Reply #14: I think your answer is in all of these responses [View All]

I don't believe Putin is thinking too deeply about how the smirking chimp feels about this decision. He's got money in oil, he's got buddies with money in oil, it's one of the few reliable ways to accumulate wealth in Russia. So he's simply protecting his own interests. The dollar is in global decline, the prospects for US economic recovery are dismal, while the euro is shaping up quite nicely. If Putin ties Russia's oil market to the US$ and the dollar continues to tank, that's money out of his pocket. Pretty simple matter of self-interest, I think.

This is more bad news for the US economic picture, not because there's a direct impact on our economy as a result of the pricing of Russian oil, but because it's more evidence of the crumbling confidence in the US economic engine around the globe. BushCo may have assumed that Putin would have gone with the dollar out of fear or obligation, but it's clear that Putin fears monkey boy not at all, and he's not obligated to us because we have done practically nothing to help Russia with their own economic woes. Smirky was too busy looking into Putin's soul... he should have been looking into his investment portfolio.