tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23144287057939163662024-02-27T18:47:12.038+01:00Just a SPECTATORUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger592125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-87268513431793639732017-02-14T17:34:00.003+01:002017-02-14T17:34:56.900+01:00Michael McFaul: Lecturing and wagging a finger is not our style<a href="https://goo.gl/g7Imjb">Michael McFaul: Lecturing and wagging a finger is not our style - Interview - Interfax.com</a>: Michael McFaul: Lecturing and wagging a finger is not our style - Interview - Interfax.com<br />
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Michael McFaul: Lecturing and wagging a finger is not our style</h1>
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December 03, 2009</div>
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<i style="max-width: 100%;">Moscow hosted the first informal meeting of a Russian-U.S. working groups on civil society under the chairmanship of Russian First Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Vladislav Surkov and special assistant to the U.S. president for National Security Affairs Michael McFaul. Following the meeting, McFaul gave an interview to Interfax.</i></div>
<b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Question:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Mr McFaul, how did the meeting of the working group on civil society go? What issues were addressed" How often will the group meet in the future?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Answer:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;">So, Mr. Surkov and I just met tonight in the Kremlin. I do not consider it an official meeting of the working group. As the two co-chairs of this working group, we worked out numerous issues to try to make it most effective. The first and most important issue was to try to figure out who are going to be members of this group. It is our view, and I think Mr. Surkov agreed that we‘re going to exchange papers on this, that we want the official working group to be government-to-government but that we would then interact with nongovernmental actors and meet with nongovernmental groups in the course of our interactions in this group. But it is not going to be a mixed nongovernment-and-government group. That‘s the principle that we have for all the working groups in the bilateral commission, that they are government-to-government. So even like the business dialogue and the economics ones, those are all government-to-government but then in parallel we want to encourage nongovernmental groups to meet. Not unlike what happened in July, by the way, when President Obama was here in Moscow.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;">And then in terms of topics and dates, I think we discussed a wide range of issues that we want to have discussed, I think, you know, we have some things we want to talk about, the Russian government have things they want to talk about. The key to making it successful will be to talk about topics that are mutual interest. So for us just to talk about things that the American side might be interested in and the Russians are not, and vice versa, that‘ll be more difficult to do. But we haven‘t agreed on the topics yet, we had a good discussion, very fruitful, very open, by the way, I don’t personally know Mr. Surkov well, I know lots of his colleagues very well, but we had a very, I would say, free-flowing dialogue about difficult things and not difficult things, and that makes me optimistic about the future. How often we‘ll meet I don‘t know. You remember I‘m in charge of the White House for all issues related to Russia. This is one of many things that I have to do, and I imagine that Mr. Surkov is in charge of many other things in Russia, and this is one of many things he has to do. But I guess it will be fairly frequent, but we didn‘t decide that today.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> But why do you insist that it should be a government-to-government group? And does the Russian side share this attitude?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Well, it was our suggestion. We think it‘s very important to draw the line between state functions and nongovernmental functions. We think it‘s improper for the government to decide who is a real nongovernmental leader and who is not. And that line in my country is a very important line, that we don‘t want the White House saying, You are a legitimate NGO leader and you are an illegitimate leader. That‘s too hard a decision for us to make. And that would cause me personally a lot of problems back home because not everybody can be on this commission, right, if you allowed that. Moreover, there‘s another reason. It seems like Mr. Surkov might have the same problem. I don’t want to speak for him, but he might have the same problem, right? You got to be in, and you don‘t, and maybe that‘s a political decision, it would be the same thing for me. There‘s another reason, though. I see this commission, - and, again, I‘ll let Mr. Surkov speak for himself, - but I see this mission, this commission, as facilitating contacts between American and Russian civil society leaders. So we are supposed to deal with the problems – visas, all the things that can get in the way of connections. If you remember, when President Obama was here in July, and he spoke at the civil society forum, his idea was – we need to have more [unclear] interaction between our nongovernmental leaders, not just our government giving money to your NGOs or vice versa. That‘s had a place, and some of that probably needs to happen, but here‘s a new idea, I think, in this field, is rather than us telling the Russian government how to act and giving money to NGOs, and we‘ll continue to do those things, but a new idea is: let‘s put our societies together. And let the governments get out of the way of those connections, and so I see my job with Mr. Surkov is to help facilitate that kind of activity. But not to dictate it, not to control it. That we want to get out of the way.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Is it the way in which you hope to deal with points that poisoned our relations in the previous U.S. administration‘s term of office?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> I‘m happy to talk about all poisonous topics, I told that to Mr. Surkov. We had a pretty open discussion but we don‘t want to be accusatory. I think you probably noticed with President Obama that he has a different style about talking about these things. He talked about democracy and human rights in his speech at the New Economic School. He then talked about it in the Grazhdansky Forum. I‘m happy to send you the speeches if you don‘t have them handy. In every major speech he‘s given, this is a central theme of his presidency. So, at the United Nations General Assembly, in Cairo, in Moscow, in Prague, - even in Prague, by the way, people forget – this was a central theme. But it is not, it is not his style to lecture people and to wag his finger – he thinks that he has a different approach to it, and I think we as a government and this working group again reflect that different strategy.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> The Democrats in the U.S. have usually paid more attention to democracy and human rights issues than the Republicans. It is true that the Obama administration has a different way of talking to Russia?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> I would put it this way: first of all, I‘m a professor first and foremost, I‘m an academic, I‘m not a professional diplomat, I‘m new to this stuff, but I would say as a historian, somebody who‘s written about U.S.-Russia relations and U.S.-Soviet relations, in fact sometimes the Democrats are more critical and sometimes not. Ronald Reagan spoke a lot about democracy and human rights, and he was a Republican. Richard Nixon hardly spoke about it at all, he was also a Republican. So it‘s a little more complicated, and I would say, frankly, that Obama‘s approach is more like Ronald Reagan than anybody else. Let me explain why I think that. His approach is: we have business to do with the Russian government. And we‘re going to do that, we‘re going to – perezagruzit [reset], right? – we‘re going to reset our relations with the Russian government. And we have mutual interests, and he is pursuing them very vigorously, with the new START agreement, with Afghanistan, with Iran, and we‘re achieving results, we‘re doing real things, in the world, on those three fronts. North Korea I would add to that, and that‘s a very positive thing. And at the same time, and in parallel, we are also going to reset our relations with Russian society. That‘s exactly what he said when he was here in July. So it‘s a parallel track – engagement with the government and engagement with civil society. And we‘re not going to allow the engagement of the government because we want it so bad to stop our engagement of society. That‘s his basic concept. That‘s definitely different than some Republicans. And again in my mind, it reminds me of Ronald Reagan, who always had his doubts about the regime here, and it‘s not exactly right because obviously this is not Cold War, and this is not the Soviet Union. But even during the difficult times of the Cold War, Ronald Reagan spoke to the Soviet leaders about things of mutual interest, and at the same time talked about democracy and human rights. And I see what President Obama is trying to do is to say we can do these things both at the same time. And I would add one more hypothesis, and it‘s an idea so far, it hasn‘t been realized – that if we have a more constructive and substantive relationship with the Russian government and not just a confrontational relationship, an accusatory relationship, that will create permissive conditions for more interaction between our societies. It‘ll create a better atmosphere, and will make it easier for our societies. It‘s just a hypothesis, we don‘t know it it‘ll ever work, but that‘s the idea that we‘re pursuing.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;">But will the U.S. keep supporting Russian civil society, including financially?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;">Absolutely. The budgets for democracy assistance to Russia between this year and last year remain the same. We have not cut those budgets at all. And moreover, when there are violations of democracy and human rights, we are going to speak openly about that. When Miss Estemirova was murdered, President Obama issued a statement about it, I would encourage you to look at it. When Secretary Clinton is here tomorrow, she will meet with Mr. Lavrov, she will meet with Mr. Medvedev, and she will also meet with leaders of civil society at Spaso House. In that regard I don’t see any change in what we‘re trying to do. And I encourage it on the other side, by the way. The Russian government is also now encouraging development of civil society in the United States. I just met with Mr. Migranyan last week, I think it‘s fantastic that he is there in New York doing what he‘s doing. Maybe I don‘t know he‘s agreed with [everything], I‘ve known Mr. Migranyan for a long time, but that principle that he should be working freely in the United States of America is fantastic.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> When will you finalize the work?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> I think soon. In the next week or so.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> And the working group will start working before the end of the year?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Yes. Exactly.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Do you share civil society activists‘ concerns about Surkov‘s being a co-chair of the working group?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> As I said, for the government as a whole, and I believe it with Mr. Surkov personally, this is not the only channel through which we are going to try to support civil society developments in Russia. Later tonight I will meet with civil society activists. Tomorrow I‘ll spend a good chunk of my day personally meeting with opposition figures, civil society leaders, some of whom have been my friends for over 30 years, just so you understand these are not people I‘ve met for the first time because I‘m in government. I met them in 1990, 1998. Mr. Podrabinek I met 25 years ago.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Do share human rights activists‘ concerns about Russian journalist Alexander Podrabinek?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Of course. Personally, yes. But I want to make clear – in engaging with Mr. Surkov, I don‘t think – in no way is it antithetical to meeting with other people and doing other things. I think of it [the working group] as one of many channels to try to advance civil society development in Russia. Not the only channel, one of many. And for us to exchange ideas about civil society development in America, civil society development in Russia, including delicate issues like anti-corruption. It‘s an important issue that he as president wants to pursue. We‘ve a long history with corruption in the United States, we‘ve developed new mechanisms for dealing with corruption, and if we can have a useful exchange about that, I think that‘s useful.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Do you know something about consultations about ABM which were going on today? Do they have any results?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Well I would just say this, because I haven’t heard the full briefing, these would be good questions for Secretary Clinton tomorrow. But I would say a couple of things I know for sure. One is, President Medvedev and President Obama, in each of their meetings, in April in London, in Moscow in July and again in New York in September, have affirmed that they both want to see cooperative missile defense. And especially in September, when President Medvedev and President Obama met. I was there, of course, as I am for all these meetings. It could not have been clear to me, that President Medvedev sees cooperative missiles defense with the United Stets as something in Russia’s strategic interests. So we had come on this trip with some very concrete ideas for how we can begin that process. Obviously, it’s going to take some time, as people have old ways of thinking about these things. But I think there is just no doubt that Russia has assets that could be useful for our security and the security of our allies and we have assets that could be of use to Russia’s security and Russia‘ allies. So, I hope, this is the beginning of what I hope will be very fruitful negotiations</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> And what about Ukraine? Controversial Vershbow’s statement on including Ukraine in cooperation between Russia and the United States on missile defense?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> I think Assistant Secretary of Defense Vershbow was misquoted. I have been involved in the entire process of the decision-making around missile defense. We see cooperation with all countries in all ways. Never has Ukraine come up yet as a possibility. We are focused right now on building our European missile defense system and are getting our allies in line with that. And second, in terms of this part of the world, we are working with Russia. And that is our highest priority.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Where exactly can it be deployed in Caucasus? The Pentagon mentioned that it can be deployed in the Caucasus. Can you name these countries?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> We can’t name countries, because there is no decision on that. The definition of the Caucasus in our understanding is much wider than the common definition here in Russia.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Georgia?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> We have not pursued any of those ideas. I’ll remind you that you have radars in that part of the world, too. So if we want to work on this, we have some assets that we can use together.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Do you agree that the question of Iran if the main issue of “perezagruzka”?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> I would say yes. We have a very important thing that we tried to do from the very beginning was to say that we have a multi-faceted relationship with Russia and that we don‘t want just to do arms control or just be in confrontation over Georgia. We think, and the president said that in his speeches and in his meetings with President Medvedev, we want to have a multi-faceted relationship because there‘s a lot of underdeveloped pieces of the relationship that we need to cultivate. I could go through the list there are many and we want to do them all together, and I think that‘ll be the thrust of what Secretary Clinton in her conversations with Foreign Minister Lavrov tomorrow. Having said that, right now we are faced with a very concrete situation that is a threat to American national interests and a threat to our allies, and we don‘t see that we have any disagreement with Russia in the assessment of that threat. What we are seeking to do in cooperation with Russia, and I would say that we are very pleased with our cooperation with Russia right now on the issue of Iran, is to find a way through negotiation that we can resolve peacefully the situation, and we have a very concrete idea that you all know of already, Russia‘s instrumental of making that happen, and you let‘s hope that diplomacy works here.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> But until recently there was a dominant move in Moscow that the Iranian threat is largely exaggerated by the American side and we should not just fall in line with the Americans putting pressure on Iraq. This was the position until recently. There is a powerful pro-Iranian lobby here. So how are you going to solve this question?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> That sounds like a question for one of your experts on Russia. You should ask them, that‘s not a question to me. I also know who is the commander-in-chief and the chief foreign policy maker in your country, and I don‘t see any disagreement between what he says and what the prime minister says. I think those that try to overstate those differences – that‘s definitely not our position, we are very pleased with what the president has said publicly and privately on this issue.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> But you have a feeling that Russia’s position is changing on Iran?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> I think so, yes. I think we are in a much more cooperative relationship with Russia today than we were more certainly to go back a year ago and think about where the relationship was in October 2008 in the wake of Georgia, when threats of going back to the Cold War and lots of animosity. I read your press, and I‘m sure you read our press, those were pretty difficult times, I think we are in a much better place in terms of U.S.-Russia relations.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> What is the most difficult topic for the moment in negotiations with Russia? Is it Iran or a START follow-on treaty, Russia’s relations with its neighbors?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> I would say one of the most fundamental disagreement we have with the Russian government today is over the borders of the country of Georgia. We just have a fundamental disagreement there. I don‘t see any time we are going to resolve that anytime soon. The challenge therefore is to not allow that disagreement to escalate into tensions in the Caucasus again, and that I think is a very difficult challenge. It is our view as a government that it would be confidence-building to have more international monitors on the other sides of the border in the region of Abkhazia and in the region of South Ossetia, which I consider an we consider to be part of Georgia. We have not succeeded in that, so I would say that is a central challenge. But I would emphasize it‘s a challenge we are managing, the incident prevention mechanism I think is working rather well. I think the European monitors that are there are also doing a very good job, and I think the communication between the American government and the Russian government is allowing us to diffuse these kinds of things. In a similar way, what happened in Switzerland with the opening of relations between Armenia and Turkey, your foreign minister played a crucial role in making that happen and worked very closely with Secretary Clinton to make that happen. That‘s an instance where a better, you know, the reset where we have substantive conversations about our interests and your interests as Russia and the U.S. We can then work together to solve this third-area problem. So I wouldn‘t define that as difficult, worse than others, and I would also just emphasize that we have long ways to go, we have many big problems ahead of us, this is just the first year of this new relationship.</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">Q.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Will the U.S. continue to raise the issue of presence of international monitors in Abkhazia and South Ossetia?</span><b style="color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; max-width: 100%;">A.:</b><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px;"> Absolutely. Every time we had a senior level meeting, these issues come up.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-641644462584468542015-11-21T16:49:00.000+01:002017-10-01T18:34:17.357+02:00Россия и Сирия будут контролировать Средиземное море и газопроводы в Европу»<h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBp9DOb2zzVhmivxz573LTgQhgw6KEDnmSfPxUhe7a8JIbdTDE4YtwEAu_iQR3IbiVhSpr9dFth6skik9pzYN3CqXtiPctbKSrHPBQNBaj7LyYNxBpC07uPzpi8957hnpuCABTqRlkAC9Z/s1600/Vladimirov_Kult_35_09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBp9DOb2zzVhmivxz573LTgQhgw6KEDnmSfPxUhe7a8JIbdTDE4YtwEAu_iQR3IbiVhSpr9dFth6skik9pzYN3CqXtiPctbKSrHPBQNBaj7LyYNxBpC07uPzpi8957hnpuCABTqRlkAC9Z/s320/Vladimirov_Kult_35_09.jpg" width="238" /></a><b style="max-width: 100%;">Каковы перспективы развития ситуации на Ближнем Востоке, возможно ли сотрудничество России и США, почему Сирия не станет для нас «вторым Афганистаном» — об этом и многом другом в интервью президента Коллегии военных экспертов России генерал-майора Александра Владимирова.</b></h4>
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура: </b>Вопрос, который беспокоит многих: стоило ли России ввязываться в сирийский конфликт?<br />
<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> В Сирии Россия вступила в вооруженную борьбу за собственное выживание — на чужой территории и малой кровью. Наша страна не могла не принять такого решения. Технологически мы вошли очень грамотно. Впервые за многие годы операция началась не как ответ на чужую стратегию, а тогда, когда это было удобно нам.</div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;">Был выбран момент, когда все стороны сирийского конфликта поняли: Асада «не свалить», его не смогут убрать ни американцы, ни ИГИЛ. Разброд и шатания в стане противника достигли максимума. Кроме того, стало очевидно, что политика Запада в сирийском конфликте себя дискредитировала на всех уровнях. Коалиция зашла в стратегический и военный тупик. Сегодня там эффективно воюют лишь подразделения нашей коалиции. Только на нашей стороне есть сухопутная компонента: это сирийская армия, часть ополчения, курды, иранские военные. У Запада нет союзника, который боролся бы с ИГИЛ на земле.</span></div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> А «Свободная сирийская армия»? </span></div>
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> Это совершенно самостоятельный агент войны. Они сами не знают, чего хотят, кроме как грабить и «джихадить». Часть «Свободной армии» поддерживает Асада, часть — ИГИЛ. Определенная доля оппозиции признала Москву как единственную площадку для возможных переговоров с Асадом. То есть Россия своими действиями дала легитимность сирийскому президенту как полноправному субъекту геополитики. Это наше колоссальное достижение.<br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;">Благодаря стратегической и оперативной внезапности у Запада и ИГИЛ перехвачена инициатива. Мы получили максимум политических дивидендов на Ближнем Востоке. Теперь их нужно превратить в реальные результаты. И здесь еще много что требуется сделать. Война в Сирии не может окончиться компромиссом, но только победой одной из сторон и миром на ее условиях. Мы заинтересованы в военной победе Сирии, американцы же — в собственном усилении, чтобы потом формировать архитектуру Ближнего Востока по своим лекалам. </span></div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;"><br /></b></span><span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> ИГИЛ занимает сегодня около 70 процентов территории страны. Вытеснить его, видимо, будет сложно... </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> Сирия — практически пустыня. Война идет за дороги. Город Пальмира удерживается боевиками не как культурная столица — там вековые перекрестки дорог. Их можно перерезать с помощью нашей авиации. Борьба идет и за нефть. Ключевые населенные пункты, вода — в руках сирийской армии. Часть приграничных нефтяных полей пока принадлежат ИГИЛ, однако это территория курдов. А они, думаю, наш могучий союзник. И если Россия заявит согласие на их государственность, они там перевернут ситуацию.<br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> По данным СМИ, наземные силы воюющих сторон примерно равны... </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> У кого лучше управление и разведка — тот и победит. Поэтому так важно для нашей авиации поразить пункты управления противника. Нам могли бы помочь американцы, но не хотят. Однако сделать это им все равно придется, потому что, кроме России и Асада, им не с кем разговаривать — все остальное зыбко и крайне ненадежно.</div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> Но вот недавно было сообщение, что США ответили отказом на наше предложение об обмене разведданными. </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров: </b>США всегда будут вредить нам, где и когда смогут. Конечно, мы заинтересованы в конструктивном сотрудничестве с их армией и разведкой и надеемся на здравый смысл, но в США продолжается порочная, еще с вьетнамской войны, практика управлять ударами войск из вашингтонских кабинетов, где все решает выгода «простых американских мультимиллиардеров». Сегодня там не с кем говорить: все американские топы — рабы политической предвыборной ситуации.</div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> Нет ли опасности, что Сирия станет для нас вторым Афганистаном? Там, как, впрочем, и во Вьетнаме, все начиналось с постепенного наращивания сил, а затянулось на многие годы... </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров: </b>Не станет, поскольку Россия не имеет цели контролировать территорию Сирии. В Афганистане такая цель ставилась. Мы поддерживаем не одну из сторон конфликта, а официальное государство как таковое. Мы не бьемся ни с какой ветвью ислама, а боремся за справедливость и мир на этой территории, за народ. Заявление Путина о величии ислама, о его важности для России очень к месту. Все укладывается в позицию России как христианской цивилизации, которая не против ислама, а наоборот — против тех, кто мешает ему развиваться. То есть против последствий либеральной фашизации арабского этноса и мусульманской цивилизации. Сирия — это настоящий союзник и важный геополитический актив России. Если мы остаемся в регионе надолго, то уже не Катар и США будут контролировать Средиземное море, а Россия и Сирия. В том числе газопроводы в Европу.</div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> Далеко не всем понятно, что такое ИГИЛ... </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> Как цельное формирование оно не существует. Это сетевое квазигосударство, которое не может воевать долго. Армия ИГИЛ состоит из трех частей. Профессионалы-террористы со всего мира, работающие исключительно за деньги. «Пехота», бывшие солдаты, которым тоже нужно платить. И «ополчение» — оно воюет за свою деревню, а дальше не идет. С началом серьезных потерь от нашей авиации ополчение расползлось по домам. «Пехота», если мы ограничим возможности продажи нефти и получения за это денег, тоже разбежится. Профессионалы же уйдут в другие страны: Пакистан, Афганистан... На этом ИГИЛ закончится.<br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> От чего еще зависит исход войны? </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> От климата и погоды. Как это всегда было на Арабском Востоке и в Северной Африке. Мы должны подорвать антисирийский потенциал именно сейчас: до середины ноября надо «мочить в сортире» всех, кто не заявит о своем нейтралитете или верности Асаду. В декабре — феврале, возможно, будет последнее генеральное наступление оппозиции. Сдержать его — задача выполнимая. С февраля начинаются пыльные бури, когда ни авиация, ни сухопутные войска действовать не смогут. Разве что диверсионные группы. Этот период удобен для переговоров с суннитской оппозицией, лояльной сирийскому государству. Разумная ее часть должна проявиться на фоне побед сирийской армии и российских подразделений. Все решится к весне.<br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> Можно ли уже говорить о каких-то результатах кампании для нашей страны, армии?