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Ruble in Rubble
Author: BobR    Date: 12/17/2014 14:47:50

If there's one thing that both America and Russia know well, it's that war is a costly endeavor. Back in the Reagan-80s, we propped up the Taliban as the USSR tried to annex Afghanistan. Between the cost of that war and the faltering Soviet economy, everything collapsed and the USSR retreated back home to try and solve their own internal problems.

The U.S. felt that same pinch when we tried to colonalize Iraq. As the dollar figure on the weekly Ask A Vet blogs here on FourFreedomsBlog attest, we poured over 1.5 trillion dollars into the bottomless pit of Mideast war. We too have mostly left the area after a financial crisis that started in the fall of 2008, and recurs every time Congress can't decide whether to even fund the government.

It's only been about 8 months since Putin got shirtless on his horse and rode westward, annexing Crimea and making the move on Ukraine. At that time, Russia was flush with funds, and their economy was humming along. A funny thing happened on the way to Kiev, however. The price of oil started dropping... and dropping... and dropping... to the point now where gas is almost to $2.00/gal again. The problem for Russia is that their economy is heavily reliant on oil exports. As the price of oil drops, so does the value of Russia.

As does the ruble:
The Russian currency crashed to unprecedented lows Tuesday trading at 80 rubles to the dollar and 100 to the euro, testing Vladimir Putin’s ability to ride out both the economic storm and his clash with the West.

Moscow’s midnight move to raise interest rates to 17 percent failed to arrest the collapse of the currency. To make matters worse, the White House announced that US President Barack Obama plans to approve tightening sanctions against Moscow.

Western sanctions over the Kremlin’s support for the separatist insurgency in Ukraine have all but closed access to foreign borrowing for Russia and contributed to the crisis.

Some economists have predicted similar negative effects to our economy. However, ours is not so heavily dependent on oil. The oil-based companies will suffer losses, but we have very diverse industries contributing to our GDP. And in Russia's case, it's not all about the oil - it's also Russia's (Putin's) bad decisions, with regard to its neighbors and the whole "invasion" thing.

It's too bad for Putin too - he's had his eyes on Poland, and I'm sure he would like to add Hungary to his trophy collection. And waddaya know - Hungary is ripe for the picking:
A protest movement in Hungary over corruption and an increasingly pro-Russian leadership broke out this week, raising questions about whether the former communist nation is on the verge of becoming the next Ukraine. Hungary is more stable than Ukraine, which has been besieged by sectarian conflict for months, and seems less likely to fall into violent conflict, but growing anti-government demonstrations could become another battleground between Europe and Russia.

The wave of Hungarian protests is focused on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s increasingly pro-Russian governance. Many shouted “Europe, Europe!” at Monday’s “Public Outrage Day” protest and one protester told AFP demonstrators "don’t want Orban to take us towards Putin and Russia.” Others chanted for Orban to resign.

On the other hand:
While Hungary was never as close to Russia as Ukraine, an astounding 72 percent of Hungarians said in 2010 most Hungarians are worse off than they were under communist rule when they were intrinsically linked to Russia and the rest of the Eastern Bloc.

You have to know Putin is crying in his borscht over this. So near and yet so far... and expensive. What a lousy time for the ruble to go down the toilet. That's something that can give the pro-western protesters in Hungary a sigh of relief.
 

34 comments (Latest Comment: 12/17/2014 22:07:31 by wickedpam)
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Comments:

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Comment by wickedpam on 12/17/2014 14:25:11
Morning

Comment by TriSec on 12/17/2014 14:29:19
I swear, if I catch that perv comin' down my chimney again this year...
Has that guy got some weird fetishes, or what?

Comment by Scoopster on 12/17/2014 14:39:30
Mornin' all..

I thought it'd never happen, but I'd just like to thank Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Without your bullheaded and pointless whining for hours on end this past weekend, we wouldn't have been able to run out the cloture clock on a pile of judicial and executive nominations - which no doubt would have been held hostage even longer once the Goon Squad takes over the Senate in January.

Comment by BobR on 12/17/2014 14:48:27
BLOG IS POSTED

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/17/2014 14:59:34
Hello. Back from my time off.

Comment by Raine on 12/17/2014 15:12:01
good Morning!!

Comment by Scoopster on 12/17/2014 15:13:15
Man, I really need to change up the music on my phone or fix the audio in my work PC. I'm trying really hard not to use the data for radio streaming!

