Henry Hyde comes through again.

From David R. Sands in The Washington Times comes the story of what would be the only effective wake up call for the kleptocrats of New York's peculiar institution.

The Bush administration warned Congress yesterday to drop a threat to withhold dues to the United Nations as a way to spur reform of the world body, saying the tactic would prove counterproductive.

The dues threat is the centerpiece of a wide-ranging U.N. overhaul bill that the House of Representatives began debating yesterday afternoon.

The bill -- co-sponsored by House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Republican -- would hold up to half of the U.S. annual payment to the world body if more than three dozen administrative and management reforms are not adopted.

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns called the provision "unacceptable."

"It would diminish our effectiveness and not allow us to play the leading role that we need to play on reform," he said.

The administration stopped short of a veto threat on a bill that faces uncertain prospects, but the White House echoed Mr. Burns, releasing a list of objections to the Hyde bill.

The United States is the largest single contributor to the United Nations, paying nearly a quarter of the world body's $2 billion regular operating budget and 27 percent of its peacekeeping costs.

Supporters of the Hyde bill argued on the House floor yesterday that the dues threat was the only way to get the United Nations' attention in the wake of scandals such as the Iraq oil-for-food program and abuses by U.N. peacekeeping troops.

"Yes, this is radical surgery, but sometimes it is the only way to save the patient," Mr. Hyde said.

With all due respect Mr. Bush, go back to fighting the war and leave the rest to the conservatives like Mr. Hyde.