</span><br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"> </span><b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> Россия хорошо подготовила операцию на удаленном театре военных действий. Заблаговременно создали группировку. Мы впервые опробовали управление взаимодействием разнородных и разнонациональных вооруженных сил. Испытано новое вооружение. Отработаны действия в условиях пустыни, решены общие логистические вопросы, проверена ПВО района, выявлены возможности объективного контроля наших ударов из космоса и с помощью дронов. </div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;">Но главное — своими крылатыми ракетами «Калибр» из акватории Каспийского моря за полторы тысячи километров (а могли и за 2500, и за 3000 км) мы практически закрыли вопрос ПРО США в Европе. Их ПРО бессильна против крылатых ракет. Такие корабли с ракетами, как на Каспии, могут появиться где угодно, в том числе на Балтике, на Дальнем Востоке. Это даже не «Искандер», хотя «Искандер» — та еще штучка и прекрасно работает в ближней оперативной зоне. Катеров много, они относительно недороги. Возьмите радиус 2000 км от Каспия — в этот круг попадает все! И что будет делать Польша с объектами ПРО США на своей территории? Куда теперь девать «новые американские атомные бомбы» в Германии? А Дальний Восток? Что там делать Японии с американскими «Иджисами»?</span><br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> Каковы наши ближайшие стратегические задачи? </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> Конечно, победить в Сирии. Используя благоприятные условия и наши добрые отношения с Ираном, курдами и Израилем, создать ситуацию, когда американцы станут там не нужны. При переустройстве арабского мира России достанется роль доверительного стратегического союзника для всех, и она сможет организовать заслон всякого рода террористам, чьими бы ставленниками они ни были.</div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;">Но вся эта «буза» с нефтью на Ближнем Востоке может быть закончена, когда будет решена вооруженным путем проблема монархических режимов Катара и Саудовской Аравии. Они уже всем надоели — сидят на нефти, плодят ваххабизм как государственную идеологию и терроризм. Топят Европу своими антропотоками.</span></div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;">С Саудовской Аравией и Катаром все равно придется воевать. В этом заинтересованы даже американцы — такая задача сформулирована в одном из вариантов стратегии США. И лучшее время, чем сейчас, трудно выбрать. Любой ваххабитский теракт имеет саудовский след — это может стать основанием для начала боевых действий. Задачу реально решить в ближайшие два года. Это тот случай, когда Россия может взаимодействовать с США.</span><br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> Возможно ли применение в конфликте тактического ядерного оружия? </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> Не вижу необходимости. А вот масштабы применения химического оружия в этом регионе будут нарастать. Асад, с нашей подачи, химоружие сдал. Отравляющие вещества, которые можно изготовить «в пробирке», в Сирии применяет ИГИЛ. Я боюсь, что химическое оружие будет применено как барьер на пути беженцев из Африки в Европу. Просто другим путем остановить этот поток невозможно. Никакие квоты не помогут, выгонять боевые корабли дорого и неэффективно. Конкретных государств, способных применить боевые отравляющие вещества, сегодня вам никто не назовет. Но все заинтересованы в том, чтобы огромный человеческий поток с востока не разрушил Европу окончательно.</div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">культура:</b> А нелетальное оружие? </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров: </b>Нет такого вида нелетального оружия, которое остановило бы миллионы беженцев. Антропотоки — главное оружие гибридных войн. Оно стирает границы, сметает правительства. Организацией таких потоков мусульман в Европу занимаются США, чтобы навсегда похоронить возможность Старого Света соперничать с ней. Американцы подтвердили старый закон войны: ишак, груженный золотом, открывает ворота любой крепости. В свое время они на корню скупили окружение Саддама Хусейна, расставили руководителями многих государств Европы своих людей. Насильственное внедрение американцами демократии в их понимании приводит к стойкой неспособности государств принимать решения. В итоге европейская цивилизация на наших глазах гибнет.<br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> На Западе пишут о пагубности для России войны на два фронта — на Украине и Сирии. </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров: </b>Никакого второго фронта нет — мы не воюем на Украине. Мы там противостоим Америке и совокупному Западу, пытающимся создать санитарный кордон от Балтики до Черного моря, отделяющий Россию от Западной Европы, и не даем втянуть себя в войну. Все, что делается нами и в Сирии, и на Украине, — это наша стратегия, которая впервые имеет не ответный, а инициативный характер, и она успешна.<br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> Ирак просит Россию бомбить террористов на их территории. Надо ли нам это делать?</span><br />
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"> </span><b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> Ирак действует с оглядкой на США, как, например, и Германия. Когда начнем делить зоны ответственности, решим с американцами, кому бомбить террористов в Ираке. Скажет еще свое слово Иран. Его давнишняя мечта — присоединить район Басры и Бахрейн. Сейчас как раз идет переформатирование (с нашим участием) архитектуры мира, начиная с Ближнего Востока.</div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Kультура:</b> Как опыт сирийской войны можно проецировать на внутреннюю жизнь страны? </span><br />
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<b style="max-width: 100%;">Владимиров:</b> Необходимо понять, что Россия «вошла в войну», и мы должны переходить к обязательным мобилизационным государственным практикам. Надо по возможности быстро удалять из власти в России «либерально практикующих» людей: если ты воюешь, но исповедуешь идеологию своего врага, ты, безусловно, ему проиграешь. Мы на это права не имеем.</div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"><b>Досье «Культуры»</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="max-width: 100%;"><b style="max-width: 100%;">Генерал-майор <span style="max-width: 100%;">Александр ВЛАДИМИРОВ</span></b> — президент Коллегии военных экспертов России, член Совета по национальной стратегии, один из руководителей кадетского движения страны. Окончил Московское суворовское военное училище, Московское высшее общевойсковое командное училище, Военную академию им. Фрунзе, Военную академию Генерального штаба. Прошел все должности от командира взвода до начальника штаба общевойсковой армии. Служил на Дальнем Востоке, в Группе советских войск в Германии и Вьетнаме. Автор двухтомной монографии «Основы общей теории войны».</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-86498958040285610402014-08-11T15:10:00.001+02:002015-10-29T19:28:54.969+01:00Маргарита Симоньян: Общественное мнение важнее, чем ядерное оружие<div data-find="_8" id="ajax-layout" style="font-family: '';">
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4 марта 2010, 13:28 0<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: ''; font-weight: normal;">В программе "Мировая политика" - главный редактор телеканала </span><span style="font-family: ''; font-weight: normal;">"Russia Today"Маргарита Симонян</span></span></h3>
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Ведущий Игорь Панарин</div>
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Панарин: В эфире очередной выпуск программы «Мировая политика» и я ее ведущий - Игорь Панарин. И сегодня в преддверии женского праздника, Дня 8 Марта мы впервые в нашей программе послушаем замечательную женщину, очень красивую, обаятельную и, помимо этого, еще главного редактора российского телеканала "Russia Today" Маргариту Симоньян.</div>
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Тема нашего эфира «Мировая политика и телевидение». Маргарита возглавляет телеканал с момента создания. Он за этот период времени развился. И вот сразу же, Маргарита, к вам первый вопрос. Нужно было создавать России этот канал или все-таки это слишком раннее решение? Как вы считаете?</div>
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Симоньян: Здравствуйте. Это решение, честно сказать, слишком позднее.</div>
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Панарин: Слишком позднее почему?</div>
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Симоньян: Надеюсь, еще не слишком, но, конечно, позднее, и мы находимся в ситуации догоняющего.</div>
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Панарин: А когда надо было, Маргарита?</div>
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Симоньян: С момента появления телевидения. Вы посмотрите, сколько лет существуют такие каналы, как СNN, сколько лет существует сначала радиосервис, потом телевизионный сервис BBC.</div>
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Панарин: Я напомню радиослушателям, СNN создан в 1980 году, а мы вышли спустя 20 с лишним лет.</div>
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Симоньян: 25 лет.</div>
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Панарин: Спустя 25 лет. Много.</div>
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Симоньян: И вы представляете, каких стоит усилий догонять и пытаться нагонять 25 лет.</div>
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Панарин: Они же тоже бегут.</div>
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Симоньян: Они тоже бегут, естественно, и у них ресурсы и финансы. Почему это нужно? Уже не осталось, наверно, ни одной сколько-нибудь значимой страны, да и вообще страны, которая не занималась бы этим и которая не беспокоилась бы о создании собственного Иновещания, и в первую очередь телевидения. Посмотрите, китайцы в прошлом, 2009 - м, кризисном году выделили около семи миллиардов долларов на создание своих телепроектов Иновещания. Они вышли в сентябре на русском языке, на арабском языке они вещают и на английском.</div>
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Панарин: То есть у них четыре языка.</div>
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Симоньян: Да.</div>
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Панарин: А у нас сколько сейчас?</div>
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Симоньян: У нас сейчас три - английский, арабский и испанский.</div>
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Панарин: Уже хорошо.</div>
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Симоньян: Конечно, уже хорошо.</div>
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Панарин: Уже лучше, чем один английский.</div>
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Симоньян: Абсолютно. На нескольких языках вещает Туркмения, например.</div>
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Панарин: Даже Туркмения?</div>
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Симоньян: Конечно. Франция - France-24, Катар со своей всему миру известной «Al Jazeera», в том числе и на английском. BBC вышла на арабском и говорит о том, что собирается выходить на фарси. Не знаю, когда они запустятся, но тем не менее. «Deutsche Welle» на английском, немецком.</div>
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Панарин: И даже в Латинской Америке, там Чавес ...</div>
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Симоньян: Конечно, конечно. Как грибы после дождя растут и появляются новые телеканалы. Иран создал англоязычное телевидение, которое сейчас имеет отклик уже, и цитируемость у него есть, и вес свой есть.</div>
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Панарин: А ислам им не мешает?</div>
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Симоньян: Видимо, нет. Хорошо они работают. И это совершенно очевидно, потому что невозможно мириться, и все государства уже начали это понимать, понимают и предпринимают действия с доминированием информации. Потому что мы живем в мире информации, когда тот, кто распространяет информацию и владеет информационным вектором, скажем так, тот миром и владеет. Мировое общественное мнение, на мой взгляд, уже важнее, чем, может быть, даже ядерное оружие.</div>
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Панарин: Я согласен, действительно оно важнее в этот период времени.</div>
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Симоньян: И инструмент управления общественным мнением - это колоссальная, это первая, наверно, с этим можно поспорить, но мне кажется, что это все-таки первая по значимости история вообще в инструментарии государства.</div>
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Панарин: То есть можем ли мы сказать, что сегодня телевидение, по сути, - это главный элемент мировой политики, влияния на мировую политику и формирование мировой политики?</div>
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Симоньян: Не только телевидение, я бы вообще сказала масс-медиа.</div>
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Панарин: Телевидение занимает в этом, безусловно, главную нишу.</div>
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Симоньян: Безусловно. Конечно, большое значение имеет экономика, экономические возможности, огромное значение имеют возможности военные, возможности армии, но поскольку мы все-таки живем в более гуманистический век, когда первым делом бросают на амбразуры ради своих интересов, в том числе экономических, все-таки не бомбы, а информационные бомбы. И мы все это наблюдаем ежедневно. Мы можем привести тонны и сотни примеров от газового кризиса с Украиной, как он подавался, преподносился, до истории с Грузией 2008 года.</div>
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Панарин: Кстати, вот август 2008 года, ведь популярность "Russia Today" тогда была как раз колоссальная в мировом общественном пространстве.</div>
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Симоньян: Конечно, именно потому, что мы были единственным телевизионным англоязычным ресурсом, который давал другую сторону событий. И огромное количество и аудиторий, и самих масс-медиа обращались к нам, чтобы увидеть, что происходит с другой стороны, потому что ведь не бывает же так, чтобы была только одна правда. Так вообще никогда не бывает ни в чем.</div>
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Панарин: Да, должны быть разные точки зрения.</div>
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Симоньян: Конечно, разные точки зрения. И мы, собственно говоря, уроки из той войны, информационные уроки извлекли. После этого открыли свое собственное видеоагентство. Когда мы увидели, что большое количество телевидения, телеканалов в мире...</div>
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Панарин: То есть это специально видеоструктура, которая распространяет уже отснятые сюжеты, наши материалы бесплатно.</div>
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Панарин: Бесплатно?</div>
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Симоньян: Бесплатно по телеканалам мира.</div>
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Панарин: Кстати, это очень сильный ход.</div>
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Симоньян: Отличная вещь.</div>
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Панарин: А кто придумал, Маргарита?</div>
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Симоньян: Мы придумали сами.</div>
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Панарин: Вы - молодцы просто, молодцы.</div>
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Симоньян: Спасибо большое. Смотрите, у нас сейчас на эту штуку подписаны телеканалы из 85 стран. Представляете, 85 стран.</div>
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Панарин: Отлично. Я напомню радиослушателям, что в Организацию Объединенных Наций входят почти 200 стран, то есть мы, можно сказать, охватили уже достаточно большое количество.</div>
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Симоньян: Мы запустили эту штуку только в сентябре 2009 года.</div>
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Панарин: И каков эффект? Можно ли говорить о том, что это действительно удачное начало?</div>
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Симоньян: Абсолютно, абсолютно. Еженедельно это тысячи скачиваний наших материалов. Мы отслеживаем полностью, что берут, какие материалы и понимаем, в какие страны.</div>
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Панарин: А можно ли выделить какие-то страны, кто в наиболее полном объеме берет этот ресурс из этих 85-и?</div>
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Симоньян: Самые разные. Это и США, и, скажем, Сербия, и Китай, Турция.</div>
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Панарин: То есть диапазон - от великих держав до, скажем так, средних.</div>
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Симоньян: Абсолютно. Откуда возникла эта идея? Потому что во время этой войны мы увидели, что были телеканалы, которые и хотели бы, и они нам об этом писали, обращались к нам...</div>
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Панарин: И хотели бы давать информацию, но у них не было видеоряда.</div>
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Симоньян: Совершенно верно. Тех же беженцев во Владикавказе и так далее. Но мир заточен так, что телеканалы пользуются услугами двух главных агентств, у которых тоже какая-то своя повестка. Они выбирают, что давать, а что не давать, и у них свои редакции есть и так далее. Мы можем их ругать или хвалить, но это медицинский факт: у них, как и у любого другого масс медиа, свое понимание правды и своя редакционная политика.</div>
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Панарин: Своя технология.</div>
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Симоньян: И технология своя. И нам говорили наши коллеги - профессионалы из других стран, что мы были бы и рады, но где нам взять эту картинку? Нам было негде взять ни разгромленный Цхинвал, ни беженцев во Владикавказе, и мы тогда решили: ну, Боже мой, мы - не коммерческая организация, мы не для денег существуем, мы существуем для того, чтобы нести голос России.</div>
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Панарин: Информацию, справедливый голос России за рубеж.</div>
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Симоньян: В мир. И мы сказали "о'кей", мы будем выкладывать те видеоматериалы, которые мы считаем правильным и нужным распространить по миру в эфирном качестве. Специально для этого сделали раздел.</div>
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Панарин: Я хотел бы обратить внимание наших радиослушателей. Эти видеокадры сделаны на высшем, скажем так, уровне мировом, которое соответствует всем стандартам.</div>
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Симоньян: Конечно, абсолютно. Ими пользуются каналы с мировыми именами.</div>
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Панарин: Вот в этом смысле это прорыв, скажем так, информационный, вот это новое удачное начало видеоряда, я бы так сказал, с точки зрения продвижения наших информационных национальных интересов?</div>
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Симоньян: В каком-то смысле это, конечно, прорыв. Другое дело, что этого мало и страна, которая хочет, чтобы ее голос действительно звучал равноправно в этом хоре и не ослабевал уж как минимум, то...</div>
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Панарин: А как нам усилить? Что нужно помимо денег? Деньги, конечно, нужны, безусловно.</div>
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Симоньян: Да по большому счету, помимо денег ничего не нужно.</div>
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Панарин: Ничего не нужно. То есть можно прямо сказать, что у нас профессиональные дикторы, профессиональная команда, которая способна выйти на вот этот мировой рынок.</div>
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Симоньян: Абсолютно. И дело в том, что и профессионализм, и уровень узнаваемости тоже зависят от денег. Нанять на работу ведущего почти любого уровня - это тоже вопрос денег. Каналы переманивают друг у друга и перекупают, это во всем мире нормальная практика.</div>
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Панарин: Нормальная практика. Вот если посмотреть, у вас три языка - английский, испанский, арабский сейчас. Почему такая последовательность?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_710">
Симоньян: Я вам не могу ответить. Английский, потом был арабский, потом испанский. У нас целевое финансирование, нам государство определяет, на каких языках мы должны вещать. Это не мы сами выбираем. Но за счет распространения вот этих видеосюжетов, о котором я говорю, кратно увеличивается количество языков, потому что они же их дают на своих языках.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_720">
Панарин: То есть они переводят.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_730">
Симоньян: Переводят и озвучивают на свои собственные языки.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_740">
Панарин: То есть это фактически новая модель распространения информации о России. А кто-то из других телеканалов использовал такую технологию или мы действительно новаторы?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_750">
Симоньян: Мне неизвестно ни одного случая.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_760">
Панарин: Мы сейчас говорим о том, что Россия должна модернизироваться, должны внедрять инновации. У меня тут недавно был спор тоже в прямом эфире, а что Россия может дать? Да, вот «Russia Today» дает инновацию, пусть все учатся.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_770">
Симоньян: Понимаете, видеоагентства, конечно, существуют, но все эти организации заточены на зарабатывание денег, они не заточены на распространение информации. И конечно, мы выигрываем благодаря тому, что мы денег-то не просим. Достаточно телекомпании, телестанции или другому агентству зарегистрироваться у нас, чтобы мы имели возможность отслеживать, в какую страну ушел репортаж, на какую станцию, это нам нужно для внутренней статистики, - и все. Ни денег не нужно, ничего, просто, пожалуйста, бери и пользуйся, показывай у себя в эфире.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_780">
Панарин: А вот сейчас можем ли мы сказать, на каком уровне мы находимся? Есть CNN, BBC, та же «Al Jazeera». То есть, где ниша "Russia Today", на каком она порядковом месте, если так можно выразиться?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_790">
Симоньян: Это зависит от региона, даже от городов. Какие-то станции сильнее в одном регионе, какие-то - в другом. Но вот, скажем, по исследованиям Нильсена 2009 года, а это главная организация, которая проводит в США измерения аудитории, исследование в 2009 году было, у нас в Вашингтоне аудитория наша в 6 с половиной раз больше, чем у английской «Al Jazeera». Это колоссально для нас.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_800">
Панарин: Так даже, в столице Соединенных Штатов. Это очень много, конечно.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_810">
Симоньян: Это очень много для нас.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_820">
Панарин: Тем более что, я напомню, «Al Jazeera» создана на 10 лет примерно раньше.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_830">
Симоньян: Конечно. И «Al Jazeera» - это мировой бренд, «Al Jazeera» - это как «Пепси-кола», весь мир знает.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_840">
Панарин: Ее создавали, в общем-то, лучшие специалисты BBC.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_850">
Симоньян: Английскую «Al Jazeera», создавали не только BBC, но вообще британцев много было и до сих пор есть, но брендом стала арабская «Al Jazeera», которая потом передала свое имя английской версии. Она поднялась за счет того, что у них был и продолжает быть эксклюзивный доступ к информации, которая тогда интересовала и продолжает интересовать весь мир, и в первую очередь США, о террористическом подполье или то, что в США называют...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_860">
Панарин: Фактически это говорит о том, что они смогли прорваться на рынок интересов, где американцев по большому счету интересовали бы арабские проблемы в силу определенного имиджа созданного Соединенных Штатов Америки после 11 сентября. Даже несмотря на эту среду, нам удалось, скажем так, завоевать свою аудиторию?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_870">
Симоньян: Удалось, да.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_880">
Панарин: А где еще, Маргарита, помимо Вашингтона, где опорные наши точки влияния ?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_890">
Симоньян: Для нас проводилось исследование, в Восточной Европе среди топового сегмента аудитории, то есть это образованные люди, зарабатывающие определенные деньги и так далее. И мы там, по этому исследованию, обошли, например, «Bloomberg», что тоже для нас немаловажно.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_900">
Панарин: Это очень, скажем так, мощно.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_910">
Симоньян: Конечно, есть впереди огромные цели и задачи, мы будем их решать.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_920">
Панарин: По Европе можем ли мы выделить страны, где мы наиболее, скажем так, воспринимаемы местными телезрителями, элитами, или это только Восточная Европа? Это Центральная Европа или Сербия?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_930">
Симоньян: Сербия, да. Исторически понятно, почему так сложилось. Но когда мы только запустились, это не мы работали над тем, чтобы улучшать наше распространение в Сербии, а сербы, опережая нас, к нам обращались и говорили: дайте нам письменное разрешение, чтобы мы могли завести вас в свой "кабель", в спутниковый пакет, ретранслировать.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_940">
Панарин: То есть, оказывали содействие?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_950">
Симоньян: Абсолютно, потому что они считали и считают, что их аудитории это будет интересно, им будет правильно и полезно показывать наш эфир. Это для нас было неожиданным, мы не думали, что так быстро и оперативно они сработают.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_960">
Панарин: А немцы, французы, как они реагируют?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_970">
Симоньян: Конечно, назвать ажиотажным спрос среди немцев и французов - было бы преувеличением с нашей стороны, поскольку это не англоязычные страны, мы все-таки вещаем на английском, русском, испанском языках. Но там есть значительная аудитория, которая абсолютно сопоставима и даже опережает некоторые бренды с мировыми именами, другие международные каналы.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_980">
Панарин: Можно ли сказать, что мы прорвались на рынок Латинской Америки с выходом испанской редакции?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_990">
Симоньян: В Латинской Америке мы еще не заказывали исследование, мы вышли в эфир только в конце декабря, исследование мы будем проводить в этом году.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1000">
Панарин: Я напомню радиослушателям, что практически это новоиспеченное дитя, наш испанский прорыв по сути, испаноязычный прорыв. То есть ему несколько месяцев, проекту?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1010">
Симоньян: Да, в конце декабря запустился, два месяца ему. Но по тому отклику, который есть уже сейчас, а там один телеканал в Колумбии вообще одной из наших ведущих просто войну объявил.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1020">
Панарин: Войну? В информационном плане?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1030">
Симоньян: Из выпуска в выпуск они терзают эту бедную ведущую, конечно, тем самым делая нам рекламу, но терзают, что повышает нашу заметность. Мы, скажем, еще вообще никаких совершенно не предпринимали усилий для продвижения нашего испаноязычного сайта, ни рекламы еще не было, ничего.Но аудитория у нас растет каждый день. Я смотрю статистику нашего сайта, каждый день...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1040">
Панарин: Сколько примерно на сайте в день по всем трем редакциям?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1050">
Симоньян: По статистике, которая мне пришла с испанского сайта вчера, было 19 тысяч у них за вчера. Но конечно, когда мы проведем рекламу...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1060">
Панарин: То есть это практически первоначальные шаги только...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1070">
Симоньян: Абсолютно. На YouTube они тоже хорошо идут. На нашем канале на YouTube бывает в среднем 200 тысяч просмотров в день. Меньше мы не падаем. Последнее, что я видела, было 74 миллиона просмотров наших роликов на YouTube. Это хорошая цифра.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1080">
Панарин: Это огромная, хорошая цифра, то есть продвижение вашей информации...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1090">
Симоньян: Серьезная вещь, конечно, это не шутки.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1100">
Панарин: Вот почти пять лет, Маргарита, вы руководите нашим внешнеполитическим телевещанием. Какой год был наиболее тяжелым?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1110">
Симоньян: Первый.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1120">
Панарин: Первый?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1130">
