Putin ready to give Bush the finger - whoopee!

Ya think it may just be pay-back time? As if the dollar was not in enough trouble as is. This could be the final nail in the coffin.

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2003/10/10/001.html

<snip>
President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Russia could switch its trade in oil from dollars to euros, a move that could have far-reaching repercussions for the global balance of power -- potentially hurting the U.S. dollar and economy and providing a massive boost to the euro zone.

<snip>
A move by Russia, as the world's second largest oil exporter, to trade oil in euros, could provoke a chain reaction among other oil producers currently mulling a switch and would further boost the euro's gradually growing share of global currency reserves.

That would be a huge boon to the euro zone economy and potentially catastrophic for the United States. Dollar-based global oil trade now gives the United States carte blanche to print dollars without sparking inflation -- to fund huge expenses on wars, military build-ups, and consumer spending, as well as cut taxes and run up huge trade deficits.

Almost two-thirds of the world's currency reserves are kept in dollars, since oil importers pay in dollars and oil exporters keep their reserves in the currency they are paid in. This effectively provides the U.S. economy with an interest-free loan, as these dollars can be invested back into the U.S. economy with zero currency risk.

If a Russian move to the euro were to prompt other oil producers to do the same, it could be a "catastrophe" for the United States, Ibrahim said. "There are already a number of countries within OPEC that would prefer to trade in euros."

maybe a devaluation of the dollar against foreign currencies to balance the level of trade with China. This is a very polar issue! And we are switching currencies again???

if (when, OH, GOD, PLEASE, WHEN) we do get rid of duckanus then those troubles will be on the plate of a Democratic president. I love my country, served (Navy) in Pacific during Nam, and I find myself hoping for bad things to happen to the US, BECAUSE I DETEST THE THUGS IN OFFICE, but I hate myself for it.
What the neocons have done is to accelerate the natural tendencies of the rest of the world to work together to counter-balance the power of the US. That can't be underestimated. But we can't cut off our noses to spite our faces. We've got to look in the mirror post-duckanus.
The one thing that I really fear is that the fundies will start something to bring on biblical prophacies as spiteful last act.

This could motivate Senators to vote for drilling in ANWR.

I feel the same way.

Consider this - where would more damage be done?
A second Bush term?
Or a few years of economic instability?

I'll take Door #2!

Hard to read this.

There are those who think that the Bushes wouldn't care all that much if W. lost in 2004 -- they've gigged the system, raided the Treasury, raped the taxpayer, ruined a lot of stuff. They can come back and do it again. (Of course, with the wonderful voting machines, they can do it again starting in 2005 without any "luck" at all.)

There are those who think the AIM is to decimate the U.S. and bring it down to Third World status economically. The globalists would love it. Cheap labor right here at home and oh so many other benefits.

Who else benefits if the U.S. economy tanks? Holders of gold and other precious metals, I would imagine. I was shocked to learn yesterday that gold is currently up to $370. For a lotta years the price of gold has been artificially managed and controlled. I remember gold hitting (IIRC) somewhere around $600 an ounce back in the 70s. Someone, somewhere, put a stop to all THAT nonsense and its fluctuations have been across a very narrow range, comparatively speaking. So to see it at $370 means to me (just speculatively) that were it allowed to float freely, as it did in the 70s, it would probably be at $600 or even well above to $1200. Just a guess on my part.

GHWBush left office and immediately got employed (on the board??) by Barrick Gold of Canada. And we all remember that he went to visit Putin just a few weeks ago.

OTOH, when bullies go too far, they do finally provoke resistance from those in a position to provide that resistance. Maybe Putin's move is just that: a poke in the eye, a way to weaken Bush further in order to get him out of office.


Eloriel

(by sinking the U.S. economy).