Apparently, the Obama White House is none too pleased with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s referring to the United States as a “deadbeat” nation for being behind on its U.N. dues.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs responded in the daily briefing today: “I would note for the Secretary-General that his word choice was unfortunate, given the fact that the American taxpayer is the largest contributor to the United Nations.”

“Given the contribution that the American taxpayer makes,” Gibbs said, it “would be appropriate to acknowledge that role.”

For those of us who worked for Sen. Jesse Helms, the exchange brought back fond memories of the late Foreign Relations Committee Chairman’s visit to the U.N. in 2000, where he became the first legislator of any nation ever to address the world body.

Sitting in the United States seat at the Security Council table, Helms declared:

The American people … have grown increasingly frustrated with what they feel is a lack of gratitude. Now I won’t delve into every point of frustration, but let’s touch for just a moment on one – the “deadbeat” charge. … Last year, the American people contributed a total of more than $1.4 billion dollars to the U.N. system in assessments and voluntary contributions. The American taxpayers also spent an additional $8,779,000,000 from the United States’ military budget to support various U.N. resolutions and peacekeeping operations around the world. Let me repeat that figure: $8,779,000,000. That means that last year (1999) alone the American people have furnished precisely $10,179,000,000 to support the work of the United Nations. No other nation on earth comes even close to matching that singular investment. So you can see why many Americans reject the suggestion that theirs is a ‘deadbeat’ nation.

You can read the whole speech here.

I never imagined I would hear such Helmsian rhetoric emanating from the Obama White House . . .