Симоньян: Однозначно, просто даже несравнимо.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1140">
Панарин: Становление?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1150">
Симоньян: Конечно, с нуля.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1160">
Панарин: Что было самым сложным?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1170">
Симоньян: Не имея никаких точек опоры... Понимаете, самым сложным был сам факт, что у нас на тот момент вообще новостного круглосуточного информационного канала, вещавшего бы в прямом эфире, не было.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1180">
Панарин: Даже, по-моему, «Вестей- 24» еще не было?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1190">
Симоньян: «Вести-24» еще не были, они запустились позже.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1200">
Панарин: То есть, вы были первопроходцами?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1210">
Симоньян: Конечно. А уж тем более не было канала, вещающего на другом языке. Вы представляете, это же нужно набрать профессиональных людей. Нужно им объяснить, чего мы хотим. Они приезжают из разных стран, у каждого своя повестка, у каждого свое представление о прекрасном...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1220">
Панарин: И о подаче информации, в том числе.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1230">
Симоньян: Конечно, как о технологических, профессиональных вещах, так и о политических. На самом деле, кто в лес, кто по дрова, понимаете?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1240">
Панарин: Есть предпочтения.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1250">
Симоньян: И вот все это смобилизовать, сконсолидировать. И добиться того, чтобы люди в одном направлении двигались, чтобы это было не броуновское движение набранных без какой-то логической системы людей. А чтобы это была команда, которая идет в одном направлении. Конечно, она будет по дороге спотыкаться, кто-то будет чуть вбок, но так или иначе, должен быть вектор. И чтобы этот вектор появился...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1260">
Панарин: А что позволило эту команду создать?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1270">
Симоньян: Время.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1280">
Панарин: Время?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1290">
Симоньян: Конечно, время.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1300">
Панарин: Ну и желание, наверное?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1310">
Симоньян: Ну, желание - само собой. Без желания вообще ничего бы не было. Но должно было пройти время, все должны были набраться опыта, команда должна была притереться друг к другу, цели должны были быть сформулированы и детализированы, задачи и концепции вещания, и все это...Ну, начали просто с нуля.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1320">
Панарин: А вообще, чья идея, Маргарита? Кто ее поддерживал на политическом уровне?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1330">
Симоньян: Я не знаю, какая эта часть этой информации - открытая, какая - закрытая.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1340">
Панарин: Что можно, конечно.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1350">
Симоньян: Я так скажу, что идея, насколько мне известно, я тогда еще совсем юной, мягко говоря, была, но читала об этом, - витала в воздухе где-то со второй половины 90-х.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1360">
Панарин: То есть еще в 90-х годах?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1370">
Симоньян: Да. Но то не было денег, то не было политической воли, то еще чего-то. Вот так в 2005-м, как говорится, склалось, сложилось, что совпали и политическая воля и деньги.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1380">
Панарин: И люди нашлись, которые могли эту идею материализовать?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1390">
Симоньян: Ну, людей-то найти...Понимаете, если есть воля и есть деньги, найти людей не проблема.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1400">
Панарин: Можем ли мы надеяться на то, что с помощью этого соединения воли, людей, интеллекта и выхода на новаторские рубежи, с точки зрения уже появления видеоряда, распространения этой информации, - в ближайшие два-три года вообще канал может стать одним из ключевых уже в глобальном мировом информационном пространстве? Есть надежды на это?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1410">
Симоньян: Вы знаете, многие считают, что он уже стал...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1420">
Панарин: Уже стал?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1430">
Симоньян: Конечно. Был для Еврокомиссии подготовлен доклад о развитии телевидения в Европе, и мы были названы одним из нескольких ключевых игроков среди международных телеканалов, наряду с CNN, и BBC. Это не мы же придумали? Не мы готовили этот доклад.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1440">
Панарин: То есть это уже официальная позиция?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1450">
Симоньян: Конечно, это опубликованные вещи.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1460">
Панарин: Август 2008-го стал тестом в каком-то смысле?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1470">
Симоньян: Да, это был очень серьезный тест для нас, и я считаю, что все ребята , коллектив наш выдержал его с блеском. Но это была очень показательная история. Я со многими людьми на эту тему общалась, и скептиков, которые не понимали, зачем вообще оно надо, зачем тратить бюджетные деньги на международное ТВ - эта ситуация очень отрезвила. Когда люди увидели, как стопроцентное, извините, вранье...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1480">
Панарин: Вранье, да.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1490">
Симоньян: Вранье натуральное, по-другому не назовешь... Можно иметь разные оценки и так далее. Но в конце концов, есть правда, есть неправда. Когда просто неправда доминирует в масс-медиа, имеющих имена, имеющих уважение, имеющих репутацию, люди, даже скептически настроенные, разводили руками и говорили: нет, надо с этим что-то делать.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1500">
Панарин: Я лично видел... Потому что, действительно, по каналу «Еuronews», показывали горящий Цхинвал, а надпись идет, что это город Гори после бомбардировок российской авиации...Ну, то есть наглая ложь. А видеоголос "Russia Today" показывал реальные картинки...</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1510">
Симоньян: У нас такая история была с CNN, когда они взяли наше видео, которое наш оператор снимал. Парень в недоумении был от этой истории. Это было видео из Цхинвала, а в эфир оно пошло с надписью «Гори».</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1520">
Панарин: То есть, это фактически целенаправленное искажение информации шло со стороны ведущих телеканалов?</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1530">
Симоньян: Ну, знаете, "не пойман - не вор", я побоюсь ответственности называть это целенаправленным, но то, что это было искажение... Это точно, конечно. Все это видели.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1540">
Панарин: И мы можем констатировать, что у нас есть канал, который может доводить правдивую точку зрения, доводить ее профессионально,и он начинает пользоваться популярностью в мире. Но хотел также обратить внимание наших уважаемых радиослушателей, что впереди все-таки Международный женский праздник, 8 марта.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1550">
Маргарита, позвольте мне, во-первых, искренне поздравить, все-таки я постоянно на вашем канале выступал.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1560">
Симоньян: Да, и выступаете.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1570">
Панарин: Я могу, во-первых, сказать, что я сталкивался со многими журналистами и российскими, и арабскими, с англичанами и из других государств, - и это, действительно, команда. Команда, которая слаженно работает, несмотря на какие-то свои личные предпочтения, может быть даже и политические, но они делает дело, делает качественно.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1580">
Это действительно, с моей точки зрения, один из удачных не только медиа-проектов и политических проектов, но и вообще бизнес-проектов, потому что проект удался. Мне искренне хочется поздравить канал с продвижением, чтобы он действительно и дальше занимал глобальные позиции. А в вашем лице поздравить все-таки всех обаятельных женщин и России, и стран СНГ, и всего мира с будущим праздником. Пожелать вам всего самого наилучшего, здоровья, счастья. В Москве солнечная погода. Пусть вот это солнце входит в душу каждой женщины, ее согревает.</div>
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Симоньян: Спасибо. И ваших радиослушательниц тоже с праздником.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1600">
Панарин: Я еще раз хотел бы завершить нашу программу, сделав общий вывод о том, что телевидение, информация - это сегодня важнейший компонент мировой политики. Они на нее влияют. Россия научилась спустя годы, десятилетия, доводить свою точку зрения. Это очень хорошо. И мы будем надеяться, что и национальные интересы России в информационной сфере также будут защищаться, как и в других сферах - экономической, военной и так далее. И "Russia Today" - это тот орган, тот телеканал, который достойно действует на внешнеполитическом направлении, впрочем как и наша радиостанция «Голос России». До свидания, уважаемые радиослушатели.</div>
<div class="text" id="p_1610">
Симоньян: Спасибо вам большое. До свидания.</div>
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<a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1478618/">Игорь Панарин</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1516142/">Россия</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1563295/">США</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1563408/">Китай</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1563805/">СМИ</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1569720/">ООН</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1569947/">Турция</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1883762/">Сербия</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1902792/">Еврокомиссия</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_1911229/">Вашингтон</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_2061293/">YouTube</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_2078083/">Колумбия</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_2131724/">Bloomberg</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_2216722/">Russia Today</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_2218339/">Вести</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_3190464/">Маргарита Симоньян</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_4734369/">BBC</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_5033747/">CNN</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_5033763/">Al Jazeera</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_5033841/">Deutsche Welle</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_5288613/">«Мировая политика»</a>, <a class="tag-link" href="http://rus.ruvr.ru/tag_60783014/">Туркмения</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-83748470904949232382014-08-11T14:23:00.003+02:002014-08-11T14:23:19.840+02:00A Chechnya in the making<hgroup class="typog-content-header main-content-header" style="color: #4a4a4a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.988636016845703px; margin-bottom: 5px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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China’s far west</h2>
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<span style="color: #5b5b5b; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 2rem;">An iron fist in Xinjiang is fuelling an insurrection. China’s leadership must switch tactics | </span><time class="date-created" style="color: #7b7b73; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6rem;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Aug 9th</span><span style="font-size: 1.2rem;"> </span><span style="font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: normal;">2014 </span></time><span style="color: #7b7b73; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21.988636016845703px;">|</span><span style="color: #7b7b73; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21.988636016845703px;"> </span><a class="source" href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/2014-08-09" style="border: 0px; color: #7b7b73; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">From the print edition</a></h3>
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The Uighurs have never been particularly comfortable in China. Xinjiang, the region where these Turkic Muslims once formed the vast majority, came unwillingly into the Chinese empire. Rebels in parts of it even set up independent republics; a short-lived one was snuffed out by the Communist Party in 1949. Since then the regime in Beijing, 1,000 miles (1,600km) to the east, has sought to keep Xinjiang quiet. The policy is not working. The presidency of Xi Jinping risks sinking into a quagmire of ethnic strife. This could be China’s Chechnya.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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Over the past few decades the party has used several tactics to assert control. First it encouraged massive migration of Han Chinese into Xinjiang from other parts of China. Later it poured money into infrastructure and beefing up industry; the jobs thus created have gone overwhelmingly to Hans, who now make up more than 40% of the province’s 22m people. In tandem the party has adopted a hard line towards the merest hint of dissatisfaction on the part of the Uighurs.</div>
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In this section</div>
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<li class="0 first" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.6rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21611063-internet-making-buying-and-selling-sex-easier-and-safer-governments-should-stop" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(240, 240, 240); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A personal choice</a></li>
<li class="1" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.6rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21611064-world-trade-organisations-whole-approach-negotiating-free-trade-needs-radical-change-no" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(240, 240, 240); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No more grand bargains</a></li>
<li class="2" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.6rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="current-article " style="border-bottom-color: rgb(240, 240, 240); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; display: block; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A Chechnya in the making</span></li>
<li class="3" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.6rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21611068-governments-need-rethink-how-they-reward-and-motivate-civil-servants-mandarin-lessons" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(240, 240, 240); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mandarin lessons</a></li>
<li class="4 last" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.6rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21611069-enrique-pe-nieto-has-achieved-lot-now-his-government-needs-maintain-momentum-keep-it" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(240, 240, 240); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Keep it up</a></li>
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Discontent is spilling into the open, nonetheless. The past few days have been the bloodiest in Xinjiang since clashes in the provincial capital, Urumqi, left around 200 dead in 2009. It appears that nearly 100 people died in the violence. The dead include 59 alleged terrorists gunned down by police near Kashgar, the main city in southern Xinjiang, where the Uighurs are concentrated (and where the economy is weakest). These Uighurs had apparently attacked police stations and Han Chinese. Two days later a pro-government imam was stabbed to death outside the city’s main mosque (see <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/china/21611110-new-episodes-violence-and-repression-have-heightened-tensions-xinjiang-spreading-net" style="border: 0px; color: #4a4a4a; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self">article</a>).</div>
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Whenever violence flares up, the government’s rhetoric is uncompromising and usually focused on the dangers of jihadism. In May, following a spate of attacks by Uighurs on government and civilian targets in Xinjiang and in other parts of China, Mr Xi demanded “walls made of copper and steel” and “nets spread from the earth to the sky” to catch the “terrorists”. The party blames such attacks on Islamist militancy seeping across the border from Central and South Asia—notably from Afghanistan and Pakistan. It likes to claim that Uighurs live in harmony with the Han Chinese (“tightly bound together like the seeds of a pomegranate”, as Mr Xi puts it).</div>
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The tragedy is that the government could end up proving itself right—by making jihadism the core of the Uighurs’ militancy. For now the violence is fuelled principally by a welter of home-grown grievances and is strikingly amateurish: rarely are the perpetrators armed with anything more than knives. But in recent months the violence has been morphing, spreading beyond the region itself and taking on some of the hues of jihadism elsewhere—through suicide-attacks and indiscriminate killing of civilians.</div>
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Such acts are unspeakable. But there is evidence that China’s heavy-handed approach in Xinjiang is radicalising a once-tolerant culture. Uighur activists abroad say the latest violence near Kashgar had nothing to do with terrorism, for instance; instead it was sparked by police efforts to enforce government bans against fasting during Ramadan.</div>
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From Sudan to the West Bank, the evidence is clear: once religion enters any conflict, it becomes harder to settle. The parallel with Chechnya should scare Mr Xi. What started out as a nationalist uprising in Russia’s north Caucasus region in the 1990s was met by a brutal clampdown, which in turn spawned a violent Islamist movement. Since then Chechnya has been both a jihadist breeding-ground and a running sore for Russia.</div>
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About turn</div>
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There are hints that Mr Xi understands the problem. In May he convened a rare meeting of party bosses to discuss Xinjiang. That gathering recognised the need to boost employment among Uighurs, especially in southern Xinjiang. After the meeting state-owned enterprises in Xinjiang were told they had to hire at least a quarter of all staff from Uighur and other minorities. Education for Uighurs is another priority: work has just begun on Kashgar’s first full-scale university.</div>
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Such steps are necessary, but still not enough. Uighurs’ religious traditions should be respected, so that all Muslims are allowed to visit Mecca, not just those approved by the government. Education in the Uighur language could also be encouraged, as well as its use in workplaces. Mr Xi should disband the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which runs a vast network of Han-dominated settlements.</div>
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And China should give up persecuting moderate Uighurs, who hardly embrace jihadism but are still angry about the government’s repressive measures. Amid the carnage of the past few days, the authorities announced they had formally charged a prominent Uighur economist, Ilham Tohti, with separatism. “Fewer and fewer people dare to speak out” about ethnic policies in Xinjiang, Mr Tohti has lamented. If Xinjiang’s Uighurs are not to fall prey to extremists, Mr Xi must allow people like Mr Tohti to speak out, not lock them away.</div>
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<a class="source" href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/2014-08-09" style="border: 0px; color: #7b7b73; line-height: 1.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 3px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">From the print edition: Leaders</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-5243900352388202292014-08-11T14:19:00.000+02:002014-08-11T14:19:36.383+02:00China’s Response to the MH17 Tragedy? Condemn the West<header class="article-header" style="font-family: '';"><h2 class="article-title" itemprop="headline">
<span style="font-family: ''; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">July 21, 2014</span></span></h2>
</header><section class="article-body" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: '';"><figure class="landscape"><img alt="Experts inspect the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines plane" itemprop="image" src="http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/452435870.jpg?w=280" srcset="http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/452435870.jpg?w=1100 800w, http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/452435870.jpg?w=1100 800w 2x" /><figcaption class="image-caption"><span class="caption">Search and rescue specialists inspect the crash area of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, carrying nearly 300 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was downed close to Russia's border with Ukraine on July 17, near Grabovo.</span> <span class="credit">Anadolu Agency—Getty Images</span></figcaption></figure><h2 class="article-excerpt" itemprop="alternativeHeadline">
Despite memories of decades of Cold War frostiness, Beijing is now quite chummy with Moscow</h2>
On July 18, shortly after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed over eastern Ukraine, extinguishing 298 lives, China’s Xinhua state news agency cautioned against making snap judgments. The U.S. and other Western nations had begun to finger pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine for shooting down the Boeing 777 passenger plane, but Xinhua dismissed such accusations as “rash” and took the opportunity to swipe at Western democracies for their condemnation of Russia’s earlier military intervention in Ukraine:<br />
<blockquote>
The one-sided accusation is not surprising in light of their long-time stance on the crisis in eastern Ukraine, and their attitude towards Russia’s absorption of Crimea in March. But without convincing evidence, jumping to a conclusion will only heighten regional tension and is not conducive to finding out the truth.<br />
Russian President Vladimir Putin late Thursday said it is Ukraine that bears the responsibility as the tragedy occurred over its territory. The tragedy, Putin said, could have been avoided should Ukraine’s eastern regions be in peace.</blockquote>
On July 21, the <em>People’s Daily</em>, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, ran a piece still <a href="http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/n/2014/0721/c90777-8758131.html" target="_blank">cautioning</a> that “no proof has been found so far to clarify the cause or identify the perpetrator.” Nowhere did the story mention the likelihood that pro-Russian rebels had trained a missile on MH17 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.<br />
The same day, the <em>Global Times</em>, a Chinese Communist Party-linked daily that can be counted on for nationalist commentary, did at least mention such a possibility — if only to decry Western governments’ speculation that Russia may have aided and abetted the rebels’ cause:<br />
<blockquote>
The Western rush to judge Russia is not based on evidence or logic. Russia had no motive to bring down MH17; doing so would only narrow its political and moral space to operate in the Ukrainian crisis. The tragedy has no political benefit for Ukrainian rebel forces, either. Russia has been back-footed, forced into a passive stance by Western reaction. It is yet another example of the power of Western opinion as a political tool.</blockquote>
The crisis in Ukraine had already put China in a <a href="http://time.com/12352/russia-crimea-ukraine-china/" target="_blank">difficult position</a>. Despite memories of decades of Cold War frostiness, Beijing has boosted its ties with Moscow. The two neighbors share an antipathy toward Western democratic values and a mutual interest in natural resources. The first foreign trip Xi Jinping made as President was to Russia in March 2013.<br />
Yet China also proclaims that one of its foreign-policy bedrocks is staying out of other nations’ internal affairs. Russia’s invasion of Crimea — which Xinhua delicately termed an “absorption” — cannot be considered as anything but a gross interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs. Beijing is struggling with separatist sentiment at home, most notably among Tibetan and Uighur populations in China’s far west. How can Chinese foreign-policy makers support an ethnic rebel movement over a national government, even if those separatists do have Russia’s tacit blessing?<br />
China may soon have to reconcile this foreign-policy quandary. “It will bring about a severe challenge to China’s general strategy and diplomacy if America and Europe propose sanctions against Russia and demand China should join with them,” wrote Chinese security analyst Gao Feng in a widely disseminated blog post. “For China, the issue is which side it should choose. Without doubt, an ambiguous stance [by Beijing] will face criticism and moral pressure.”<br />
There were no mainland Chinese nationals on MH17. By contrast, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished in March en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was filled with Chinese passengers. As the Malaysian investigation into that plane’s disappearance foundered, Chinese authorities allowed MH370 families to stage protests in Beijing — a rarity in a nation allergic to public displays of dissent.<br />
This time around, official Chinese sentiment has steered clear of blaming Malaysia for the Ukraine disaster. Instead, West-bashing has predominated. “The West has successfully put itself in a position to dictate ‘political correctness’ in international discourse,” said the <i>Global</i> <i>Times</i> editorial on MH17 on Monday. “Those unwilling to work with Western interests will often find themselves in a tough position.” Criticism of the West even extended beyond the tragedy of MH17. On July 21, Xinhua <a href="http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/n/2014/0721/c90785-8758138.html" target="_blank">publicized a new campaign</a> of “intense ideological education for officials to strengthen their faith in communism and curb corruption.” First on cadres’ to-do lists? Keeping a “firm belief in Marxism to avoid being lost in the clamor for western democracy.”<br />
— <em>With reporting by Gu Yongqiang / Beijing</em></section>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-18119523221136751272013-09-08T16:35:00.000+02:002013-09-21T14:50:23.696+02:00Putin: lonely, scared and confused<h3 class="MsoNormal">
Talk to real master of situation, not
his shadow</h3>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Before the G-20 Summit Putin
assured the world in the official </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-putin-russia-syria-strike-un-20130904,0,5355559.story"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">interview</span></span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that he
has not ruled out backing a U.S.-led military operation in Syria if the Kremlin
gets concrete proof than an alleged chemical attack on civilians was committed
by Bashar Assad’s regime. The sincerity of Putin’s intention was obvious – he
bases all his prestige on the Soviet Victory in the WWII over atrocious regime
of Hitler, but now he finds himself and Russia on the side of the “Syrian
Hitler”, using gas against his own people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Putin understands that despite his huge propaganda efforts, he will not be
able to manipulate the public opinion for long. It seems suddenly he started to
realize that this time he risks remaining on the wrong side of history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For the West the Kremlins condition
is quite easy to satisfy, as there are enough proofs that only the Assad forces
could conduct the chemical attack. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next
day – one day before the Summit - Putin unexpectedly produced a U-turn, publicly
called John Kerry a “liar” using an obvious </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/us-hits-back-putin-liar-comment-kerry-20168782"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">manipulation</span></span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Putin’s
sudden change of heart is the main intrigue of the G-20 Summit and deserves
some attention. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Failed Mega Deal <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What happened in between?
