the imbroglio over Iraq.

Officials said Wednesday the State Department has approved the expenditure at the request of the envoy, John Negroponte, who had asked for the funds to remodel and expand the kitchen at the apartment in New York's famed Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

"Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it's a lot of work and it's worth it," said one department official, who like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We're in this for the long haul," the official said of continued US participation in the United Nations in the face of its failure to meet President George W. Bush's challenge to disarm Iraq or lose relevance and go the way of the now-defunct League of Nations.

Negroponte, who succeeds such renowned US diplomats as Henry Cabot Lodge, Adlai Stevenson, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Madeleine Albright in the UN post as well as the Waldorf residence, had complained that the 10- by 17-foot (three- by five-meter) kitchen was simply too small to accommodate the needs of guests at the multitude of functions he hosts, the officials said.

[Willie Green]

"I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a national blessing, but rather a curse to a republic; inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country."

-- President Andrew Jackson - (1824)

[eureka!]

Amazing. 600 large for a 170 sq. ft. kitchen. Not a good sign. *sigh*

[Adrastus]

I don't give a d*** how much is spent on the U.N. It will never be anything but a waste of time and space. It has never accomplished anything and no amount of paint will make the old hooker look like anything else.

[thegreatbeast]

The State Department would approve flushing the money down the toilet too. That means nothing. Bush should squash this but won't.

[Tunehead54]

Yeow! Could we see an itemized breakdown please?

---

I smell some $600.00 spatulas!

[conserv13]

did they use a competitive bid system for this estimate?

[from occupied ga]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will pay 600,000 dollars to renovate the kitchen at the residence of the US ambassador to the United Nations in a sign the world body may be relevant to Washington despite the imbroglio over Iraq.

I have to scrimp and save, and these a$$holes squander $600k on a kitchen to keep themselves in the lap of luxury. No wonder taxes are at an all time high with these jerks treating themselves to every imaginable luxury at my expense.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

$600,000 for a kitchen and they'll still order the Waldorf Salad from room service.

(Just another reason we should be out of the U.N.)

[eureka!]

I join in your comments, disgust and wishes. This is effin' obscene....

[sharkhawk]

Negroponte, who succeeds such renowned US diplomats as Henry Cabot Lodge, Adlai Stevenson, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Madeleine Albright in the UN post as well as the Waldorf residence

They mention this mental midget and not Jeanne Kirkpatrick. No Bias there.

[lilylangtree]

Well maybe ole Kofi can stick his head in the UN oven like Rene Descartes and utter the same profound words "I think therefore I am!"

[expatpat]

IMO we should reduce the State Department's budget by $600,000. I'm pretty sure that Powell had to approve this expenditure.

[eureka!]

Good idea. Won't happen. *sigh again*

[Servant of the Nine]

all our ambasador needs to do is answer the phone from Washington, and then go over and cast the occasional VETO in the security council to keep them from getting out of hand. We should make no other apearances nor have any other dealings with that band of thieves. We should definitely never socialize with them.

So9

[RolandBurnam]

Why can't this be done for $60,000 ? More than half a million for a kitchen.

[Fraulein]

U.S. Will Pay an Extra $100 Million in Increased UN Dues NEXT YEAR

[Fraulein]

"Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it's a lot of work and it's worth it," said one department official, who like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity...

I say, no, it is not worth it, and, bureaucrats, reveal yourselves!

[from occupied ga]

Why can't this be done for $60,000 ? More than half a million for a kitchen.

Because the taxpayers are paying for it. The jerks who benefit don't have the slightest incentive to be frugal, after all that is one of the biggest incentives to be in government. You get to spend other peoples' money and don't have to work for it.

[rrrod]

IM GETTING A REAL BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS UN STUFF LATELY...IS THE GOP TAKING US FOR GRANTIED???I HOPE NOT ,,IM GETTING REAL P.O.'D AT ALL OF THIS IVE READ TODAY

[Psycho_Bunny]

$600,000.00?

W T F ?!?!?