Comment by BobR on 12/17/2014 15:31:22
Comment by TriSec on 12/17/2014 15:39:50
BBC- USA, Cuba, sputter, flabbergast, speechless

Comment by Scoopster on 12/17/2014 15:41:48

Ya know, over the years I've heard from several people that Cuban cigars really aren't all that great. I suppose that could be true given the economic conditions and the embargo?

Comment by TriSec on 12/17/2014 15:50:51
Cigars? Bah! There is going to be such a resurgence in Cuban music and art on these shores!

Comment by Raine on 12/17/2014 15:58:22
I knew something bib was up when I heard they released Alon Gross this morning.

Comment by TriSec on 12/17/2014 16:34:53
[Sean Connery]
"Next, we sail for Havana...where the sun is warm, and so is the companionship!"
[/Red October]


Comment by Scoopster on 12/17/2014 16:52:19
Quote by TriSec:
[Sean Connery]
"Next, we sail for Havana...where the sun is warm, and so is the companionship!"
[/Red October]



Comment by BobR on 12/17/2014 16:52:40
Quote by TriSec:
[Sean Connery]
"Next, we sail for Havana...where the sun is warm, and so is the companionship!"
[/Red October]



Comment by Mondobubba on 12/17/2014 17:33:57
Comment by BobR on 12/17/2014 17:43:49

We have "normalized" relations with a lot of countries that treat their people horribly. Maintaining the embargo hasn't worked over the past 50 years - what makes him think keeping it in place is going to change anything in the future?

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/17/2014 18:03:30
Quote by BobR:

We have "normalized" relations with a lot of countries that treat their people horribly. Maintaining the embargo hasn't worked over the past 50 years - what makes him think keeping it in place is going to change anything in the future?



Dipshit is pandering the we hate Castro with all of life energy Cubans we have here. I find this odd because I heard something on the local NPR mosheen that Rubio was onboard with this. Which would make him a two faced,

Comment by Raine on 12/17/2014 18:11:59
Comment by Scoopster on 12/17/2014 18:23:50

“Just like any rape, you have to report it, and you have to prove it,” he said. “So you couldn't just go and say, ‘Oh yeah, I was raped,’ and get an abortion. It has to be a legitimate rape.

In other words, you can bring that rape pregnancy to term while you wait for the courts to decide if you're a filthy lying slut and/or whether you have domain over you own fucking body.



Comment by TriSec on 12/17/2014 18:47:28
Christmas with my Cuban mother in law just got a whole lot more interesting.

Thanks, Obama!

Comment by Raine on 12/17/2014 18:54:07
Quote by TriSec:
Christmas with my Cuban mother in law just got a whole lot more interesting.

Thanks, Obama!



Comment by BobR on 12/17/2014 19:04:40
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Christmas with my Cuban mother in law just got a whole lot more interesting.

Thanks, Obama!




Comment by Scoopster on 12/17/2014 19:13:14

Ehh I dunno I think he coulda added 'horse-faced space dog!'

...or Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze

Comment by wickedpam on 12/17/2014 19:23:44
You know its kind of funny that Pres just dumped all this Cuba stuff on the next congress. If they fail to normalize things its going to be the Repubs fault.

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/17/2014 19:25:06
Quote by TriSec:
Christmas with my Cuban mother in law just got a whole lot more interesting.

Thanks, Obama!





Comment by TriSec on 12/17/2014 19:44:29
Which should get primacy: 1.7 million Cubans in America, or the remaining 315 million non-Cubans?


Comment by Mondobubba on 12/17/2014 20:07:54
Quote by TriSec:
Which should get primacy: 1.7 million Cubans in America, or the remaining 315 million non-Cubans?



The tiny loud minority, Tri. Sheesh!

Comment by Raine on 12/17/2014 21:52:21
Quote by wickedpam:
You know its kind of funny that Pres just dumped all this Cuba stuff on the next congress. If they fail to normalize things its going to be the Repubs fault.

Hadden't looked at it like that…

http://25.media.tumblr.com/ee12b414365740e7ead109ebd6e0c8c4/tumblr_n186px2IQR1ru72puo1_r1_400.gif


Comment by wickedpam on 12/17/2014 22:07:31
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
You know its kind of funny that Pres just dumped all this Cuba stuff on the next congress. If they fail to normalize things its going to be the Repubs fault.

Hadden't looked at it like that…

http://25.media.tumblr.com/ee12b414365740e7ead109ebd6e0c8c4/tumblr_n186px2IQR1ru72puo1_r1_400.gif



perfect.