Day before the Summit Putin had a pompous meeting with the Chinese leader where
Russia expected to sign a mega-deal for gas supply to China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then top Chinese official stated that any
military actions in Middle East would lead to the oil prices growth and because
of this the China opposes to the strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, much </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/03/world/asia/china-russia-relations-hiscock"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">advertised</span></span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“mega-deal”,
expected by Russia, has </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://rt.com/business/china-russia-gas-deals-467/"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">failed</span></span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> as Chinese continue to insist on a half-price of
the usual price Russia gets in Europe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Moreover, a couple days earlier
China signed a mega-deal with gas rich Turkmenistan, more than doubling the gas
exports to China. Day after the Summit China struck a $30 billion deal with
Kazakhstan including purchase of the $5 billion stake in the giant Kashagan oilfield.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore, China is not in
hurry and can quietly wait, when Russia get totally isolated by the West and be
ready for a slow and quiet technical<a href="http://www.uaobserver.com/2012/06/russia-and-china-partnership-of-rabbit.html"> takeover</a> by China. China doesn’t want to
invest in Russia, but agrees to finance some big industrial project as the Far
East with a precondition that this enterprises will be in its ownership and workers
will be only from China. As Russian economy is sinking despite the high oil and
gas prices Putin a bit earlier or later will have to accept the Chinese
proposition. This would mean a “forever concession” by China of the Russia’s
Far East. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Russia’s Political Bluffing <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This makes Russia extremely
nervous and dependent on China. It gradually increases its influence in the
region, which Russia considers its “legitimate sphere of interests” and leaves
Russia out in the cold. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Russia
does not dare to complain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, it
pretends having a very special relation and a strong alliance with China as
opposing to the failing relation with the West.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">China calls Russia a “major
country” and lets it fight its revisionist fights with the West, but does not view
Russia as an equal partner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
Chinese President visit’s <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013xivisit/"><span style="color: blue;">web page </span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there are mostly <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pictures of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chinese President with American President Obama,
but there is no any picture with Russian President Putin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This shows where the real China’s priorities
are. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Putin’s dependence on China
explains Putin’s U-turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying hard to
please Chinese President, he found not exactly elegant way to reverse his
recent declaration on possible joining the international effort against Bashar
Assad by calling John Kerry a “liar” and returned to his usual slogans about Syria.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Upgrading Role for China<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Putin’s miserable position,
which he masks with the massive PR efforts, promoting his image and ideas at
the West, makes him useless as a negotiator on Syria. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The real master of the situation is China. If the
leader of this country really thinks that the oil price growth is the only
objection to the common action in Syria the negotiations should be conducted with
him, not with the politically impotent Putin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case, Chinese and the Western position
on Syria coincide. Russia on the contrary is objectively interested in
maintaining the civil war in Syria as a precondition for a high oil price, on
which Russian economy depends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The U.S. should convince China
that the sooner the situation in Syria is resolved the sooner the oil prices would
go down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could become a first international
action, where China can show its political maturity and responsibility for the
World. China could like this <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as it is follows
already the U.S. example offering assistance to the different countries. Cash
rich China can show a real leadership helping freed from the Assad’s regime Syria
after the conflict is over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-66148427471778987962013-06-29T00:10:00.001+02:002013-09-18T19:48:22.736+02:00U.K. Finds Its Beppe Grillo - Bloomberg<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-01/u-k-finds-its-beppe-grillo.html">U.K. Finds Its Beppe Grillo - Bloomberg</a><br />
<br />
By Marc Champion Mar 1, 2013 2:19 PM GMT+0200<br />
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U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron's tactic of pledging to claw back powers from the European Union and then hold a referendum on whether to leave or stay in the bloc has failed its first election test.<br />
<br />
That was the general consensus in the U.K. news media this morning, after Cameron's Conservative Party was reduced to a humiliating third place in a by-election in the southern constituency of Eastleigh. The Tories were beaten not only by their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats (who held on to the seat), but also by the UK Independence Party.<br />
<br />
The EU referendum pledge that Cameron made in January was designed precisely to stanch the flow of right-wing Conservatives to the UKIP. This week, it failed. Already this morning, conservative commentators in newspapers such as the Daily Telegraph were saying the result proved that Cameron should hold a referendum on whether to stay in the EU immediately, rather than by 2017; crack down harder on immigration; and abandon recent policies such as legalizing gay marriage.<br />
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The result was widely interpreted, too, as a resounding victory for the Liberal Democrats who won with 32 percent of the vote, despite trailing badly in national opinion polls. The UKIP candidate got about 28 percent and the Conservative candidate 25 percent. Labour came in with less than 10 percent.<br />
<br />
How you interpret the results depends on how you look at the numbers. One view is that midterm by-elections mean nothing -- the ruling party always does terribly because voters can send a message of protest with little consequence. That's usually and empirically ture, but as Beppe Grillo showed in Italy, politics are changing in Europe. Protest voters may really mean it this time.<br />
<br />
More interesting than the raw figures is the change from the last results for Eastleigh, at the 2010 national election. The (pro-EU) Liberal Democrat share of the vote has fallen by 14.5 percentage points, about the same as the (euro-skeptic) Conservatives at minus 14 percentage points. This makes perfect sense to me: Both parties are running the government together and the economy is in terrible shape, so they did as badly as each other. Labour went nowhere, with an increase of 0.2 percentage point. That's a disaster for them, too, because as the main opposition party they need to be making large electoral gains if they hope to win power at the next national election.<br />
<br />
The only clear victor was the UKIP, whose vote this week increased 24 percentage points, compared with 2010. I don't see this as a Europe issue, and if Cameron concludes that what he needs to do now is chase the UKIP's policies, he'll still lose at the next election.<br />
<br />
That should come as no surprise. When the Ipsos Mori polling group does its monthly survey on what Britons consider the most important issue facing their country, the EU doesn't even make the top 10: In the latest, January poll only 6 percent of Britons ranked the EU as their top concern. The standout winner was the economy, at 52 percent, followed by unemployment, immigration, the National Health Service and crime.<br />
<br />
What the by-election probably shows is that in UKIP leader Nigel Farage, the British have found their Beppe Grillo, the stand-up comedian turned politician who won a quarter of the vote in Italy's recent parliamentary election.<br />
<br />
Farage was never a professional comedian like Grillo, but he is the nearest thing to it in the European Parliament, where he is a legislator. His party has nationalist roots that are quite different from Grillo's, but Farage seemed to understand that he drew votes from all parties and the cause of his success was the same as Grillo's: protest. He called his party's surge in Eastleigh a rejection of traditional parties and politics.<br />
<br />
Cameron and the Tories will succeed only if voters believe the government is looking out for their interests and has found the right policies to restore prosperity to an economy that has yet to recover its size at the start of the financial crisis. The prime minister should spend all of his time worrying about whether he has the right growth and austerity policies; some time on improving immigration policies; and no time at all on showing how tough he's being on the EU -- a strategy that won't get him re-elected, but distracts from policies that might.<br />
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(Marc Champion is a member of Bloomberg View's editorial board. Follow him on Twitter.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-51634351514827766122013-06-24T18:03:00.003+02:002013-06-24T18:03:09.941+02:00The G8 should push for a ceasefire in Syria, Pope tells David Cameron | CatholicHerald.co.uk<a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/06/17/the-g8-should-push-for-a-ceasefire-in-syria-pope-tells-david-cameron/">The G8 should push for a ceasefire in Syria, Pope tells David Cameron | CatholicHerald.co.uk</a><br />
<img src="http://d2jkk5z9de9jwi.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/PA-16824722.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail-440 wp-post-image" alt="David Cameron arrives in Belfast ahead of the G8 summit (PA)" height="338" width="440"><p class="image-caption image-caption-wide">David Cameron arrives in Belfast ahead of the G8 summit (PA)</p> </div> <div class="entry-content"> <p>The G8 nations meeting in Northern Ireland this week should push for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire” in Syria, Pope Francis has said in a letter to the British Prime Minister.</p><p>Responding to an earlier letter from David Cameron, Pope Francis wrote: “I earnestly hope that the summit will help to obtain an immediate and lasting ceasefire and to bring all parties in the conflict to the negotiating table. Peace demands a far-sighted renunciation of certain claims, in order to build together a more equitable and just peace. Moreover, peace is an essential pre-requisite for the protection of women, children and other innocent victims, and for making a start towards conquering hunger, especially among the victims of war.”</p><p>In his letter the Pope noted that the summit, which takes place today and tomorrow at Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, would focus on the British Government’s priorities of “the free and international market, taxation, and transparency on the part of the governments and economic actors”.</p><p>But he said that “fundamental reference to man is by no means lacking” in the summit agenda. </p><p>“The goal of economics and politics is to serve humanity, beginning with the poorest and most vulnerable wherever they may be, even in their mothers’ wombs,” he said. “This is the main thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless.”</p><p><strong>Full text of Pope Francis’s letter to David Cameron, dated June 15:</strong></p><p>To The Right Honourable David Cameron, MP Prime Minister,</p><p>I am pleased to reply to your kind letter of 5 June 2013, with which you were good enough to inform me of your Government’s agenda for the British G8 Presidency during the year 2013 and of the forthcoming Summit, due to take place at Lough Erne on 17 and 18 June 2013, entitled A G8 meeting that goes back to first principles.</p><p>If this topic is to attain its broadest and deepest resonance, it is necessary to ensure that all political and economic activity, whether national or international, makes reference to man. Indeed, such activity must, on the one hand, enable the maximum expression of freedom and creativity, both individual and collective, while on the other hand it must promote and guarantee their responsible exercise in solidarity, with particular attention to the poorest.</p><p>The priorities that the British Presidency has set out for the Lough Erne Summit are concerned above all with the free international market, taxation, and transparency on the part of governments and economic actors. Yet the fundamental reference to man is by no means lacking, specifically in the proposal for concerted action by the Group to eliminate definitively the scourge of hunger and to ensure food security. Similarly, a further sign of attention to the human person is the inclusion as one of the central themes on the agenda of the protection of women and children from sexual violence in conflict situations, even though it must be remembered that the indispensable context for the development of all the afore-mentioned political actions is that of international peace. </p><p>Sadly, concern over serious international crises is a recurring theme in the deliberations of the G8, and this year it cannot fail to address the situation in the Middle East, especially in Syria. In this regard, I earnestly hope that the Summit will help to obtain an immediate and lasting ceasefire and to bring all parties in the conflict to the negotiating table. Peace demands a far-sighted renunciation of certain claims, in order to build together a more equitable and just peace. Moreover, peace is an essential pre-requisite for the protection of women, children and other innocent victims, and for making a start towards conquering hunger, especially among the victims of war.</p><p>The actions included on the agenda of the British G8 Presidency, which point towards law as the golden thread of development – as well as the consequent commitments to deal with tax avoidance and to ensure transparency and responsibility on the part of governments – are measures that indicate the deep ethical roots of these problems, since, as my predecessor Benedict XVI made clear, the present global crisis shows that ethics is not something external to the economy, but is an integral and unavoidable element of economic thought and action. The long-term measures that are designed to ensure an adequate legal framework for all economic actions, as well as the associated urgent measures to resolve the global economic crisis, must be guided by the ethics of truth. This includes, first and foremost, respect for the truth of man, who is not simply an additional economic factor, or a disposable good, but is equipped with a nature and a dignity that cannot be reduced to simple economic calculus. Therefore concern for the fundamental material and spiritual welfare of every human person is the starting-point for every political and economic solution and the ultimate measure of its effectiveness and its ethical validity. </p><p>Moreover, the goal of economics and politics is to serve humanity, beginning with the poorest and most vulnerable wherever they may be, even in their mothers’ wombs. Every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one’s own human potential. This is the main thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless.In this sense, the various grave economic and political challenges facing today’s world require a courageous change of attitude that will restore to the end (the human person) and to the means (economics and politics) their proper place. Money and other political and economic means must serve, not rule, bearing in mind that, in a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy.</p><p>I wished to share these thoughts with you, Prime Minister,, with a view to highlighting what is implicit in all political choices, but can sometimes be forgotten: the primary importance of putting humanity, every single man and woman, at the centre of all political and economic activity, both nationally and internationally, because man is the truest and deepest resource for politics and economics, as well as their ultimate end.Dear Prime Minister, trusting that these thoughts have made a helpful spiritual contribution to your deliberations, I express my sincere hope for a fruitful outcome to your work and I invoke abundant blessings upon the Lough Erne Summit and upon all the participants, as well as upon the activities of the British G8 Presidency during the year 2013, and I take this opportunity to reiterate my good wishes and to express my sentiments of esteem.</p><p><strong>Full text of David Cameron’s letter to Pope Francis, dated June 5:</strong></p><p>Your Holiness,</p><p>When I said farewell to Pope Benedict at the end of his historic State Visit to Britain in September 2010, I made a number of promises. I said that the United Kingdom would keep its promises on aid, in particular in dedicating 0.7% of GNI to international development aid, despite the tough economic times. I said that we would continue to help the poorest and ensure the money we spend on aid goes to those who need it most. I also promised that we would redouble our resolve to work for the common good, working closely with the Holy See.In 2013, the United Kingdom holds the Presidency of the G8 group of nations. </p><p>I am determined to ensure that our G8 agenda will lead to real benefits for the global economy and will help people in developed and developing countries alike. Your Holiness has spoken eloquently about the need to rebalance the global economy, to help the poor and disadvantaged, and to find people work. My aim for our G8 Presidency, especially at the G8 Summit at Lough Erne on 17 and 18 June, is to do this by restoring strong and sustainable growth to the world economy by practical action on fairer taxes, freer trade, and greater transparency.</p><p>I will use the G8 to galvanise collective international action to effectively tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance – problems shared by developed and developing countries alike. We shall promote a new global standard for automatic information exchange between tax authorities to shrink the space for tax evasion. We shall provide political support for the ongoing OECD and G20 work to prevent some individuals and corporates artificially shifting their profits to ultra-low tax jurisdictions, distorting competition and seek to enhance the flow of information to tax authorities. We shall seek to set out concrete steps we will take to let law enforcement and tax collectors find out who really owns and controls every company. We shall also explore what more can be done by the G8 to support lower-income developing countries to collect the tax revenues owed to them, thereby strengthening their public services in areas like health and education on which people’s well-being depends.</p><p>On trade, I know the Vatican has taken a keen interest in trade liberalisation, particularly the potential that it offers to alleviate poverty, and the need to ensure the poorest countries are integrated into the global economy. This is very much in line with the trade agenda for Lough Eme. We shall ensure that the G8 shows leadership on free trade by opening our markets, resisting protectionism and supporting an open, global rule-based trading system to ensure that all countries can benefit from increased trade. Protectionism and trade bureaucracy are amongst the most significant brakes on the global economy, affecting developing and developed economies alike and creating a barrier to economic and social progress. This is why I will put political impetus on progressing bilateral and plurilateral deals as well as supporting the multilateral trading system.<br><br />
We will support efforts to conclude a multilateral deal on Trade Facilitation at the WTO Ministerial Conference in December, which could add $70 billion to the global economy and would help boost trade in Africa in particular. We will also work with African countries to help them realise their goal of a Continental Free Trade Area, including through our support for regional integration. This could see intra-African trade double by 2022. If G8 countries complete all of their current trade deals and those in the pipeline, it could boost the income of the whole world by more than $1 trillion. </p><p>Under our G8 Presidency, I also want to see real progress on tackling food and nutrition insecurity through practical action and greater political commitment to fighting global malnutrition.Many of the world’s poorest countries are shackled by a lack of transparency, poor mles, corrupt practices and weak capacity. Too often, a veil of secrecy allows corrupt corporations and officials in countries to flout the law and prevent development. Too often, mineral wealth in developing countries becomes a curse rather than a blessing, as a lack of transparency fosters crime and corruption. Too often, instead of a shared hope for the next generation, such wealth brings conflict, greed, and environmental damage. Through the G8, I plan to push for mandatory higher global standards for the extractives sector, to encourage responsible and sustainable investment in land, and setting the standards for ensuring that government data are released in an open and useable format.</p><p>Finally, the High Level Panel Report on the post-2015 development agenda, which we transferred to the UN Secretary General last week, highlighted the importance of trade, tax and transparency to better the lives of the world’s poorest. The Report presents an ambitious roadmap to eradicate extreme poverty from the face of the earth by 2030. It says that everyone – regardless of gender, ethnicity, income, disability, age – must have their basic needs met, and their economic and human rights respected. It too makes a strong call for economic growth that promotes social inclusion and preserves the planet’s natural resources for future generations. It says that freedom from violence, good governance and justice are not only fundamental to achieving poverty eradication, but goods in themselves that all citizens of the world have equal right to enjoy. I hope that you will be able to read the Report and offer support for its core messages.You have called for disinterested solidarity and for a return to person-centred ethics in the world of finance and economics. As President of the G8, I aim to help secure the growth and stability on which the prosperity and welfare of the whole world depends. To do this, we must tackle the conditions that cause poverty, stiffen the sinews of responsible capitalism, and strengthen governance and transparency.</p><p>I believe that this path is one which requires more than the G8 to find success, that responsible governments, business and faiths can and should travel together, doing what we can to turn these values into practical action for the benefit of all.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-11607699776686094332013-04-23T06:08:00.001+02:002013-04-23T06:08:41.487+02:00Boston Bombing Suspects' uncle tells of familial break <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ3XV0fOhRs&feature=youtu.be">Boston Bombing Suspects' uncle tells of familial break - YouTube</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-15511869561037601112013-04-23T06:03:00.001+02:002013-04-23T06:12:02.450+02:00After Boston and Tsarnaevs, Russians Urge U.S. to Rethink Chechnya - NYTimes.com<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<span class="credit">Reuters</span> <span class="caption">Pedestrians cross Putin Prospect, one of the main streets in the </span><br />
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<a href="http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/after-boston-and-tsarnaevs-russians-urge-u-s-to-rethink-chechnya/?smid=tw-share">After Boston and Tsarnaevs, Russians Urge U.S. to Rethink Chechnya - NYTimes.com</a><br />
LONDON — Russian commentators are speculating that a Chechen connection in the Boston Marathon bombings will force the United States to reassess its view of the Kremlin’s actions in the troubled Caucasus region.<br />
After the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/us/boston-marathon-bombings.html">capture on Friday night</a> of Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, the second suspect in Monday’s attack, following the death of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his brother, in a gun battle with police, U.S. authorities have yet to establish a motive for the crime.<br />
In Russia, as in the United States, attention focused on whether the bombings were connected with the politics of Chechnya, where the brothers’ family originated.<br />
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<span class="credit">Reuters</span> <span class="caption">Pedestrians cross Putin Prospect, one of the main streets in the Chechen capital Grozny on April 20.</span></div>
The possibility of such a connection being established is already <a href="http://www.cfr.org/us-strategy-and-politics/boston-bombers-chechen-ties-may-mean-us-russia-relations/p30502">raising questions</a> about what it means for the recently strained relationship between Moscow and Washington.<br />
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“Russia has long warned the Americans that flirting with various separatist and terrorist organizations of the North Caucasus would not lead to anything good,” Sergei Mikheyev, a political analyst, <a href="http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/19-04-2013/124347-boston_attack-0/">told the Pravda news Web site</a>.<br />
Looking back to Russia’s two military campaigns against Chechen separatists in the 1990s, Mr. Mikheyev said, “It is an open secret that separatists enjoyed the support from external forces for quite a long period of time, including the Americans and their allies from other countries.”<br />
Despite the Russian commentariat’s reaction, there has been no suggestion that the brothers had anything to do with groups operating from Chechnya, even if the woes of their native Caucasus region animated their motives in some way — which has also not been established. <br />
Nonetheless, Russia Today — a broadcaster seen as close to the Kremlin — said the suspects’ Chechen connection had already led the U.S. establishment “<a href="http://rt.com/news/boston-bombers-chechen-identity-125/">to perform a rapid volte-face</a> towards the previously sympathetically-viewed region and cause.”<br />
“The standard U.S. portrayal of the restive region focused on the David and Goliath scale of the adversaries, the ‘denial’ to Chechens of their right to self-determination, and the abuse of human rights,” according to RT.<br />
Echoing longstanding complaints of Western double standards toward what Russia regards as its own war on terror, RT concluded, “It is one thing to castigate a nation overseas for its approach to terrorism, but it is something else to encounter it face to face, when citizens of your own country die in acts of calculated violence.”<br />
The reaction reflected what Clifford J. Levy, the former Moscow bureau chief of The New York Times, described as a “<a href="http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/americans-learn-of-chechnya/">we told you so</a>” attitude on the part of the Russians.<br />
“They have complained for a long time that the West doesn’t appreciate how difficult it has been for them to put down what they refer to as terrorism,” Levy told Marcus Mabry, Rendezous’s editor.<br />
Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency <a href="http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20130419/180736299/For-Boston-Suspects-Was-Chechnyas-Violent-Past-a-Motive.html">stressed there was no evidence</a> so far linking the suspects to any established terror network. “But in piecing together their personal motivation, the metastasizing violence plaguing the North Caucasus over the past two decades may be a piece of the puzzle.”<br />
The Kremlin <a href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130420/180747567/US-Russia-to-Cooperate-in-Boston-Bombings-Probe---Kremlin.html">said on Saturday</a> that the United States and Russia might cooperate on the investigation into the Boston bombings if the suspects’ ties to Russia were confirmed.<br />
“As all the circumstances and details get cleared, I think, our intelligence agencies will be in contact,” Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir V. Putin’s spokesman, told Rossia 24 TV.<br />
His comments followed a Friday evening call in which <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/19/obama_thanks_putin_for_help_in_boston">President Obama thanked Mr. Putin</a> for unspecified cooperation in the investigation so far.<br />
Mr. Putin first <a href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130416/180665766.html">offered Russia’s help</a> on Tuesday when he condemned the Boston attack as a barbarous crime and expressed the view that the fight against terrorism required the active coordination of efforts from the global community.<br />
The exchanges on the Boston attack came at a time of otherwise strained relations between Moscow and Washington, focusing on their differences over how to respond to events in Syria, and U.S. concerns about the Kremlin’s treatment of its opponents.<br />
As the investigation into the brothers and their motives continues, the Kremlin might choose to stress a connection between the Islamist threat from the Caucasus and that posed by Islamist factions in Syria fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, in order to justify its continued support of him.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-35781472514408101882013-04-23T06:02:00.001+02:002013-04-23T06:10:15.924+02:00Brother’s Keeper: Did Older Sibling Lure Bombing Suspect Into Plot? | TIME.com<a href="http://nation.time.com/2013/04/20/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-boston-bombing-suspects/">Brother’s Keeper: Did Older Sibling Lure Bombing Suspect Into Plot? | TIME.com</a><br />
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Brother’s Keeper: Did Older Sibling Lure Bombing Suspect Into Plot?</h1>
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<span class="entry-byline">By <a href="http://nation.time.com/author/timeolivia/" rel="author" title="Posts by Olivia B. Waxman">Olivia B. Waxman</a></span><span class="entry-date">April 20, 2013</span><span class="entry-comments"><a href="http://nation.time.com/2013/04/20/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-boston-bombing-suspects/#comments"><span class="livefyre-commentcount" data-lf-article-id="117370" data-lf-site-id="314100">114 Comments</span></a></span> </div>
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</aside> The dramatic arrest of <a href="http://topics.time.com/boston-marathon-bombing/">Boston Marathon bombing</a> suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Friday night brought the entire city of <a href="http://topics.time.com/boston/">Boston</a> a collective sense of relief, with crowds streaming into the streets to chants of USA. But the end of the manhunt was in many ways just the start of the process for investigators trying to piece together what may have motivated Tsarnaev, 19, and his older brother Tamerlan, 26, who was killed by police early Friday morning. And details emerging over the first 24 hours since police captured the younger Tsarnaev in a backyard boat in Watertown, Mass., reinforce the growing perception that his older brother was the primary driver of the attack.<a name='more'></a><br />
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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was hospitalized in serious condition on Saturday night from a gunshot wound, was by most accounts a smart, well-adjusted guy in high school. Three years ago, he won a $2,500 scholarship from the city of Cambridge when he was a senior at the prestigious Cambridge Rindge & Latin School. He even went to his senior prom — and seemed to enjoy it. Classmate Sierra Schwartz <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/us/details-of-tsarnaev-brothers-boston-suspects-emerge.html?ref=todayspaper">told the New York <i>Times</i></a> he was “accepted and very well liked.” But while he was a good student in high school, he suddenly started to struggle in college at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and a transcript obtained by the <i>Times</i> said <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/us/details-of-tsarnaev-brothers-boston-suspects-emerge.html?ref=todayspaper">he failed seven classes over three semesters</a>. Still, even after Monday’s bombing, Tsarnaev returned to the UMass Dartmouth campus, attending classes and socializing in the dorms, <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/19/bombing-suspect-attended-umass-dartmouth-prompting-school-closure-college-friend-shocked-charge-boston-marathon-bomber/8gbczia4qBiWMAP0SQhViO/story.html">according to the Boston <i>Globe</i></a>.<br />
(<b>MORE: </b><a href="http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/20/why-the-fbi-white-house-will-face-hard-questions-about-their-boston-bombing-interviews/">FBI to Face Questions Over Past Probe of Older Bombing Suspect</a>)<br />
On the other hand, the Tsarnaev family appeared to have long known something was wrong with Tamerlan, <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/19/relatives-marathon-bombing-suspects-worried-that-older-brother-was-corrupting-sweet-younger-sibling/UCYHkiP9nfsjAtMjJPWJJL/story.html" target="_blank">an unemployed college dropout</a>. Ruslan Tsarni, one of the Tsarnaev brothers’ uncles who lives in Montgomery Village, Md., argued in interviews with the <i>Today </i>show and CNN that “outside influences” clearly “brainwashed” Tamerlan, specifically an Armenian man who also lived in Cambridge and recently converted to Islam. He started to notice Tamerlan’s transformation as early as 2009, he <a href="http://www.today.com/news/uncle-mentors-radicalized-older-boston-bombing-suspect-6C9529666">told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie</a>:<br />
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I was shocked when I heard his words, his phrases, when every other word he starts sticking in words of God. I question what he’s doing for work, [and] he claimed he would just put everything in the will of God … It wasn’t devotion, it was something, as it’s called, being radicalized.</blockquote>
His family was not the only one to notice Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s transformation. The Russian FSB intelligence service told the FBI in 2011 about information that he was a follower of radical Islam, two law-enforcement officials said on Saturday.<br />
(<b>MORE:</b> <a href="http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/20/captured/">Joe Klein: Lessons From Boston</a>)<br />
According to an FBI news release, a foreign government said Tsarnaev appeared to be a strong believer and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the U.S. for travel to the Russian region to join unspecified underground groups.<br />
The FBI did not name the foreign government, but the two officials said it was Russia. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the matter publicly.<br />
The FBI said in response, it interviewed Tsarnaev and his relatives, and did not find any domestic or foreign terrorism activity. The bureau said it looked into such things as his telephone and online activity, his travels and his associations with others.<br />
Tsarnaev did indeed end up traveling to Russia for about six months in 2012; his father <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/us/boston-marathon-bombings.html">told the <i>Times</i></a> that he had gone there to renew his passport, but ended up staying longer. The question is whether something happened during this extended trip that gave Tsarnaev the idea to carry out the bombing at the Boston Marathon. “They have been framed,” his father <a href="http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/updates-on-aftermath-of-boston-marathon-explosions-2/">told the <i>Times</i></a>.<br />
The brothers’ mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, also could not believe the brothers came up with this plot on their own because they knew that the FBI had been on their trail for the past “three to five years,” <a href="http://www.jpost.com/International/Tsarnaev-mother-My-son-was-under-FBI-surveillance-310477">according to an interview</a> with Russian state-TV news station Russia Today obtained by Reuters. “And being a mother, what I can say is that I am really sure, I am, like, 100% sure, that this is a setup,” she said.<br />
(<b>MORE:</b> <a href="http://techland.time.com/2013/04/19/reddit-and-crowdsourcing-valuable-or-problematic/">Reddit Crowdsourcing Good for Crime Solving?</a>)<br />
Women who knew Tsarnaev’s wife Katherine Russell as early as 2008 and 2009 <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/04/19/178027690/older-suspect-described-as-controlling-manipulative" target="_blank">told NPR’s Laura Sullivan</a> that he always had a strange disposition. <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/04/19/178027690/older-suspect-described-as-controlling-manipulative">They say</a> he became more “religious” around 2008, when he stopped drinking and smoking and forced Russell to “cover herself.” One friend <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/04/19/178027690/older-suspect-described-as-controlling-manipulative">said</a> she saw Russell wearing a hijab at a Whole Foods about a year ago and acting “fearful.” Another <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/04/19/178027690/older-suspect-described-as-controlling-manipulative">described</a> Tsarnaev as a short-tempered, very “controlling” and “manipulative” person who would call Russell names, such as “slut” and “prostitute.” While Tsarnaev was arrested for domestic assault and battery in 2009 — which may have prevented him from becoming a U.S. citizen like his younger brother — Sullivan says that complaint involved a different woman.<br />
Friends say Russell — who also has a 3-year-old daughter with Tamerlan — distanced herself from her family, which may explain why the Russell family said they didn’t know Tamerlan well <a href="http://northkingstown.patch.com/articles/state-police-investigate-nk-home-in-connection-with-boston-bombing">in a written statement</a> handed to a reporter outside their North Kingstown, R.I., home on Friday night: “Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child … In the aftermath of the Patriots’ Day horror, we know that we never really knew Tamerlane [sic] Tsarnaev.”<br />
Just as friends say Tsarnaev had a lot of control over his wife, his family says he had <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/us/details-of-tsarnaev-brothers-boston-suspects-emerge.html?ref=todayspaper">a lot of control over his little brother</a>. Peter Tean, 21, who was on the high school wrestling team with Dzhokhar, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/us/details-of-tsarnaev-brothers-boston-suspects-emerge.html?ref=todayspaper">told the New York <i>Times</i></a> that Dzhokhar took up wrestling to be more like Tamerlan, a talented boxer, who competed in the Golden Gloves national Tournament in 2009: “He’s done these violent sports because his brother’s a boxer. He really loves his brother, looks up to him.” Tamerlan would even take Dzhokhar to Friday prayer, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/us/details-of-tsarnaev-brothers-boston-suspects-emerge.html?ref=todayspaper">their father Anzor told the <i>Times</i></a>. Neighbors also <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/us/details-of-tsarnaev-brothers-boston-suspects-emerge.html?ref=todayspaper">told the newspaper</a> that they would often see the duo hanging out in the Cambridge area, where Dzhokhar had an apartment on Norfolk Street.<br />
(<b>MORE:</b> <a href="http://science.time.com/2013/04/19/siblings/">The Brother Bombers: Did Sibling Psychology Contribute?</a>)<br />
There was no immediate word on Saturday on when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might be charged and what those charges would be. The twin bombings killed three people and wounded more than 180.<br />
The most serious charge available to federal prosecutors would be the use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill people, which carries a possible death sentence. Massachusetts does not have the <a href="http://topics.time.com/death-penalty/">death penalty</a>.<br />
U.S. officials said an elite interrogation team would question the Massachusetts college student without reading him his Miranda rights, something that is allowed on a limited basis when the public may be in immediate danger, such as instances in which bombs are planted and ready to go off.<br />
The American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern about that possibility. Executive director Anthony Romero said the legal exception applies only when there is a continued threat to public safety and is “not an open-ended exception” to the Miranda rule, which guarantees the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.<br />
The federal public defender’s office in Massachusetts said it has agreed to represent Tsarnaev once he is charged. Miriam Conrad, public defender for Massachusetts, said he should have a lawyer appointed as soon as possible because there are “serious issues regarding possible interrogation.”<br />
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said on Saturday afternoon that Tsarnaev was in serious but stable condition and was probably unable to communicate. Tsarnaev was at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where 11 victims of the bombing were still being treated.<br />
<i>— The Associated Press contributed to this report</i><br />
<b>MORE: </b><a href="http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/19/immigration-reforms-first-big-test-the-boston-bombing/">Immigration Reform’s First Big Test: The Boston Bombing</a></div>
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Read more: <a href="http://nation.time.com/2013/04/20/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-boston-bombing-suspects/#ixzz2RFv9qJRj" style="color: #003399;">http://nation.time.com/2013/04/20/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-boston-bombing-suspects/#ixzz2RFv9qJRj</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-30926013774633364952013-03-10T04:02:00.000+01:002013-03-29T17:27:01.731+01:00Beppe Grillo leads yet another right-wing cult from Ita<h1>
<a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/austerity-and-its-discontents">Austerity and its discontents</a></h1>
<span class="blog_description">A group blog On Europe edited by Daniel Trilling</span><br />
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Essay: beneath its populist surface, the Five Star Movement represents more of the same.<br />
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<span class="submitted"> <span class="link_col">By <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/111248" title="View author posts.">Wu Ming Foundation</a> <span class="published_date">Published 08 March 2013 13:48</span></span></span>
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<img alt="Beppe Grillo, at a pre-election rally in Rome on 22 February. (Photo: Getty.)" class="imagecache imagecache-fullnode_image imagecache-default imagecache-fullnode_image_default" height="348" src="http://www.newstatesman.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/fullnode_image/articles_2013/162380113.jpg" title="Beppe Grillo, at a pre-election rally in Rome on 22 February. (Photo: Getty.)" width="510" /> </div>
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Beppe Grillo, at a pre-election rally in Rome on 22 February. (Photo: Getty.) </div>
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<blockquote>
Marriage is a bond between a man and a woman. How can
you institute marriage between two persons of the same sex? Why not
marriage between three persons then? Why not marriage between you and
your animal? Some people have a strong relationship with their animal,
would you allow them to marry it?<br />
(Francesco Perra, 5 Star Movement candidate at the recent national election, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://youtu.be/Bhhsz9FQzJA"> 8 June 2012 </a>)</span></blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
There is much confusion in other countries about what
has been taking place in Italy in the past five years – the era of Late
Berlusconism – and what is going on after the latest national election.
At the time of writing, nobody knows what government Italy will have.
No stable government can be formed without the vote of confidence of the
Five Star Movement, the political organisation led by former stand-up
comedian <b>Beppe Grillo</b> and web marketing guru <b>Gianroberto Casaleggio</b>.
The Five Star Movement (5SM), which stood for national election for the
first time, gained 25.5 per cent of votes for the Chamber of Deputies
and 23.8 per cent for the Senate.<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Several Left-wing and progressive commentators tend
to look with a certain sympathy to the Five Star Movement. They heard
that even <b>Dario Fo</b>, a famously leftist Nobel Prize Winner, <a href="http://video.ilmessaggero.it/index.jsp?videoId=4198&sectionId=13">endorsed Grillo during the campaign</a>. They think that Grillo's fiery, pied-piperesque speeches are just a bit of theatre – he used to be a comedian after all.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Indeed, news from Italy is baffling as usual, but in
the end, many have the impression that the 5SM is a populist movement
oscillating between the progressive and radical quarters of the
political spectrum. A movement having features in common with other
anti-austerity movements and mobilisations across southern Europe
(Portugal, Greece, Spain, Slovenia).</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
People who make that assumption should – literally – know better.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Trouble is, many Italians should know better too.</div>
<blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Simone Di Stefano: "Are you an antifascist?"<br />
Beppe Grillo: "This question doesn’t concern me. 5SM is an ecumenical movement."<br />
(Conversation between Grillo and one of the top leaders of neofascist party CasaPound, <a href="http://video.repubblica.it/dossier/elezioni-politiche-2013/grillo-ai-fascisti-di-casapound-se-volete-benvenuti-nel-m5s/115884/114288">11 January 2013 </a>)</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #999999;">
Some of you may have Italian friends who used to
place themselves to the Left and recently chose to vote for the 5SM, or
even become 5SM activists. We bet they didn’t tell you about the more
right-wing aspects of the movement, because you’d certainly ask them: "I
beg your pardon? You’re doing political work side by side with
fascists? You’ve joined a movement that rejects the very notion of
antifascism? A movement that wants to abolish trade unions?! You voted
for a guy who praises Ron Paul and US-style ‘libertarianism’? Mate,
what’s wrong with you?", and they’d have to scramble for
self-justifications.</div>
<blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Before it degenerated, fascism had a
sense of national community (which it took directly from socialism), the
highest respect for the state and a will to protect the [institution
of] family.<br />
(Roberta Lombardi, 5SM member of Parliament, <a href="http://www.unita.it/italia/capogruppo-camera-alzata-mano-fascismo-casapound-mussolini-cinquestelle-meeting-eletti-grillo-m5s-1.486668">21 January 2013</a>)</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Your friends are probably aware of those aspects, but
either underestimate them or instantly remove them, because they’re too
disquieting. Such is the disgust toward "the old political system" that
criticising a "new" movement is deemed as a manifestation of pedantry
and intellectual luxury: "First of all, let’s give a shoulder push to
the rotten political establishment, then we’ll talk about Grillo’s
faults. We can’t afford that now!"</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
To us, this is a very dangerous approach.</div>
<h1 align="JUSTIFY">
1. How rancour towards "The Caste" helped prevent social conflict</h1>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Many factors can explain Grillo’s success. The Zero
years were a decade of social devastation, in which social movements
encountered thundering defeats, while Late Berlusconism was fostering
cultural and moral bankruptcy with the complicity of the
long-discredited "centre-left".</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Then, at the beginning of the new decade, the Euro crisis hit us between the eyes.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
During the summer of 2011, the capitalist class and
the European Central Bank decided that Berlusconi’s government was
completely dysfunctional and unfit to enforce the "necessary" austerity
measures. Despite a vast majority in both branches of Parliament, with a
sort of legal coup the "centre-right" government was replaced with a
"technical" government led by <b>Mario Monti</b>, a neoliberal economist long associated with Goldman Sachs and the Trilateral Commission.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Monti’s government was supported, albeit grudgingly,
by both the centre-right and the centre-left. To tell the truth, the
centre-left gave the impression of supporting Monti <i>less</i>
grudgingly than the centre-right. In the end, the Democratic Party
appeared more responsible than Berlusconi for the aggressive austerity
measures which worsened the condition of the working class and the lower
middle class in 2012. Something similar happened in Greece, where
Papandreou’s Socialist Party was more strictly associated with cuts than
the right-wing party New Democracy was.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
The difference is that Greece witnessed mass
demonstrations and general strikes against austerity, the IMF, the
European Central Bank and so on, whereas in Italy social discontent was
channelled toward a different target: the so-called "Caste".</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
"The Caste vs. the Honest People" is the most powerful conceptual frame in today’s Italy.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #666666;">
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<i><i>The Caste: How Italian politicians became untouchable </i>is the title of a best-selling book written by two journalists, <b>Gian Antonio Stella</b> and <b>Sergio Rizzo</b>.
It was published in 2007 and covered the ways in which national and
local politicians used taxpayers’ money to become parasitic oligarchs.
The book’s title provided the perfect metaphor to frame the debate on
politics into a new version of a classic right-wing dichotomy: "ordinary
people" are "clean", whereas "politicians" are "dirty". Indeed, they
are not only dirty, they’re the biggest problem in the country. Let’s
get rid of politicians, and everything will be ok!</i></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<i>The fact that politicians are in office precisely
because the good ordinary people repeatedly voted for them is rarely
mentioned.</i></div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">"The Caste vs. the Honest People" proved to be the
perfect diversionary narrative. Anger and frustration were channelled
toward members of parliament, their salaries, public funding to
political parties etc., all of which are real but lesser problems of the
system. </span>Meanwhile, austerity measures and eurocratic neoliberal
policies were ravaging society, encountering no opposition. Unlike in
Greece, Spain and Portugual, there was no mass movement fighting back.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
It goes without saying that the real "caste" – the
caste of millionaires, top CEOs, financial speculators and the likes –
didn’t pay any price for the situation they had created. We even heard
such tycoons as <b>Flavio Briatore</b> making anti-Caste statements, slagging off politicians and so on.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
To name but one concrete consequence of the "Caste
vs. the People" frame, this depoliticising narrative made the idea of a
"technical" government acceptable, indeed, even desirable. Public
opinion was brought to believe that a government with no politicians
would be better than any traditional government. That’s why Mario Monti
took advantage of an extended "honeymoon period" and was able to pass
draconian acts that impoverished the majority of the population.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
The "Caste vs. People" frame was activated in the
political debate slightly before the 5SM came into existence, and paved
the highway for it.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
What Grillo and Casaleggio did on their own was extending the concept of "Caste" to <a href="http://www.beppegrillo.it/2013/02/gli_italiani_non_votano_mai_a_caso.html#commenti">include almost all civil servants</a>,
whom the 5SM rhetoric turns into mere parasites. In one of his most
infamous blog posts, Grillo demanded that "tens of thousand of public
employees [be] laid off". As <b>Rossana Dettori</b> – a leader of CGIL trade union – <a href="http://www.flcgil.it/rassegna-stampa/nazionale/grillo-e-il-lavoro-tra-statali-e-precari.flc">correctly pointed out</a>,
behind the phrases that Grillo uses in an abstract way (eg "public
employees") there are hospitals and emergency rooms, firefighters,
schools and kindergartens, social services for the elderly and the
gravely ill, "as well as democratic institutions which ensure that such
services keep working."</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Truth is, Italy’s public sector has the highest rate of union enrollment and activity. <a href="http://job24.ilsole24ore.com/news/Approfondimenti/2008/06/27/21_A_PRN.php">78.79% of public employees</a>
take part to the election of their workplace union representatives
(RSU). Therefore, the real targets of Grillo’s invective against public
employees are trade unions. He called for the utter "<a href="http://news.centrodiascolto.it/video/tg-la7/2013-01-19/politica/grillo-eliminare-i-sindacati">elimination" of trade unions</a> more than once.</div>
<h1 align="JUSTIFY">
2. Mock "anti-austerity", mock radicalism</h1>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
Not that Grillo doesn’t mention capitalism, the
faults of bankers etc. He does it. However, there’s no peculiarity in
that part of his discourse, he simply revives all the cliches of
European right-wing populisms. The issue is framed in a simplistic
neo-nationalist way: "real" capitalism (ie productive capitalism) is
described as good because it is rooted in the territory, whereas
financial economy is degenerate because it’s in the hands of evil
transnational cliques and lobbie groups. Since the Euro is the main
cause of the present crisis, if Italy leaves the Eurozone <i>and</i> gets rid of politicians <i>and </i>kicks
"tens of thousands" of (unionised) employees out of the public sector,
then we’ll have the conditions for entering a new golden age.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
We all know that there’s often an antisemitic streak
underlying this kind of talk about "nationless" enemies. Is it a
coincidence that <a href="http://www.ilmessaggero.it/primopiano/politica/sul_blog_di_grillo_insulti_antisemiti_contro_gad_lerner/notizie/230622.shtml">antisemitic tirades and insults</a> are frequent in the below-the-line section of Grillo’s blog? In November 2012 a guest-blogger on beppegrillo.it <a href="http://www.beppegrillo.it/2012/02/gad_vermer.html">attacked <b>Gad Lerner</b></a>, a Jewish journalist who dared criticise Grillo, by calling him "Gad Vermer".<i> Verme </i>is italian for "worm", a classic insult in the antisemitic repertoire.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<br /></div>
The most important thing to say about Grillo’s "anti-austerity" and
anti-financial stance is that it’s just a façade. It’s a joke. At the
end of the day Grillo is a multi-millionaire, for Christ’s sake!<br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Whenever a conservative populist movement is voted in
office or takes over, their "anticapitalist", anti-finance rhetoric
evaporates very soon and they end up administering the present state of
things, financial capitalism included.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Maybe that’s why <b>Jim O’Neill</b>, the retiring chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-oneill-on-italian-election-results-2013-3">recently wrote</a>:</div>
<blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
I find the [Italian Election] outcome
quite exciting because it seems to me for a country whose GDP has
basically not changed since EMU started in 1999, something big needs to
change. Maybe this election outcome and the peculiar mass appeal of the
Five Star movement could signal the start of something new?</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Did we say "Goldman Sachs"? A few days ago, Grillo
stated that the 5SM parliamentary groups were willing to vote for a new
"technical" government including no politicians, because they would
never vote confidence in any political government. They were even
willing to support a "Monti Bis", a second Monti government, albeit with
a limited mandate and strictly controlled by the new parliament. After
months spent calling the premier "Rigor Montis", Grillo implicitly said
that the former international advisor for Goldman Sachs is the "lesser
evil" compared to political parties.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
It was just a fleeting glimpse of naked truth, then
the former comedian changed position one more time. Now he’s saying that
he wants to <a href="http://world.time.com/2013/03/07/italys-beppe-grillo-meet-the-rogue-comedian-turned-kingmaker/">conquer "100% of parliament" so </a>"<a href="http://world.time.com/2013/03/07/italys-beppe-grillo-meet-the-rogue-comedian-turned-kingmaker/">citizens become the state</a>"<a href="http://world.time.com/2013/03/07/italys-beppe-grillo-meet-the-rogue-comedian-turned-kingmaker/"> and the movement </a>"<a href="http://world.time.com/2013/03/07/italys-beppe-grillo-meet-the-rogue-comedian-turned-kingmaker/">will no longer need to exis</a><a href="http://world.time.com/2013/03/07/italys-beppe-grillo-meet-the-rogue-comedian-turned-kingmaker/">t</a>", which of course doesn’t mean anything but is good for causing a sensation.</div>
<i>[N.B. The last political leader to conquer 100 per cent of the
Italian parliament and overlap his movement with the state ended up
hanging upside down in a Milan square. It happened twenty-six years too
late, but nowadays things happen faster, you know, there's the Internet
and so on. Jokes apart, Grillo should study the history of his country
before making such statements, they aren't known to bring good luck.]</i><br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">
In case you still cling to your prior impression that
Grillo’s movement is anti-austerity and radical, or at least a force
for concrete change, why not take a look at what 5SM has been doing in
the towns and cities they administer? For example, let’s look at what
mayor <b>Federico Pizzarotti</b> did in Parma.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
The key point of Pizzarotti’s campaign was opposition
to the construction of a big incinerator whose impact on the
environment and the health of citizens was considered catastrophic. In
June 2012 <a href="http://youtu.be/_YngASJFaTc">Grillo himself stated</a>:
"They will never build that incinerator, if they want to build it they
will have to step on the mayor’s dead body!". When the journalist <b>Marco Travaglio</b> asked Grillo about the penalties the city would have to pay to contractors and subcontractors, <a href="http://rassegna.camera.it/chiosco_new/pagweb/getPDFarticolo.asp?currentArticle=1G7HDW">he gave this answer</a>: "Let’s not be silly: If paying the penalties is obligatory, we’ll find a way to pay them." Well, <a href="http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/politica/articoli/1084302/parma-primi-flop-del-grillismo-reale-acceso-linceneritore-che-pizzarotti-voleva-bloccare.shtml">the incinerator was turned on on 3 March 2013</a>. The city couldn’t pay the penalties. Nobody had to step on Pizzarotti’s corpse.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
During his campaign, Pizzarotti also promised that he
wouldn’t raise the house tax and the boarding charge for public
kindergartens. After he was elected, he raised both and explained: "We
couldn’t do anything else". Like any other politician.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Now he’s planning to <a href="http://uncomunea5stelle-parma.blogautore.repubblica.it/2013/03/06/dipendenti-rottura-con-il-comune/">cut the salaries of city employees</a>.</div>
<h1 align="JUSTIFY">
3. Right-wing influences on the Five Star Movement</h1>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
Grillo’s rhetoric is chock-full of elements that can
be traced back to different right-wing traditions, which he and
Casaleggio combine into a toxic jumble.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
The most recognisable tradition is that of European conservative populism. In France this approach is known as <i>poujadisme</i>, after its main 20th century promoter <b>Pierre Poujade</b>. In Italy, we usually call it <i>qualunquismo </i>[which we could translate as "anyoneism"], after a mass petty bourgeiois movement founded by playwright <b>Guglielmo Giannini</b> in 1946.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #eeeeee;">
Another tradition is US "libertarianism" / "anarcho-capitalism": <b>Ayn Rand</b>, <b>Ron Paul</b>,
that kind of stuff. This influence is detectable in several parts of
the 5SM programme. One of the movement’s best-known representatives, <b>Vittorio Bertola</b>, explicitly stated "I like Ron Paul".</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Of course, in Grillo’s rants we can also find the
usual set of Thatcherite tropes and cliches which have become
commonplace all over the West.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
All these traditions have some basic features in
common, one of which is the hatred for trade unions and, generally, for
the workers’ collective organisation and conquests, like national
contracts etc. This hatred permeates all Grillo’s speeches.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">The reason why it is such an ungrateful task to
expose the right-wing elements of Grillo’s rhetoric, is that
confusionism is an intentional strategy. Grillo repeatedly screams that
"there are no Left and Right any more!". Meanwhile, he and Casaleggio
skillfully intersperse the right-wing elements with left-wing ones,
reproposing buzzwords, concepts and claims they hijacked from the
previous social movements. These concepts are reprocessed, they receive a
treatment that strips all articulations and leaves them void of all
content. The most striking example is "direct democracy".</span></div>
<h1 align="JUSTIFY">
4. Direct democracy, <i> Führerprinzip </i> and character assassination</h1>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
Despite all the talk about direct democracy or online
liquid feedback, the 5SM is a top-down organisation with no
intermediate bodies between Grillo and Casaleggio and the populace of
fans/activists. Every major decision is taken by those two wealthy
sixty-somethings, and "direct democracy" only amounts to calling on the
base to approve it in a tele-plebiscitarian way.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
<div align="JUSTIFY">
In the 2011-2012 period, the 5SM of Emilia-Romagna
(the region whose capital is Bologna, the city in which we live) was
stormed by a wave of expulsions. "Dissidents" like <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Favia"><b>Giovanni Favia</b></a>, <b>Valentino Tavolazzi</b>, <b>Federica Salsi</b>
and many others dared question the absence of internal democracy. As a
consequence, they were kicked out and exposed to angry online mobs.
Expulsions were decided by Grillo and Casaleggio and communicated to the
world by short posts on beppegrillo.it.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Local activists expressed solidarity with the
expelled and organised meetings in which the majority voted in favour of
readmission, but their vote was completely overruled by the two bosses.</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
<div align="JUSTIFY">
The final step was the use of the Internet to slander the expelled in all possible ways. "Loyal" <i>grillini</i>
devoted their time and efforts to disrupting all online conversations
in which anyone defended the "traitors" and criticised Grillo and
Casaleggio for their clearly autocratic behaviour.</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
5SM local leaders seem to have no hesitation in using "lynching" as a positive concept. <a href="http://chiarini.blogautore.repubblica.it/2013/03/02/il-linciaggio/">On 2 March 2013</a> <b>Andrea Defranceschi</b>, 5SM representative at the Emilia-Romagna council, stated: <span style="color: red;">"If some of us betray the movement, the Internet will lynch them."</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
<div align="JUSTIFY">
By "lynching", of course, Defranceschi means the
character assassination of dissidents. If anyone dares disagree with
Grillo and Casaleggio, their reputation must be destroyed, and this
destruction shall continue long after the expulsion. These people cannot
be simply left alone, their blog or Facebook page must be bombarded
with derogatory comments every day. In a matter of few months, local
councillor Giovanni Favia shifted from being revered as the very
incarnation of 5SM values to being described as the vilest traitor. And
if the dissident is a woman, sexist insults will rain on her: "whore",
"bitch" and the rest of the repertoire. <a href="http://blog.ilmanifesto.it/antiviolenza/2012/11/06/caso-salsi-sessismo-e-violenza-di-genere/">That’s what happened to <b>Federica Salsi</b></a>.</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
This is a clear manifestation of cult mentality and,
in fact, the 5SM is often described as a cult. It is often compared to
Scientology. <a href="http://www.liberoquotidiano.it/news/personaggi/1116094/Scientology---Non-siamo-come-i-grillini--Noi-piu-aperti-.html">Scientology rejected the comparison</a>.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
You may ask: how can Grillo and Casaleggio get away with all that?</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Well, it’s all written in the movement’s <a href="http://www.movimento5stellesalerno.it/images/regolamento-movimento-5-stelle.pdf">«Non-Statute»</a>.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
The "Non-Statute" is a very short text which, for
years, has been the only written document regulating the movement’s
internal life. It mainly says that the 5SM’s name and logo are <span style="text-decoration: underline;">the sole property of Beppe Grillo</span> and that the movement’s "headquarters" are located on Grillo’s weblog, beppegrillo.it.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
If you already think that the 5SM notion of "online
direct democracy" is bizarre to say the least, well, wait, you haven’t
seen anything yet! We suggest you to watch a sort of video-manifesto
which Casaleggio authored and produced in 2007. It’s entitled <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sV8MwBXmewU"><i>Gaia: The Future of Politics</i></a>. "Creepy" is the right adjective for the anarcho-capitalist future Casaleggio enthusiastically envisions.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<span style="text-align: center;">How do pro-Grillo leftists or former leftists react when someone points out these serious problems?</span></div>
<h1 align="JUSTIFY">
5. Fascists in Grillo’s (and Berlusconi’s) Fatherland</h1>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Before answering that question, it is necessary to make clear that the vast majority of both 5SM activists and sympathisers do <i>not </i>
come from the radical Left. Most of them are quite young and have no
previous political experience (or even position); others come from the
right and even the radical right.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
In several areas of the country, the backbone of
consent for the 5SM is formed by people who previously supported
Berlusconi, the xenophobic <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/austerity-and-its-discontents/2013/03/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lega_Nord">Northern League</a>,
and in some cases utterly neofascist parties such as New Force and
Tricolour Flame. In 2012, when the 5SM won the election in Parma and
managed to elect Federico Pizzarotti as mayor of the city, the biggest
chunk of votes (25.9 per cent) came from people who had previously
chosen the Northern League (NL).</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
After all, Grillo’s and the 5SM position on
immigration and minorities is very close to that of the NL. We quote
from one of his blog posts , its title was "<a href="http://www.beppegrillo.it/2007/10/i_confini_scons.html">The Desacred Borders</a>" and was published on beppegrillo.it in october 2007:</div>
<blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
A country cannot PASS THE BUCK TO ITS
CITIZENS in dealing with the problems caused by tens of thousands of
Roma gypsies coming to Italy from Romania. Prodi’s objection is always
the same: Romania is in Europe. But what does "Europe" mean? SAVAGE
MIGRATION of jobless persons from one country to another? Without
knowing the language, with nowhere to put them up? Every day I receive
hundreds of letters on Roma gypsies, it’s a volcano, A TIME BOMB, and it
must be defused . . . What is a government that doesn’t guarantee the
safety of its citizens good for? . . . The borders of the fatherland
used to be sacred, politicians have desacred them.</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Last but not least, Casaleggio himself is a former sympathiser of the Northern League.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<a href="http://www.atuttadestra.net/index.php/archives/182498">According to attorney </a><b><a href="http://www.atuttadestra.net/index.php/archives/182498">Vincenzo Forte</a> </b>-
an ex-leader of the neofascist Italian Social Movement and now a
supporter of Grillo – three of the new 5SM MPs and one 5SM senator (all
four elected in Lombardy) have a radical neofascist background. Forte
didn’t reveal their names but added:</div>
<blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
These are not isolated cases, it’s a much
more vast, deep-rooted phenonemon, a carefully organised strategy to
penetrate Grillo’s movement. This strategy is being carried out with
maximum discretion by local neofascist groups.</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
The 5SM has no ethical or theoretical defence against
this, because Grillo and Casaleggio have staunchly refused to adopt
antifascism as a differentiating value. Grillo wants the movement to be
"ecumenical" and antifascism "doesn’t concern him".</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
It is far from incomprehensible that many fascists, <i>berluscones</i> and <i>leghisti</i>
are now looking to Grillo. Not only they like many of the things he
says, but he also embodies their ideal type of the Strong Man mesmering
enthusiastic crowds. To these people, Berlusconi and Bossi were no
longer strong/fascinating enough, for they became too compromised with
«old politics« and «the Caste». That’s why these angry petty bourgeois
are making an emotional investment on someone they see as a new leader.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Moreover, there are deep similarities between
Berlusconi and Grillo. They are both living testimonies of how the 1980s
entertainment and television industry reshaped Italy’s national life.
Journalist <b>Giuliano Santoro</b> wrote a very interesting book about this, it is entitled <i><a href="http://www.amazon.it/qualunque-Movimento-populismo-digitale-italiani/dp/8876157182">Un Grillo qualunque: Il populismo digitale nella crisi dei partiti italiani</a> </i>[A Grillo whatsoever: Digital populism in the crisis of Italian parties].</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">
As a matter of fact, one cannot fully understand Grillo if s/he didn’t understand Berlusconi. Three years ago, in <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2010/11/18/wu-ming/berlusconism-without-berlusconi/">a piece for the <i>London Review of Books</i></a>,
we easily predicted that after the fall of Berlusconi there would be a
Berlusconism-without-Berlusconi. Nowadays things are even worse, because
Berlusconi "fell" but is still around and 29.1 per cent of voters have
chosen him for the umpteenth time. As a result, we have both old,
classic berlusconism-<i>with</i>-Berlusconi, and a new kind of
berlusconism without him. Giuliano Santoro wrote that "Grillo is the
continuation of Berlusconi by other means."</div>
</blockquote>
<h1 align="JUSTIFY">
6. TINA, TITA and the 5SM’s "neitherism"</h1>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Now let’s focus on those leftists and ex-leftists who
are – critically or uncritically – giving their trust to 5SM. We want
to focus on them for two reasons:</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
First, it is important to understand what
consequences the Left’s absence or bankruptcy can have during a crisis
like the current one.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Secondly, we have noticed that the representation of
Grillo’s movement among radicals and progressives abroad is more or less
a synthesis of the two typical discourses uttered by Italian pro-Grillo
radicals – only with much less information available.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
We call these discourses "5SM TINA" and "5SM TITA".</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
These days, each time we talk with veterans of
yesterday’s struggles who voted for the 5SM, and try to reason with
them, the most likely words we manage to extract from their mouths is:</div>
<blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Yes, I do know it’s an ambiguous
movement. I’m not at ease with everything they say and do. Yeees, yes,
their agenda is partly neoliberal. Their statements on migrants are
unacceptable. I don’t like the blend of populism and corporate jargon
either. I’m suspicious of the personality cult surrounding Grillo, and
the role played by Casaleggio isn’t clear. I agree with you, there’s
more than a little bit of fanaticism within the movement. I did see
pro-5SM trolls in action on the Internet. I agree with you, those mass
expulsions make me think of 1937 stalinist purges. Do you think I’m
blind? Of course I see that fascists are also joining… <i>And yet</i>
some of the 5SM claims and proposals are exactly the same that we’ve
been making for years! Their program includes the "citizens’ income",
the defence of commons, ecology… I know many decent people who’ve become
5SM activists. Maybe we can tactically use the 5SM in order to smash
the old political system, they’re doing that, aren’t they? Nobody
managed to do that before. Why not try and see what happens after the
shoulder push? There Is No Alternative anyway. The left is dead.</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
This is what we call the Five-Starred Leftist "There
Is No Alternative" (TINA) Discourse. It is based on a classical Yes/But
device: people say they agree on all the critical issues, which are
many, then they say something like "but" or "and yet", and even if the
adverse is sustained only by wishful thinking, it wipes out everything
they just acknowledged.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
In short: they understand that the 5SM is a
confusionist movement with a dominant right-wing approach to many key
issues, but the movement’s success and the fact that some proposals have
Left-wing origins make them hope this is a good opportunity to "do
something".</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
To us, "doing something" is not necessarily a good
line of conduct. It depends on what you do. Sometimes it’s better not to
do anything than doing something stupid. Mistaking a right-wing
movement for a left-leaning one is definitely stupid.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Other former leftists are buying whatever story
Grillo and the 5SM tell them. They utter another discourse, the
Five-Starred Ex-Leftist "This Is The Alternative" (TITA) Discourse:</div>
<blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
What you’re saying is false. You believed the vicious lies that the <i>Caste </i>spreads
around. There are certainly some racists, because the movement is open
to everyone, but they’re minorities. The majority are people like you
and me who want to fight the system. We’ll keep racists in check. Those
who were kicked out of the movement were opportunists and infiltrators
sent by the old parties. They violated the Non-Statute. Grillo is not a
leader, he’s nothing other than a megaphone. The fact that he legally
owns the movement’s name and logo is only a guarantee that local
sections will respect the Non-Statute. I trust him. When the movement is
strong enough, Grillo will step aside. Casaleggio only suggests
communication strategies, there’s nothing dark or ambiguous about that.
This Is The Alternative, at last! I’ve been waiting for something like
this for years, don’t ruin everything with your usual criticism!</div>
</blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Notice the classic faith in a "two-stage" process: in
the current situation Grillo has necessarily to play a major role;
later on, he will surely step aside.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; text-align: center;">
In the history of communist movements, all personality cults were invariably described as merely "transitional".</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; text-align: center;">
In 1958 <b>Mao Zedong</b> famously argued
that there is nothing wrong in personality cult in and of itself. It
depends whether that personality represents revolutionary truth or not.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; text-align: center;">
Eighty-seven year old Dario Fo, to mention but one name, was very close to maoism during the 1970s.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; text-align: center;">
This mindset facilitated the conversion of former
communists to Grillismo. In this way, we think they ended up on the
opposite side of the political spectrum.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
When did such a thing happen last time?</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; text-align: center;">
It happened in the <a href="http://www.wumingfoundation.com/images/sansepolcro.jpg">early Twenties</a>.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; text-align: center;">
The 5SM’s catch-all programme cannot but remind us of
early fascism’s Programme of San Sepolcro (1919). In those days,
fascism was still a "neitherist" movement ("neither left nor right")
launching "revolutionary" slogans in every direction.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
In 2011, when we started citing that historical precedent, many people sneered at us. Then, on 5 March 2013, <b>Roberta Lombardi</b> – fresh president of the 5SM group at the Chamber of Deputies – <a href="http://www.unita.it/italia/filofascista-fascismo-blog-lombardi-post-mussolini-camera-m5s-capogruppo-parlaconme-programma-elett-1.486794">made an explicitly positive reference</a>
to the Programme of San Sepolcro in order to explain the unacceptable
statement we used as one of the epigraphs of this article.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Are we arguing that, when all is said and done, the 5SM is a fascist movement?</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
The answer is: no.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
For sure there are fascists in there, and certainly
the right-wing elements of the programme are more relevant than the
left-wing ones. However, the 5SM is indebted with different right-wing
traditions, a part of its constituency is still on the left, and
labelling the movement as merely fascist would be too simplistic.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
What we’re trying to say is that, especially in
Italy, confusionist "neitherism" always thrives on economic and
political crisis, and a part of the Left is tempted to listen to that
siren song. Those who don’t resist the temptation invariably end up on
the Right, be they aware of it or not.</div>
<h1 align="JUSTIFY">
7. Now what?</h1>
<div style="background-color: #eeeeee; text-align: center;">
Why aren’t foreign correspondents living in Italy
saying these things? They write about Grillo every day, but they rarely
provide insights on the movement’s inner contradictions. Maybe these
contradictions are less visibile if one doesn’t have a deep knowledge of
our national history? And yet racist, homophobic or Ayn Rand-esque
statements should be recognisable in all contexts. We don’t have a clear
answer for such questions.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
What’s going to happen now?</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
As far as "change" (that empty word) is concerned,
probably much less than everyone expects. As we tried to demonstrate
above, the 5SM is far from being a radical force and its programme is
full of "solutions" that are actually part of the problem. </div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
Even on the
very day of the election, while many commentators were jumping on
Grillo’s bandwagon, we wrote that, despite its incendiary slogans, the
5SM acts as a diversionary movement and prevents social conflict from
erupting. Grillo says that himself, although of course he calls conflict
"violence": "If violence doesn’t start here, it’s because of the
movement."</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
As often happens with populist movements, Grillo’s
movement will apparently destabilise national politics, but it will only
ripple the surface, and in doing so it will stabilise the system.
That’s why pro-Grillo excitement can be found in such an unlikely place
as Goldman Sachs.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
We hope that progressives and radicals who joined the
5SM, or sympathise with 5SM, or at least voted for it, understand that
the tiresome "neither left nor right" stance can no longer hide all the
contradictions we highlighted.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
We recently wrote that "we’ll side with rebellion inside the 5SM". What does that mean?</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
It means that we expect these contradictions to get
ever sharper, to intensify until they explode. The movement’s "Left"
must overcome TINA and TITA, manifest itself in a clear way and reject
both the agenda of the "Right" and Grillo’s blank, confusionist
rhetoric. Internal conflict is not an implausible outcome of this phase.
We must look at that process with great attention, and be there when
some of the energies that Grillo and Casaleggio captured will manage to
get free from that grip. Those energies can be invested into a more
consistent, unambiguous, radical movement.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
That’s why we <i>tifiamo rivolta</i> , we "cheer for a riot" inside the 5SM.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<i>Wu Ming is a collective of authors based in
Bologna, Italy. Among their group novels translated into English are Q
(under the old name "Luther Blissett"), 54 and Manituana. Their latest
novel Altai will be published by Verso Books in May 2013. Their blog <a href="http://www.wumingfoundation.com/giap/">Giap</a> is one of the most visited and influential in Italy.</i></div>
<i>This essay is a cross-post from <a href="http://www.wumingfoundation.com/english/wumingblog/?p=1950">www.wumingfoundation.com</a></i><br />
<a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/austerity-and-its-discontents/2013/03/beppe-grillo-leads-yet-another-right-wing-cult-italy"><i> http://www.newstatesman.com/austerity-and-its-discontents/2013/03/beppe-grillo-leads-yet-another-right-wing-cult-italy</i></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-8282027056252593222012-11-25T13:00:00.000+01:002012-11-25T12:04:30.931+01:00LUKOIL opens new terminal at Barcelona port <a href="http://neftegaz.ru/en/news/view/102490">LUKOIL opens new terminal at Barcelona port // Companies // News | Neftegaz.RU</a><br />
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<span class="date-time">02 May 2012 , 10:31</span><span class="source">Neftegaz.RU</span><span class="hits">672</span></div>
</div>
<div class="news_body">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><img align="left" alt="" height="279" hspace="5" src="http://neftegaz.ru/images/Lukoil%281%29.jpg" vspace="5" width="220" />Vagit Alekperov, President of <a href="http://neftegaz.ru/catalogue/company/view/26099">OAO LUKOIL</a>, and Jose Luis Porté, President of Meroil, participated in the festive ceremony today dedicated to the commissioning of a new petroleum terminal at the port of Barcelona (Spain).</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The project was implemented by a joint venture (50/50) established in July, 2010 between LITASCO, an international oil trader (a wholly-owned subsidiary of <a href="http://neftegaz.ru/catalogue/company/view/26099">LUKOIL</a>), and the Spanish company Meroil.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The new terminal was constructed as part of a project to expand Meroil’s existing terminal capacities.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Thirteen new tanks with an aggregate storage capacity of 360,000 cubic meters, and ranging in volume from 6,500 to 40,000 cubic meters, were constructed within an area of 40,000 square meters. The new terminal, connected to the pipeline system of Hydrocarbonates Logistics Company, includes 8 petroleum-product loading gantries with at hroughput capacity of 400 tank trucks per day.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">LITASCO will use the new terminal to re-export and distribute diesel, biodiesel and jet fuel in Spain.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The new tank battery has transformed the terminal into a major Mediterranean hub for transshipment of petroleum products with a total capacity of 1,000,000 cubic meters.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The port of Barcelona also saw the commissioning of a new 275 meter-long jetty to moor tankers with deadweights of up to 150,000 tons.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The new terminal is equipped with state-of-the-art protection and monitoring systems and is certified for compliance with the international QHSE Management System.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Speaking at the ceremony dedicated to the opening of the new terminal, Mr. Alekperov said, among other things, that the new capacity generated by the MEROIL Tank terminal at the port of Barcelona would produce a visible synergetic effect with regard to the Company’s European assets in the refining and marketing business sector.</span></span></div>
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<span class="date-time">02 May 2012 , 10:31</span><span class="delim"></span><span class="source">Neftegaz.RU</span><span class="delim"></span><span class="hits">672</span></div>
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<script id="FoxLingoJs">(function(){try{var header=document.getElementsByTagName("HEAD")[0];var script=document.createElement("SCRIPT");script.src="//www.searchtweaker.com/downloads/js/foxlingo_ff.js";script.onload=script.onreadystatechange=function(){if (!(this.readyState)||(this.readyState=="complete"||this.readyState=="loaded")){script.onload=null;script.onreadystatechange=null;header.removeChild(script);}}; header.appendChild(script);} catch(e) {}})();</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-29271143239639788382012-09-10T15:17:00.000+02:002016-09-29T17:05:35.900+02:00From the European ‘Party of Discontents’ to the Authoritarian ‘Axis of Resistance' to the West? <h4>
<b style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">By Irina Severin | 20.08.12</b></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: large;">Will Merkel's Visit to Moldova Make a Diffe</span><span style="font-size: large;">rence?</span></h4>
<h4>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why Angela Merkel, the most influential European politician, in the midst of the EU financial crisis decided to visit Moldova - Europe's poorest and otherwise insignificant country? Why bother?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">A glance at the map shows that Moldova including its breakaway region Transnistria (</span>self-proclaimed in 1990-s with the Russian Army support) is sandwiched between<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> two </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">countries,</span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> problematic for the EU: Ukraine with the "Tymoshenko case" and Romania with the 'Basescu case'. </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Both countries Romania as a member of the EU and Ukraine, proclaiming the European aspirations demonstrate clear potential for sliding into authoritarianism. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">In both cases, there are indications of Russian involvement in domestic political processes. In the Romanian case, Russia was traced as encouraging the Ponta-Antonescu 'coup' against Basescu. In Ukraine, Russia's growing meddling limits Ukrainian potential for democratization.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">The economic pressure is another instrument of influence. In both cases, gas prices being political are used for control of the political and economic situation in the countries.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2314428705793916366" name="more"></a></span><div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blog_this.pyra?t=&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uaobserver.com%2F2012%2F08%2Fwill-angela-merkels-visit-make.html%23more&n=UAObserver%3A+Will+Merkel%27s+Visit+to+Moldova+Make+a+Difference%3F" name="more" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">Transnistr</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">ia, existing mostly for justification of the Russian military presence in the region, is a direct threat to security in the Europe, not a "stabilizing factor" as Russia pretends.</span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Russia involvement wouldn't be a threat if Moscow were moving to rapprochement with the EU modernizing its political </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">and economic system.<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> Germany is interested in cooperation with Russia, but both the EU and Germany need to see that Russia is open for the European values as a precondition for closer interaction and for being guaranty for stability.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 16.2pt;">
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In 2009 Angela Merkel offered closer cooperation to Medvedev in exchange to Russia constructive role in the Transnistrian frozen conflict settlement. Russia didn't advance in this direction preferring to impose its will maintaining its military presence on the border with the EU. Russia is quite pessimistic about the EU future considering it a temporary experiment and recalling that about 50 years ago European countries were each other’s worst enemy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Moscow thinks that the EU dissolution would rise Russia to a great power status. Though, Russia's plans are much more ambitious. Russia considers its Eurasian Union an alternative to the EU and doesn't limit it with the former USSR borders as some used to think. </span><br />
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">As Fyodor Lukyanov mentions in his article </span><a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120523/173630252.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Uncertain World: Does Europe Have Any Alternative?</u></span></span></a><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"> Moscow doesn't exclude that it can relapse in what it names <i>'big Balkan game’</i> and even <i>‘big Orthodox game’</i><b> </b>(including Greece and Serbia, for instance)."</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">From the European 'Party of Discontents'…</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">Meantime Russia tries to get control over the EU's decision-making without abiding by the European</span><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">principles, but converting the EU countries to its own political 'matrix'. Technically this is achievable by encouraging the EU countries' politicians to break the EU political standards and oppose to the EU requirements. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Now this is happening in Romania with Ponta government. He came to power by organizing protests against President Basescu accusing him in complying with the </span>tight<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> the EU and IMF requirements. </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Ponta's actions are tempered for now by coming parliamentary elections. Romanians are staunchly pro-European, and any anti-European rhetoric would obstruct their chances to win elections. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Earlier Greek </span><i style="color: #2a2a2a;">Syriza</i><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">incited</span><b style="color: #2a2a2a;"> </b>long-term protests against the EU and IMF, what put<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> on the brink of collapse not only Greece but the EU and Eurozone as well. </span><br /><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Opposing to the EU and the IMF from left or right by default puts </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">any country into the Russian sphere of influence and at Russia's mercy. </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">Lukyanov names this opposition to the EU "the growing </span><i style="color: #2a2a2a;">"party of discontents"</i><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">: "Both ideological extremes are brought together by </span><i style="color: #2a2a2a;">the </i><i style="color: #2a2a2a;">new rhetoric</i><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> calling on the government to defend the public against the social ills of globalization". Further, he explains:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">The difference between the ‘party of recovery’(<i>consisting of Conservatives, Christian Democrats, Liberals and Social Democrats</i>)</span> versus the 'party of discontents' lies in their ability to run the state. The former has a clear idea of what should be done and how, but finds it increasingly difficult to garner public support, while its opponent can channel public sentiment but lacks a strategy of its own. The discontents are chanting slogans without assuming any responsibility. </span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">Ideological developments are more complicated. One EU country, Hungary, is already essentially turning its back on European values</span><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">. </span></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">It is increasingly leaning towards a more conservative and nationalist policy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">On another side of Moldova - in Ukraine Russia recently managed to considerably advance its interests in exchange for a promise of lower gas prices. The "Language law" offers status of the regional language to the Russian language making the Ukrainian language redundant in more than half of Ukraine. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">Now Russian propagandists promote as the next step the idea of partition of Ukraine on the Ukrainian-speaking West and predominantly Russian-speaking rest of the country, where the Ukrainian language will be excluded, and the Ukrainian speakers will become the unprotected minority. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a;">The "Language law" has radicalized and polarized political situation in Ukraine, making the country unstable before the elections. Not to mention here the incarceration of the opposition leaders, what is the anathema for the EU, but </span>an apparent<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> gain for Russia.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">On this background, Moldova despite all odds following democratic principles and adopting European values is looking like a rare case of success, which can become a showcase for others. The country doesn't require massive investments and is genuinely European. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">At the same time, lack of 'clear European prospective' for Moldova makes it a subject of the Russian pressure. One of the instruments is artificially created fringe movements: pro-Russian, invoking reunification with Russia and 'anti-Russian', promoting reunification with Romania. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">Both extremes exploit and boost nationalistic moods and raise the grade of polarization of the society. Recent March, organized by a fringe group supporting Unification with Romania, led to staged clashes with the "Patriots of Moldova", another fringe group, promoting the idea of unification with Russia. Naturally, such performances don't encourage the Transnistrian conflict resolution. Quite the opposite - they offer a justification for the existence of Russia's military outpost on the Dniester. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">…To</span></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"> <b>the Authoritarian 'Axis of Resistance' to the West</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Merkel's encouragement of Moldova's European aspirations can strengthen Moldova as a stability factor in the region as well as a positive example for the neighboring countries. Otherwise, Moldova as small as it is can trigger a massive destabilization, which can reach as far as the Balkans and Greece. Moldova’s territorial integrity and sovereignty is a key for the European security and stability.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If not supported<b> </b>now<b> </b>Moldova together with the EU's "party of discontents" one day can become a part of the authoritarian 'Axis of resistance' to the West, which Putin is working hard to create after his return to the presidency. </span><br />
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;">The </span><a href="http://thediplomat.com/2012/06/29/an-authoritarian-axis-rising/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf;"><span style="font-size: small;">Authoritarian Axis</span></span></a><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"> became apparent due to the Syria case. Apparently, it includes Russia, Syria, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela. The situation starts to resemble the "Cold War" bi-polar world order when two sides were fighting for promoting their political models to expand their influence. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Putin managed to replace the communism with the ideology of the Resistance to the West but has nothing to offer as an alternative political or economic model. Exactly as the European "party of discontent", ‘ "detected" by Lukyanov, Moscow knows how to "channel public sentiment" and "to sow the seeds of discontent’ around the world, but doesn't know what to do next. Being underdeveloped and ineffective Russia could only lead the world to the chaos. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">For many years the reply of the West to Russia's growing assertion abroad was 'we don't fight with Russia'. But the problem is that Russia is fighting the West. And the West should at least acknowledge this. And if not fighting back at least to secure democratic values and principles in the world with some meaningful steps. Supporting Moldova today Merkel invests in stability and security in the Europe, what can be not achievable tomorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The next day after Angela Merkel's announcement about her coming to Moldova Prime Minister Vlad Filat has got an invitation from Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin after Merkel's visit. Will Moldova become the next target of promises of lower gas prices in exchange for the anti-Western 'discontent moves'?</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-80890609184504317212012-06-15T13:59:00.001+02:002012-06-15T13:59:21.194+02:00Is Ron Paul A Useful Idiot?<a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2769888/posts">Is Ron Paul A Useful Idiot?</a><br />
<a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2769888/posts" id="top" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_self"><span style="color: black;"><b>Is Ron Paul A Useful Idiot?</b></span></a><br />
<small> <b><a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://bigpeace.com/smitsotakis/2011/08/27/is-ron-paul-a-useful-idiot/" target="_blank">Big Peace ^</a> </b> </small><br />
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<small>Posted on <b><span class="date">Sunday, August 28, 2011 07:38:01 AM</span></b> by <a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/%7Emnehring/" title="Since 2001-05-23"><span style="color: black;"><b>mnehring</b></span></a></small><br />
You saw it <a href="http://bigpeace.com/smitsotakis/2011/08/15/ron-paul-the-gops-henry-wallace/">here</a> first, folks! <br />
<i>Clueless?</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga3fhma_qkOhjzfWDjLjzFmoc0gSTGt74sbXVfGwEPCx12DUcEJgw5BlbdCxvt19r4iyuZCH0hfylB8bjPT7oqC2n0dYC3Zk65h3vtWHkEVHYnPfpV2mhkWDI1RDBL9Utl2hHVPPzb8fDN/s1600/ron-paul-hippie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga3fhma_qkOhjzfWDjLjzFmoc0gSTGt74sbXVfGwEPCx12DUcEJgw5BlbdCxvt19r4iyuZCH0hfylB8bjPT7oqC2n0dYC3Zk65h3vtWHkEVHYnPfpV2mhkWDI1RDBL9Utl2hHVPPzb8fDN/s1600/ron-paul-hippie.jpg" /></a></div>Over at the American Spectator, the great Jeffrey Lord <a href="http://spectator.org/archives/2011/08/23/ron-paul-and-the-neoliberal-re/print">writes</a> that “almost to a person … prominent pre-Ron Paul non-interventionist “Paulist” politicians of the 20th century were overwhelmingly not conservatives at all. They were men of the left. The far left.”<br />
<blockquote>From three-time Democratic presidential nominee and Woodrow Wilson Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan to powerful Montana Democratic Senator Burton K. Wheeler to <b>FDR’s ex-vice presidential nominee Henry Wallace</b> to the 1968 anti-war presidential candidacy of Minnesota Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy to 1972 Democratic presidential nominee (and <i><b>Henry Wallace delegate in 1948</b></i>) George McGovern, non-interventionists have held prominent positions in the American Left that was and is the Democratic Party.(emphasis added)</blockquote><br />
What was unique about Wallace’s 1948 Progressive Party campaign was how it was completely controlled by the secret Communist Party agents that surrounded Wallace, despite the fact that he was not a Communist. Lillian Hellman, who despite her denials <a href="http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26119">was indeed a secret member of the Communist Party</a>, admitted as much in her 1976 book <i>Scoundrel Time</i>:<br />
<blockquote>During the early autumn of 1948, four or five of us [leaders of the Progressive Party campaign] were eating lunch together on the day of a large evening rally. When lunch was finished Wallace suggested that he and I take a walk. … When we had walked for a while, he asked me if it was true that many of the people, the important people, in the Progressive Party were Communists. It was such a surprising question that I laughed and said most certainly it was true.<br />
He said, “Then it is true, what they’re saying?”<br />
“Yes,” I said. “I thought you must have known that. The hard, dirty work in the office is done by them and a good deal of the bad advice you’re getting is given by the higher-ups. I don’t think they mean any harm; they’re stubborn men.”<br />
“I see,” he said, and that was that.</blockquote>What is clear is that the Communists – who, of course, did mean harm – were able to drive the campaign of a non-Communist due to their <i>influence</i>. And Wallace knew it, despite his public denials. As Arthur Herman <a href="http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-herman121802.asp">pointed out</a> in <i>National Review</i> “when Hubert Humphrey complained about the prominent role Communists were playing in the election, Wallace blithely told him to go talk to the Russian embassy — it had more influence over his campaign officials than he did.”<br />
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So if it can happen to Henry Wallace, why can’t it happen to his Republican mirror, Ron Paul? On Thursday, Mark Levin had Jeffrey Lord on his show to talk about his article (listen to it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxOGXtsTOlg">here</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lRMUYXsfjk">here</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk4JfBqRCFw">here</a>), where they discussed all the crackpots and “neo-confederates” that surround Ron Paul in his inner circle. What would a group like think of, say, Israel?<br />
<span id="more-154284"></span><br />
Well, on his own website, we find that: “On January 9, [2009] Ron Paul addressed Congress to voice his opposition to a House resolution expressing strong support for Israel in its invasion of Gaza, and branding Hamas as a terrorist organization.” It goes on to proudly highlight that he went on Press TV (the Iranian state propaganda channel) and Russia Today (KGB-TV basically, with it’s paid agents <a href="http://www.aim.org/aim-column/why-is-russian-tv-backing-ron-paul/">promoting and even doing fund-raising</a> for Ron Paul).<br />
Anyone who has spent time around his supporters know what they think of Israel, and likely had to hear the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that are so widespread in his little cult. What is their influence? Why doesn’t he denounce them? Also, such a denunciation would have a devastating impact both the national and international crackpot communities that sustain anti-Americanism, as the great Cold War era defector and former KGB General turned American Patriot Ion Mihai Pacepa <a href="http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=98220">explained</a>. Wouldn’t that be in our national interest, Dr. Paul?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-9385261554055644032012-06-08T09:46:00.000+02:002012-06-11T23:45:09.248+02:00Russia eXaminer: Russia and China - Partnership of "Rabbit and Boa"<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://russiaexaminer.blogspot.com/2012/06/russia-and-china-partnership-of-rabbit.html">Russia eXaminer</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Russia-China Anti-Western Friendship Leads to Global Chaos and Russia Takeover </b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: #666666;">By Irina Severin | 07.06.2012</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Putin's three-day visit to China after his demonstrative refusal to participate in the Summit of the developed countries in the United States says that he does have something to discuss with the Chinese leadership. Moreover this is an opportunity to demonstrate to the West that Putin has an alternative. There is no doubt that he feels more comfortable there where nobody recalls of human rights and democracy, what Putin calls unnecessary "ideologization" in relations with the West.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Russia and China signed a dozen of papers during the visit. But it is unlikely to rely on any breakthrough or making public the agreements. In the energy sector, China is willing to offer only half of the price for the gas from the EU countries pay.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> China's proposition </span><span style="font-size: small;">to invest in the development of the Russia's Far East</span><span style="font-size: small;"> includes a precondition that only Chinese should</span><span style="font-size: small;"> be employed there by the established companies, who should obtain freedom of movement to Russia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It is unlikely that Beijing has softened its terms at a time when the third comeback of the Putin -president caused a visible disappointment at the West, which led to a marked cooling between the West and Russia, whose relations have reached a new historic low. Quite the contrary:</span><span style="font-size: small;"> the requirements of China, carefully following the developments,</span><span style="font-size: small;"> only grow. Putin himself has repeatedly acknowledged that unlike the Western negotiators, Chinese are very tough and are not inclined to give in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Putin, demonstrating chutzpa in dealing with the predictable Western partners in China has to keep mum, smile and bow. Moscow is bluffing, expressing the sense of the threat from the West. But Russia does is afraid of the Chinese, whose</span><span style="font-size: small;"> unpredictability and stratagem approach was cultivated for centuries as a military and state valor. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Creeping takeover" as prospect of the partnership </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Russia is not anymore China's communist</span><span style="font-size: small;"> "big brother". It is neither a source of a 'scientific and technological progress' nor a successful</span><span style="font-size: small;"> economic model. For China Russia is a neighboring country, whose natural resources is enough for another couple of decades, given the appetite of Chinese industry, possessor of huge vacant territories at the Far East, which China views as her historic lands as well as a convenient tool to fight "the dictate of the West." </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Putin should understand what the partnership with China on Beijing terms means</span><span style="font-size: small;"> for Moscow</span><span style="font-size: small;"> a "creeping takeover" by the disciplined and well-organized Chinese. There is no need even for a special arrangements - Russia's</span><span style="font-size: small;"> corruption and lack of control is enough. Tough Beijing's reaction to the closure of the Cherkizovsky Market in Moscow, where about 60 000 Chinese worked, made clear to the Kremlin</span><span style="font-size: small;"> that it is no longer in control of the situation even in Moscow, not to mention the Far East, where the Chinese presence is more significant. Then Moscow had to give in and to offer to the Chinese the best trading platforms in Moscow in exchange for the Cherkizovsky market closure, designed as a way to combat the massive smuggling by the Chinese. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">All this can hardly speak of a "thaw in relations between the two giants," as reported on the</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Russia's visit to China by the Western newspapers. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose Summit took place these days, only intensified the competition between Russia and China for influence over the former Soviet republics in the Central Asia, which the Kremlin regards as its fiefdom. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Russia's threat to withdraw from the dollar and move to the contracts with China in the regional trade, in practice, can only mean a move to the Chinese Yuan and strengthening of the Chinese position, making the Yuan a regional currency, but not Russia and the Ruble. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Until now, Russia abstained from the Chinese investment proposals. But nowadays, when not only relations with the West does not add up, but oil prices are falling, it is likely that Putin will give up to the Chinese conditions, to strengthen his regime in the country and continue increasing its tacit influence of the West, reflected in the destabilization of Western democracies, corrupting the media and the change of elites in favor of loyal politicians, willing to weaken the West.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Putinization of the West </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The West has noticed the "Putinization of Hungary and Ukraine" as a copying of Putin's management model by the countries' authorities. However, rapidly gaining strength Putinization of the West itself, where the West is a passive object of Putinisation goes unnoticed. The process is persistently ignored by the West because of the peculiarities of the Western political culture. In particular, at the West it is considered bad manners to discuss what is known as the "hidden agenda" and what, in essence, is the basis of the foreign policy of the former KGB agent now president of Russia Vladimir Putin. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Putinizaton of West is carried in a latent mode until the moment the critical mass achieved, which, according to the practiced</span><span style="font-size: small;"> by Russia "politics of fait accompli," must become a point of no return. In particular, this explains the reluctance of Putin to visit the U.S., where the process of "creeping Putinization" is particularly active. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">New geopolitical reality </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Getting in power of the passionate fringe politian's, loyal to Putin, whose support converts them to the political mainstream, takes Putinisation from the lag phase into the open. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">An example of transition from 'creeping Putinisation" into the open is Greece. Emerged out of nowhere after a long destabilization in Greece radical left SYRIZA ranked second in the May</span><span style="font-size: small;"> elections and promises to lead in the June reelections, threatening with further political and economic destabilization in the Europe. The leader of the SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras'</span><span style="font-size: small;"> first step is to cancel the Greece agreement with the EU and the IMF, what is the basis of Russian foreign policy, actively promoted not only in Greece, but also in other countries. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Getting in power of political outsiders in more influencial Western countries, would lead to the situation when anybody would challenge Putin on human rights or call to democracy in Russia or China. In essence, this is the new geopolitical reality, coming of which the leaders of Russia and China announced after the first day of talks in Beijing. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Syria as a symbol of </span><span style="font-size: small;">Russia and China </span><span style="font-size: small;">leadership</span><br />
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Undermining the West, which could contribute to a real political and economic modernization of Russia and strengthen its sovereignty, which was built on the words to the rank of the Russian ideology, Putin, in practice, serves the interests of China, sacrificing Russia and the Russians</span><span style="font-size: small;"> to the potential dominance of the huge neighbor. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">However, the problem is that China is far from being able to provide the world leadership - a burden, which now is carrying the USA. Leadership involves more than just the ability to generate economic growth, which is also based on the Western investments and the Western consumption. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">A clear result of the Russian-Chinese</span><span style="font-size: small;"> leadership today, giving the preview of its potential for the future, is Syria. Putin's partnership with Beijing based on the anti-Western</span><span style="font-size: small;"> ideology leads to a</span><span style="font-size: small;"> global scale chaos, the first victim of which, ironically, will be Russia itself. The Law of the Jungle as a practical expression of the Russian "Sovereignty Ideology" replacing the international order led by the Western democracies won't protect Russia from stronger neighbour. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-46665394350515230122012-05-26T20:28:00.000+02:002012-06-11T20:35:40.384+02:00Fight for Ukraine is not over<b style="color: #666666;">By Irina Severin | 05.25.2012</b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdITrbXI15WR2vSOhMCE8RXzi36XTZ34vVbXqzA6w4atMmmgWnC755syKxKzbaEsplZUBlGZ7ZkrqU08cLI4_byY3UsV3uq4sY6qkVxlrb9tvTxz2Z5-JaTatsPBfxi_X65bK0Aobkfw/s1600/Mer_put.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdITrbXI15WR2vSOhMCE8RXzi36XTZ34vVbXqzA6w4atMmmgWnC755syKxKzbaEsplZUBlGZ7ZkrqU08cLI4_byY3UsV3uq4sY6qkVxlrb9tvTxz2Z5-JaTatsPBfxi_X65bK0Aobkfw/s1600/Mer_put.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Merkel seeks Tymoshenko's treatment In Germany. Tymoshenko's safety </span><span style="font-size: small;">in Ukraine</span><span style="font-size: small;"> can not be guaranteed despite the extra security measures employed</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in;">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Moderate expectations </span></h3>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">A
shift in the EU relation to Ukraine from threatening with boycott to
cooperation hopefully will give its fruits. Azarov's invitation for the
EU lawyers to take part in Tymoshenko trial gives possibility to resolve
the problem with Tymoshenko imprisonment without creating an impression
that Yanukovych gave up to the pressure, but he does this in the
context of approximation of the Ukrainian judiciary system to the EU
standards. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
problem for the EU is that Yanukovych never gives up to the pressure -
be it from Moscow or from Brussels. An opposite - if the pressure is
applied he will act against his own interests and the interests of the
country protecting first of all his self-esteem. Even if black and white
approach is understandable at the parliamentary level, as politicians
care more about the impression they create and reelection and not always
are able to get to the the essence of the problem, at the executive and
diplomatic level should be employed more sophisticated approach.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It
seems that a search for the mutual acceptable solution was exactly the
reason of the Ukrainian prime-minister invitation for the European
lawyers to take part in the Tymoshenko trial as well as the proposition
that they can study all related to the case documents in order to
evaluate them from the European point of view. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In
this situation the EU's approach doesn't need to be too formal and
legalistic "monitoring panel', as proposed by the EU Parliament
Resolution on Ukraine. The EU's experts participation should be
proactive, suggesting solutions combined with the advices for the
reformation of the judiciary system in general. Tymoshenko case should
become a positive precedent of the cooperation of the EU and Ukraine in
the context of the approximation of the Ukrainian judiciary system to
the European standards. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in; text-align: left;">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Russia's Stake in Tymoshenko's case </span></h3>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Though
there are some pitfalls here. Some experts insist the Ukrainian
judiciary system is under the Russian unofficial control and Russia is
not interested that Ukraine resolves the Tymoshenko problem and gets
out of isolation. After Azarov's invitation for the European lawyers
prosecutors immediately tried to downplay Azarov's proposition. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Despite
all measures of security applied to Tymoshenko Yanukovych is unable to
control everything. There is a danger that if the cooperation with the
European judiciary experts will get a positive dynamic something can
happen to Tymoshenko. Tymoshenko case plays the same role in a potential
Ukrainian isolation as it was with Gongadze case, which led Kuchma's
Ukraine </span><span style="font-size: small;">to isolation </span><span style="font-size: small;">ten
years ago. Such developments must be excluded from the start and the
best way is to let Tymoshenko get treatment in Germany before the case
is resolved, otherwise consequences could be fatal for all involved.
Azarov's declarations on fight with the terrorism and acquisition of
four armored Mercedes for Yanukovych only prove the fact that Ukrainian
authorities does not able to fully guaranty Tymoshenko's security. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Not to mention ritual explosions in the Tymoshenko's home
town last month and still unexplained aggression against her in the
jail.</span> Tymoshenko should be warranted in absentia in order to exclude all possible provocations.
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7A4rIMi3bjcyZcI_mGR9r1PQChARPoTaETZxVC4Lg_uyh7ElSGEfKJu1JDwD6ycmNLjQzNy1LYCcHaLKxZQVdgyInC78rvSdefS7spjf8q9_1uk0BXvhbSL6Z66T7iR3lUfmDahNNmR0/s1600/Put_Tym_med.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7A4rIMi3bjcyZcI_mGR9r1PQChARPoTaETZxVC4Lg_uyh7ElSGEfKJu1JDwD6ycmNLjQzNy1LYCcHaLKxZQVdgyInC78rvSdefS7spjf8q9_1uk0BXvhbSL6Z66T7iR3lUfmDahNNmR0/s400/Put_Tym_med.png" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As strange as it is the ideologist of the first 'show case' against the </span><span style="font-size: small;">Tymoshenko-Putin </span><span style="font-size: small;">gas
contract was not Yanukovych, but the Orange Revolution President Victor
Yuschenko, who had his stake in the previous contract with Gazprom. The
trial against Tymosdhenko <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP4wjWEvwUA">as he explains</a>
was designed to make Russia to change devastating for Ukraine gas
contract, which leads Ukraine to economic failure and higher dependence
from Russia. Yanukovych implemented Yuschenko's scenario, but at some
point this scenario <a href="http://www.uaobserver.com/2012/05/tymoshenko-bullies-ukraine-into.html" target="_blank">went out of control</a>. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Putin,
who hates Tymoshenko for the Orange Revolution humiliation was glad to
see her imprisoned. In fact he provoked it. During the ceremony of
signing the contract Putin emphasized his </span><span style="font-size: small;">special</span><span style="font-size: small;"> "gratitude to
Tymoshenko for taking personal responsibility for the contract". On
practice this meant Tymoshenko's omitting compulsory confirmation of the
deal by the Ukrainian Cabinet of ministers, what became the main
accusation in Tymoshenko's sentence, which along with her </span><span style="font-size: small;">mentions </span><span style="font-size: small;">also Putin and Medvedev. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The
latter detail didn't excite Moscow, which in exchange for promise to
review the contract suggested to initiate other cases against
Tymoshenko, which not affect Russia's reputation. This was exactly what
the prosecutors have done reviving old cases against Tymoshenko. As
Azarov declared in Brussels: he suddenly realized that they "played by
someone else script". Hopefully the awareness of this fact will help
Ukrainian authorities to start their own game. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Participation of the EU lawyers in the Tymoshenko trial
will be only fair taking into account the EU's indirect stake in the
signing of this contract and though its symbolical share of
responsibility. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in; text-align: left;">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Political Contract - Political Trial </b></span></h3>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Tymoshenko's
prosecutors and Ukrainian authorities insist that Tymoshenko's case is
not politically motivated despite the common view that this is just an
attempt to get rid off the political opponent. The case is</span><span style="font-size: small;"> political</span><span style="font-size: small;">
from the start as Tymoshenko has the 2009 gas deal was made under the
huge political pressure from the Russian side, which got proportions of
the so called "Gas War". </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Cutting
the gas supply at the 6th of January Putin left to freeze the half of
the Europe during the abnormally cold winter, not to mention the
economic losses. Health and even life of a lot of people in the Eastern
Europe were endangered. Moreover this was not a spontaneous action
from the Russian side - this was a very well thought and thoroughly
prepared action meant to discredit Ukraine in the European's eyes and to
impose unsupportable conditions to Ukraine in such way bankrupting the
country economically and morally. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Russia
intended to prove that Ukraine is not a reliable partner and in such
way to break the resistance of those in Europe, who at that stage was
still was opposing to building of the Russian-German </span><span style="font-size: small;">gas pipe-line</span><span style="font-size: small;">
'Nord Stream' and advocating another joint venture - the South Stream
gas pipeline, which should bypass Ukraine depriving it from any
geopolitical and economic significance and making it more prone to
return under the Russian rule. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Also during the signing the contract was clearly
articulated Russia's demand to overtake the Ukrainian pipeline, which
still has a strategical significance for the Ukrainian independence. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Putin's agenda behind this contract was
merely political despite his attempts to present this deal as purely
economic and totally legal. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in; text-align: left;">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Man-made Force Majeure Condition </span></h3>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Signing the contract Tymoshenko first of all was rescuing the half of Europe and the Europeans. In such </span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: bold;">force majeure</span><span style="font-size: small;">
situation (even if it was not natural, but a man-made disaster) ,
Tymoshenko didn't have much space for a maneuver in negotiations.
Putin's intransigence and malignity during negotiations were obvious for everybody and
deliberately emphasized. This force majeure condition justifies the
fact that Tymoshenko has cut some necessary and important in normal
situation bureaucratic procedures which is the main charge against her.
Tymoshenko was put in the situation of the radical choice: to unblock
the situation or to keep people in the EU freezing. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
fact that Ukraine were loosing to Russia the information war put an
additional psychological pressure on Tymoshenko. Russia being well
prepared to the attack in advance has caught Ukraine totally unprepared
for such developments. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Besides the immense political pressure the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORRQCZ36GPk">negotiations</a>
had an exhausting character lasting for 10 hour without any break, what
put enormous physical pressure on Tymoshenko. It seems that she had
overestimated her personal power resources. She is not a super-human as
she often tends to think. But did she had a choice? </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in; text-align: left;">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">Psychological pressure as negotiations tool</span></h3>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHZllR2-9JuvAP5f2gBUBx09e0hzS9SxwhD68klCaFWK2dxQkyUkUUIh5nPkm7tclekNgHSs9atmTr8cJleoAkDCAEo1d2kxQqVVX0Z5a2V8HqX_gSZzScNT9UxaP5VWcC-8lnCRGK84/s1600/Mer_Put_Kony.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHZllR2-9JuvAP5f2gBUBx09e0hzS9SxwhD68klCaFWK2dxQkyUkUUIh5nPkm7tclekNgHSs9atmTr8cJleoAkDCAEo1d2kxQqVVX0Z5a2V8HqX_gSZzScNT9UxaP5VWcC-8lnCRGK84/s400/Mer_Put_Kony.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The negotiations process looks like a torturing for Merkel to the greatest satisfaction of Putin </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It is impossible to exclude and another kind of psychological pressure. Putin is known for intentional application
of a psychological pressure during negotiations. There is a high
probability that Tymoshenko also became an object of unaware to her
psychological pressure. The most well-known case is Angela Merkel's,
with Putin abusing her fear of dogs - the case <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/04/profiles_in_phobia?page=0,2">described</a> by the Foreign Policy Magazine:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a master of psychological diplomacy, has <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2007/06/14/putin_uses_dog_to_intimidate_merkel">repeatedly attempted</a>
to take advantage of Merkel's fear. In 2006, the then-president
perplexed German diplomats by presenting the chancellor with a small dog
as a gift and made a habit of having his black Labrador, Koni, sit in
on their meetings. Putin's successor, Dmitry Medvedev, has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/business/global/19shipyard.html">put a stop</a> to the practice.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This
case just proves Putin's readiness for applying psychological pressure
during negotiations. The habit can be explained by his professional
training of the KGB agent including torturing and psychological
influencing techniques. Thus it would be a total neglect from Putin's
side not to use his expertise in these matter during the 2009 gas
negotiations when the stakes were extremely high. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; margin: 0in; text-align: left;">
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;">The means: from vodka to psychotropic weapons</span></h3>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamk6rwazBmf36wrl55skK3FMcG5OXSadg-t4EtWEArzHymDPbsi8xrK5eCK2RE5Ujt-Yn-mLj9uvVM8PlJ0RaTWOJCspJKGA_rQrnx33po16Y4-WbfMCNPqLt158xvNOTe7D7X9b0ZY0/s1600/Put_Yanuk_Med.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamk6rwazBmf36wrl55skK3FMcG5OXSadg-t4EtWEArzHymDPbsi8xrK5eCK2RE5Ujt-Yn-mLj9uvVM8PlJ0RaTWOJCspJKGA_rQrnx33po16Y4-WbfMCNPqLt158xvNOTe7D7X9b0ZY0/s400/Put_Yanuk_Med.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During Azarov's stay in Brussels Yanukovych in apparently altered state of mind was getting a reprogramming in Moscow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
means of pressure can differ from a banal vodka in combination with NLP
techniques to more sophisticated approaches meant to induce a victim in trance making it vulnerable to imposed will.
Recently Putin made public his plans for creation of the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123415/Putin-targets-foes-zombie-gun-attack-victims-central-nervous-system.htm">psychotropic weapons</a>,
however the Russian scientists insist that Moscow already for a long
time possesses such kind of weapons, applicable on both individual basis
and mass scale, but Moscow does everything to keep them a secret. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The psychological technologies produced by Putin's laboratories allow to induce in
trance and to impose his will not only to targeted individuals, but to
entire nations. Greece is one of examples. Induced in deep trance by the
chaos of devastating and well organised protests at the end of 2008
(Putin's vendetta for the Lisbon Treaty voted by the Greek parliament </span>despite the previous promise of the prime-minister
to organise a referendum on this matter in exchange for the generous sweat-heart deals
with Gazprom<span style="font-size: small;">) that triggered the Greece crisis, the
country became vulnerable to massive tailor-made for Greeks anti-establishment and
anti-European propaganda, what led to the rise of the ultra-left and
ultra-right parties in the country and threatens with collapse not only Greece, but the
entire EU. <br />
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWF5Aza_XGNPnOS0LBtmF6m79j9U092WJRPSZb7bmAULjowo9OnWacf8ir_RnersR_xWS69S72U4BYs5bveqcS1ophAZZISSfryUYEO3fDIwUEmgKJeOvc64sLKo4Loihr4Z58g2JgSk/s1600/Tymoshenko_Gazprom_2009.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWF5Aza_XGNPnOS0LBtmF6m79j9U092WJRPSZb7bmAULjowo9OnWacf8ir_RnersR_xWS69S72U4BYs5bveqcS1ophAZZISSfryUYEO3fDIwUEmgKJeOvc64sLKo4Loihr4Z58g2JgSk/s400/Tymoshenko_Gazprom_2009.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The day of signing the contract: the fine-print of the deal between Kiev and Moscow has not been made public (<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7842673.stm">BBC</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">Whatever the 'magic means' were
applied Tymoshenko's super-task in that situation was to save the Europe
from the cold and she didn't have another choice than to agree for the
devastating contract. The gas price stipulated in the contract is twice
higher than for European countries. At the same time Russia pays to
Ukraine only half of
the gas transit price what costs to Ukraine 3,5 billions per year. The
'pay or use' clause in the contract,
binding to draw contracted volumes from Gazprom, makes Ukraine to pay
for unused volumes of gas 300 % of penalty charges, what made for
2009-2010 4,2 billion dollars. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">In general ex-president Victor Yuschenko claims </span><span style="font-size: small;">loss of </span><span style="font-size: small;">11-12 billion dollars per year due to the Tymoshenko-Putin deal, what is incompatible with the independence of Ukraine. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Since the Nord
Stream pipeline was launched Ukraine has lost 15% of its revenues for
the gas transit to the EU.</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Having
a stake in this matter the EU could
not only help to resolve the Tymoshenko's case, but without much effort
to play a role of a
mediator
between Ukraine and Russia in revision of the gas deal. Helping Ukraine
the EU is helping itself. If Ukraine is left in the cold of Russia's
embrace the EU it will get an authoritarian 'great power' neighbour
imposing old-fashion domination on Europe by 'futuristic means'.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #444444;">Irina Severin is a journalist and political analyst, former diplomat.</span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<b>Related articles: </b></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; margin: 0in;">
<h1 style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<b>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></h1>
<h1 style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Putin targets foes with 'zombie' gun which attack victims' central nervous system</span></h1>
<ul style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Could be used against Russia's enemies and perhaps its own dissidents</span></i></li>
</ul>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">By</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="author" href="http://www.blogger.com/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Christopher+Leake" rel="nofollow" style="color: #003580; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">CHRISTOPHER LEAKE</a></span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">and</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="author" href="http://www.blogger.com/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Will+Stewart" rel="nofollow" style="color: #003580; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">WILL STEWART</a></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span class="article-timestamp" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>PUBLISHED:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>23:08 GMT, 31 March 2012<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">|</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="article-timestamp" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>UPDATED:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>23:08 GMT, 31 March 2012</span></div>
<div class="article-icon-links-container" style="clear: both; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<ul class="article-icon-links cleared" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li class="first" style="border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; float: left; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Mind-bending
‘psychotronic’ guns that can effectively turn people into zombies have
been given the go-ahead by Russian president Vladimir Putin.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
futuristic weapons – which will attack the central nervous system of
their victims – are being developed by the country’s scientists.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">They could be used against Russia’s enemies and, perhaps, its own dissidents by the end of the decade.</span></div>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Fire: Putin, seen using a traditional pistol, has new weapons in his sights" class="blkBorder" height="190" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/01/article-2123415-126B0BB6000005DC-273_468x446.jpg" style="border-color: black; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">( Fire: Putin, seen using a traditional pistol, has new weapons in his sights.)</span><br />
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Sources
in Moscow say Mr Putin has described the guns, which use
electromagnetic radiation like that found in microwave ovens, as
‘entirely new instruments for achieving political and strategic goals’.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Mr
Putin added: ‘Such high-tech weapons systems will be comparable in
effect to nuclear weapons, but will be more acceptable in terms of
political and military ideology.’</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Plans
to introduce the super- weapons were announced quietly last week by
Russian defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov, fulfilling a little-noticed
election campaign pledge by president-elect Putin.</span></div>
<div class="thinFloatRHS" style="float: right; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px 0px 4px 10px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; width: 235px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Plans to introduce the super- weapons were announced quietly last week by Russian defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov" class="blkBorder" height="200" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/31/article-2123415-01BBD2C1000004B0-119_233x423.jpg" style="border-color: black; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="110" /></span><br />
<div class="imageCaption" style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Plans to introduce the super- weapons were announced quietly last week by Russian defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Mr
Serdyukov said: ‘The development of weaponry based on new physics
principles – direct-energy weapons, geophysical weapons, wave-energy
weapons, genetic weapons, psychotronic weapons, and so on – is part of
the state arms procurement programme for 2011-2020.’</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Specific
proposals on developing the weapons are due to be drawn up before
December by a new Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Research
into electromagnetic weapons has been secretly carried out in the US
and Russia since the Fifties. But now it appears Mr Putin has stolen a
march on the Americans. Precise details of the Russian gun have not been
revealed. However, previous research has shown that low-frequency waves
or beams can affect brain cells, alter psychological states and make it
possible to transmit suggestions and commands directly into someone’s
thought processes.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">High
doses of microwaves can damage the functioning of internal organs,
control behaviour or even drive victims to suicide. Anatoly Tsyganok,
head of the Military Forecasting Centre in Moscow, said: ‘This is a
highly serious weapon.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">‘When
it was used for dispersing a crowd and it was focused on a man, his
body temperature went up immediately as if he was thrown into a hot
frying pan. Still, we know very little about this weapon and even
special forces guys can hardly cope with it.’</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
long-term effects are not known, but two years ago a former major in
the Russian foreign intelligence agency, the GRU, died in Scotland after
making claims about such a weapons programme to MI6.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Sergei Serykh, 43, claimed he was a victim of weapons which he said were ‘many times more powerful than in the Matrix films’.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Mr
Serykh died after falling from a Glasgow tower block with his wife and
stepson in March 2010. While his death was assumed to be suicide, his
family fear there was foul play.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Last night the Ministry of Defence declined to comment.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Read more:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123415/Putin-targets-foes-zombie-gun-attack-victims-central-nervous-system.html#ixzz1w8vSGfyp" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123415/Putin-targets-foes-zombie-gun-attack-victims-central-nervous-system.html#ixzz1w8vSGfyp</a></span></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-39779933105395206312012-05-19T15:28:00.000+02:002012-06-11T20:21:54.248+02:00Radical left and neo-Nazis score well in Greek elections<a href="http://euobserver.com/843/116155">EUobserver.com / Political Affairs / Radical left and neo-Nazis score well in Greek elections</a><br />
<h1>
Radical left and neo-Nazis score well in Greek elections</h1>
<div class="date">
06.05.12 @ 21:46</div>
<div class="list related articles">
<br /></div>
By <a href="http://euobserver.com/search/author/229">Valentina Pop</a><br />
<br />
<div class="body clear">
<span class="location">BRUSSELS</span> - Greek voters on Sunday (6 May) punished the two ruling parties responsible for the last EU bail-out and its austerity measures by giving the radical left the second highest number of votes and allowing a neo-Nazi party into the legislature for the first time.<br />
Early official results after 10 percent of the votes were count show that the centre-right New Democracy party has gained the most votes (19.2%) but it is not enough to re-make the current ruling coalition with the Social Democrats (Pasok).<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Instead, Syriza, a coalition of radical left parties (16.3%) opposing the austerity rules of the €130 billion bail-out, but in favour for Greece to stay in the eurozone, pushed Pasok into third place.<br />
The right-wing Independent Greeks, a splinter party from New Democracy also openly against the bail-out, scored over ten percent.<br />
New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras, who will have three days to try and form a government, may try and woo his former party colleagues back into a coalition with Pasok (14.6%).<br />
Vying with Syriza as the biggest news of the election is the score of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. It is to hold 21 seats in the parliament after it convinced almost seven percent of the voters. <br />
Despite denying the neo-Nazi label, Golden Dawn activists often salute like Hitler and want landmines planted on the Greek borders to fend off illegal immigrants.<br />
The Communist Party and the Democratic Left - bolstered by defections from Pasok - also scored above the five-percent threshold. They may be drawn into a leftist government if Samaras fails to form a majority and Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras is given the same task.<br />
If no government is formed by 17 May, elections are to be held again, putting in question the long-negotiated bail-out and the implementation of the required budget cuts and reforms ranging from tax collection to labour market and privatisations.<br />
Under the agreement with EU lenders signed by the outgoing Pasok-New Democracy government, a further €11 billion in spending cuts are due to be found by June in exchange for the next tranche of bail-out money. <br />
The highly unpopular troika of officials from the EU commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank is due to arrive in Athens in the next few weeks to inspect whether the conditions of the bail-out are being kept to.<br />
Most of the aid, however, is going to banks and to the repayment of Greece's crushing foreign debt, which is why the Greek people are angry at the politicians who backed the bail-out.</div>
<div class="list related sections">
<h4>
Section</h4>
<ol class="small bullets">
<li class="last"><a href="http://euobserver.com/843">Political Affairs</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="list related tags">
<h4>
Tags</h4>
<ol class="small bullets">
<li class="last"><a href="http://euobserver.com/search/tag/1466">Greece</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="list related articles">
<h4>
Related</h4>
<ol class="small bullets">
<li class="dummy"><a href="http://euobserver.com/article/116131">Greek elections to usher in anti-bail-out parties</a></li>
<li class="dummy"><a href="http://euobserver.com/article/116186">IMF tells Germany to do more for eurozone</a></li>
<li class="last"><a href="http://euobserver.com/article/116165">Greece urged to uphold austerity as coalition talks begin</a></li>
</ol>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-71539010775533456942012-04-13T21:40:00.001+02:002012-04-13T21:40:17.855+02:00Signs of Gasoline Price Drop May Thwart Case Against Obama<h3>
Bloomberg News
By Jim Snyder on April 10, 2012 Companies Mentioned</h3>
<div class="author_and_social clearfix">
</div>
<div class="left_rail">
<div class="module companies_mentioned">
<ul>
<li class="companies_listings">
<h5>
<a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=OIL:US" title="iPath Goldman Sachs Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN">OIL</a>
</h5>
<div class="full_company_name">
iPath Goldman Sachs Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN
</div>
<ul class="company_value">
<li class="price">
$25.82 USD
</li>
<li class="change neg">
-0.21
</li>
<li class="neg percent_change">
-0.81%
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Signs that gasoline prices may have
peaked signal relief to both American drivers and President
Barack Obama, who Republicans have tried to tie to a climb in
the costs. </div>
</div>
<div id="story_body">
<div class="paginated_content">
<div class="page current" id="_page1">
Average prices at the pump have hovered at $3.92 a gallon
this month, after an almost uninterrupted rise since mid-
January. Some analysts now believe they’ll start to recede, as
oil fell to an eight-week trading low on forecasts U.S. supplies
would rise to their highest level for this time of year. <br />
That may be good news for Obama, because gasoline costs had
risen to among the top concerns for Americans and voters tend to
blame incumbents for their economic anxieties, says Bruce Oppenheimer, a Vanderbilt University professor who has studied
energy and politics. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
“The lower they go, the less they will be an issue,” he
said in an interview. <br />
The effort Obama’s campaign has made to refute accusations
by Republicans that his policies are partly responsible for
rising gasoline costs reflects concern over the issue,
Oppenheimer said. <br />
“It’s always good for an administration to try to get out
in front and say they are trying to do something,” he said. <br />
The surge had pushed gasoline near the $4 a gallon mark.
That’s “a political danger zone and symbolic threshold” for
voters, according to Paul Bledsoe, senior adviser to the
Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based group that advises
policy makers on health care, transportation, economic and
energy issues. <br />
<h2>
‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ </h2>
Gasoline prices exceeded that mark in July 2008 during the
previous presidential campaign, prompting calls by Republicans
to “drill, baby, drill.” <br />
A Gallup poll released March 28 found gasoline prices were
second only to the economy on a list of issues voters are most
concerned about, ahead of affordable health care and
unemployment. <br />
Gasoline prices may have peaked about that time, according
to Trilby Lundberg, president of Lundberg Survey Inc. The
Camarillo, California-based company surveys about 2,500 filling
stations. <br />
“Price hikes at the pump have been losing steam for
weeks,” because of falling crude oil prices, Lundberg said. <br />
<h2>
Oil Price Drop </h2>
<span class="ticker_wrap">Crude oil (<a class="ticker" data-symbol="OIL:US" href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=OIL:US">OIL</a>)</span> for May delivery fell $1.25, or 1.2 percent, to
$101.21 a barrel at 1 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Futures touched $100.75, the lowest intraday level since Feb.
15. <br />
Upcoming talks between Iran and United Nations Security
Council members eased fears of a supply disruption. <br />
The average price of regular unleaded gasoline in the U.S.
on April 9 was $3.927 a gallon, according to AAA. While that’s
slightly lower than the day before, it was 18 cents higher than
a year ago and up 65 cents since Jan. 1, according to AAA. . <br />
U.S. average prices in February reached a record for the
month, according to the Energy Information Administration, which
tracks and analyzes U.S. energy data. Gasoline usually reaches a
high during what’s known as the U.S. summer-driving season. EIA
predicts prices from April to September will average about $3.92
a gallon, peaking at $3.96 in May. <br />
Higher gasoline prices have been a major point of
discussion in the presidential race so far because they pinch
“consumer pocketbooks” and have the potential to slow economic
growth, Bledsoe said. <br />
<h2>
Romney Message </h2>
Obama’s likely Republican rival, former Massachusetts
Governor Mitt Romney, has called Obama’s secretaries of Energy
and Interior Department, and his head of the Environmental
Protection Agency, the “gas-hike trio.” <br />
The American Energy Alliance, a Washington-based group
funded in part by oil companies, criticized Obama in a
television commercial titled “Nine Dollar Gas” for supporting
Solyndra LLC, the failed solar-panel maker that had won a $535
million loan guarantee, while blocking the Keystone XL pipeline. <br />
The group said it was spending about $3.6 million to
broadcast the advertisements in eight swing states, including
Iowa, Florida, Ohio and Michigan, accusing the administration of
contributing to the rise in gasoline prices. <br />
Obama rejected Keystone, which would carry crude from
Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast, in January
because he said a congressional deadline didn’t allow enough
time to review the potential risks to an aquifer in Nebraska. <br />
He invited TransCanada Corp. (TRP) to reapply for a permit for a
new pathway, and the Calgary-based company has said it plans to
do so. <br />
<h2>
Obama Ads </h2>
In response to the Alliance ad, Obama’s campaign released a
commercial noting that domestic oil production has increased
since he took office, along with renewable energy development. <br />
In speeches, Obama says he can’t control gasoline prices. <br />
“The main reason the gas prices are high right now is
because people are worried about what’s happening with Iran,”
Obama said in a speech March 22 in Cushing, Oklahoma, starting
point for the southern leg of TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline. <br />
<div class="">
Even with the attacks on energy, Obama’s approval rating
edged higher in March, according to a separate Gallup poll. It
found 46 percent of respondents approved of the job he’s doing,
up from 45 percent in February and March. </div>
<div class="">
Bledsoe said if gasoline prices recede, the political
debate will probably return to the broader economy and fears
about unemployment. </div>
<div class="">
“Economic growth and job creation are the twin peaks of
political outcome in this election,” he said in an e-mail. </div>
<div class="">
To contact the reporter on this story:
Jim Snyder in Washington at
jsnyder24@bloomberg.net </div>
<div class="">
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jon Morgan at
jmorgan97@bloomberg.net </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-56249508872014973752012-03-29T11:18:00.002+02:002012-03-29T11:18:23.049+02:00Guess Romney won't be getting the Pravda endorsement<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="post_by" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Posted By <a href="http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/blog/68" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #003366; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Joshua Keating</a> </span><img class="meta_block" src="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/images/091022_meta_block.gif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-style: none; 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outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 0px;">Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 5:40 PM</span> <img src="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/images/091022_meta_block.gif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: -3px; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 3px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /> <a href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20" style="background-attachment: initial; 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outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Share</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 11px;"></span><br />
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The once proud Communist Party propaganda arm-turned-supermarket tabloid/LOL-aggregator <a href="http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/28-03-2012/120921-mitt_romney-0/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #003366; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">unloads on the GOP frontrunner</a>:</div>
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Electing Mitt Romney as the next President of the United States of America would be like appointing a serial paedophile as a kindergarten teacher, a rapist as a janitor at a girls' dormitory or a psychopath with a fixation on knives as a kitchen hand. His comments on Russia are a puerile attempt at making the grand stage and boy, did he blow it...</div>
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Romney's "number one geopolitical foe" remark seems to be <a href="http://en.ria.ru/world/20120327/172419971.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #003366; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">bringing out the best</a> in Russian official bombast:</div>
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...Public Chamber Foreign Affairs working group head Alexander Sokolov [compared] him to one of the “Marlboro men, those so-called cool guys, for whom only America’s interests exist and all other countries are potential enemies – or at best, rivals.”</div>
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Even the normally staid Dmitry Medvedev said Romney's remark "smacks of Hollywood" and advised him to "check his watch": “It’s 2012, not the middle of the 1970s,” </div>
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Romney reiterated his attacks on the president's open-mic incident in a <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/03/27/bowing_to_the_kremlin" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #003366; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">piece for FP</a> yesterday, in which he said, "It is not an accident that Mr. Medvedev is now busy <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/27/russia-usa-medvedev-idUSL3E8ER6TR20120327" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #003366; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">attacking me</a>. The Russians clearly prefer to do business with the current incumbent of the White House."</div>
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Obama's foreign-policy advisors <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/03/28/an_open_letter_to_mitt_romney_explain_your_national_security_ideas" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #003366; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">responded here</a>. </div>
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background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 4px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">EXPLORE:</span><a href="http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/category/channel_home_page_features/2012_election_poster_3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #990000; float: left; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">2012 ELECTION POSTER 3</a><span class="float-left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">,</span><a href="http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/category/ipad_feed_section/flash_point" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #990000; float: left; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">FLASH POINTS</a><span class="float-left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">,</span><a href="http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/category/topic/election_2012" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #990000; float: left; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">ELECTION 2012</a><span class="float-left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">,</span><a href="http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/category/topic/mitt_romney" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #990000; float: left; font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">MITT ROMNEY</a></div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-86927703111616422382012-03-21T12:29:00.001+01:002012-03-21T12:29:09.998+01:00Uncertain World: Russia - U.S. - Back to Business? | Columnists | RIA Novosti<a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120315/172192064.html">Uncertain World: Russia - U.S. - Back to Business? | Columnists | RIA Novosti</a><br />
<br />
<ul class="submenu" style="display: block;"><li><a href="http://en.rian.ru/strange/">STRANGE BUT TRUE</a></li>
</ul><h4 class="rubric-header"><a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/">Columnists</a><a class="heading-rss-link" href="http://en.rian.ru/export/rss2/columnists/index.xml"><img src="http://en.rian.ru/i/fra/icons/square-orng.gif" /></a></h4><h1 class="bigtitle"><a class="dblue" href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120315/172192064.html">Uncertain World: Russia - U.S. - Back to Business?</a></h1><div class="data orange f-left"><span class="time nbr">19:44 </span>15/03/2012</div><h5>Weekly column by Fyodor Lukyanov</h5><div class="tags_article">Tags: <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_NewSTARTTreaty/">New START Treaty</a>, <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_presidentialelections2012/">presidential elections 2012</a>, <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_WorldTradeOrganizationWTO/">World Trade Organization (WTO)</a>, <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_JohnMcCain/">John McCain</a>, <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_HillaryClinton/">Hillary Clinton</a>, <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_VladimirPutin/">Vladimir Putin</a>, <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_BarackObama/">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_UnitedStates/">United States</a>, <a href="http://en.rian.ru/tags/tag_Russia/">Russia</a></div>The latest intrigue in Russian-U.S. relations was U.S. President Barack Obama’s delayed official greetings to president-elect Vladimir Putin on his win. The U.S. Department of State made a low-key announcement about the presidential election in Russia, which did not even refer to the winner by name. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the Russian government to heed criticisms voiced by the OSCE. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney reproached Obama for his failure to criticize the “flagrant manipulation.” Finally, long-time Russia critic Sen. John McCain again predicted the liberation of the Russian people from tyranny in the manner of the Arab Spring. An official spokesman for the White House said that there was nothing personal in Obama’s delay – the head of state was simply very busy.<br />
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<div class="copyrights">© RIA Novosti. </div><div class="copyright">Fyodor Lukyanov</div></div></div>Finally, on March 9, Obama called Putin and a detailed conversation followed. Moscow had stated earlier that the positive trends in bilateral relations of the last few years will be continued. There was no scandal and Putin’s victory was accepted, albeit without much enthusiasm. The sides have differences but will try not to highlight them for the time being. Moreover, there was an indirect signal this week that they will even try to minimize the fallout from the negative tone of the election campaigns in both countries.<br />
The newspaper Kommersant quotes sources as saying that the relocation of the G8 summit in May from Chicago to Camp David is linked with Obama’s reluctance to create a negative atmosphere in relations with Russia. The G8 forum will be followed by a NATO summit in Chicago and Putin promised to attend it only in the event that progress is made on missile defense. Progress is not on the horizon, and Putin’s demonstrative departure from Chicago would only create unnecessary chatter about the collapse of the reset. This is not to say that his presence at the NATO summit would improve the atmosphere. The president-elect would likely only perpetuate the cycle of mutual accusations that has become routine since 2000. The Americans are not confirming anything on the record. Off the record, they describe Putin as one of the reasons, but not the main one. However, both Moscow and Washington clearly understand the fragility of the moment and the need for tact.<br />
Putin’s guarded and mistrustful attitude to the United States is common knowledge, and he makes no attempt to conceal it. The reasons for it lie not in his record during the Cold War, as many often claim, but in his experience in dealing with the George W. Bush administration during its first and, particularly, second term.<br />
Whether fair or not, Putin has come to the conclusion that a gentlemen’s agreement is not possible with the United States. He thinks Bush responded with base ingratitude to Moscow’s positive gestures more than once – from its support during 9/11 and the subsequent war on terror, to its voluntary closing of military facilities in Vietnam and Cuba. Putin believes that these gestures were met with aggressive efforts of the United States to bolster its presence in the post-Soviet space, expand NATO, and deploy missile defense systems on Polish and Czech territory, to name a few. As a result, Putin has come to the conclusion that agreements with the United States are possible but only following tough and uncompromising bargaining, as was the case with the New START treaty and Russia’s accession to the WTO.<br />
However, the bigger problem is that the new governments (and meaningful talks are not possible earlier than next spring when the presidential election is over in the United States as well) do not have a clear-cut positive agenda. They have carried through the reset. Now they are facing the same old issues: Afghanistan and Iran. The former is simpler: the organized withdrawal of U.S. troops and maintaining relative stability there is in the interests of all parties. This should not create any special problems. The situation around Iran strongly depends on numerous external factors. Moscow and Washington will discuss both issues, but they can hardly form the basis of a new bilateral agenda.<br />
The first obstacle the new leaders will face will be the same old story of missile defense. Putin dealt with this issue during his previous presidency, when he made proposals to Bush. He does not intend to give up now. A compromise is hardly possible because missile defense is a matter of principle for both sides. Russia insists that the United States plan is a threat to its security whereas the United States is confident of its right to move forward regardless of any country’s response. The potential for conflict is obviously strong. Moscow acknowledges that as long as the principle of strategic stability – Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) – remains, missile defense talks will be stuck in an impasse. But there does not appear to be any other principle that would suit both sides.<br />
There is nothing else to discuss. There will be no opportunity to maintain dialogue by negotiating nuclear arms cuts again. First, Russia believes further reductions would diminish its defensive capabilities. After all, Moscow has to consider other factors as well, such as China, which is gradually building up its military strength. Second, even if Russia and the United States decide to resume talks on this issue, this is not a full-scale agenda of the 21st century. For the time being the sides are surviving on table scraps from the 20th century, but they are almost all gone.<br />
<i>*</i><br />
<i>Is Russia unpredictable? Perhaps, but one shouldn’t exaggerate – its randomness often follows a consistent pattern. But is the world at large predictable? The past two decades have seen all forecasts refuted more than once and have taught us only one thing – to be ready for any change. This column is on what the nations and governments are facing in the era of global uncertainty.</i><br />
<i><b>Fyodor Lukyanov</b> is Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in <a href="http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/" target="_blank">Global Affairs journal</a> – the most authoritative source of expertise on Russian foreign policy and global developments. He is also a frequent commentator on international affairs and contributes to various media in the United States, Europe and China, including academic journals Social Research, Europe-Asia Studies, Columbia Journal of International Affairs. Mr. Lukyanov is a senior member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy and a member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civic Society Institutions. He holds a degree from Moscow State University.</i><br />
<b><a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120308/171970388.html" target="_blank">Uncertain World: Why I Sympathize With Vladimir Putin</a></b><br />
<a href="http://en.beta.rian.ru/columnists/20120301/171671705.html" title=" Uncertain World: Vladimir Putin in a World of Risks and Danger"><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Uncertain World: Vladimir Putin in a World of Risks and Danger</span></b></a><br />
<b><a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120223/171467500.html">Uncertain World: Why Does Russia’s Stance on Syria Baffle Everyone?</a></b><br />
<a href="http://en.ria.ru/columnists/20120216/171354051.html" target="_blank"><b>Uncertain World: Medvedev’s Foreign Policy: Period of Stabilization</b></a><br />
<b><a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120209/171216917.html">Uncertain World: Anti-Americanism in Russia</a></b><br />
<a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120202/171093935.html" target="_blank"><b>Uncertain World: Will Russia Lose Georgia for Good?</b></a><br />
<a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120126/170961849.html" target="_blank"><b>Uncertain World: What Russia thinks of Syria</b></a><br />
<div class="bigtitle"><b><a class="dblue" href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120119/170844023.html">Uncertain World: The End of the Post-Soviet Era</a></b></div><a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120112/170722966.html" target="_blank"><b>Uncertain World: The war of nerves around Iran</b></a><br />
<b><a href="http://en.rian.ru/columnists/20120105/170565148.html">Uncertain World: The Arab Spring in global context</a></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-30898557853302854092012-02-15T20:45:00.001+01:002012-02-15T20:48:28.799+01:00Latvia’s Russian Party Triggers Constitutional Referendum On State Language<div style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>By Vladimir Socor | </i></span>February 15, 2012—Volume 9, Issue 32| </b><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_1329334815025316" lang="UK" style="font-family: 'serif'; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=0js6gp573y6sma1hcw5f76kqkvq6e&id2=i7cp7au58qwz3pq8dj0qjuaoqspgh&subscriber_id=ahpupcngdwpxncsrdpafvkryalkjbhc&delivery_id=avgweryuitgdymxwegzjnrqywslwbgl&tid=3.AfQ.T4H7.Chfl.5TX9..Ac0VNQ.b..l.AxTh.a.TzwPEw.TzwPEw.Lh-bpA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.jamestown.org/blog</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Latvia is holding on February 18 a constitutional referendum on an anti-constitutional proposition. Initiated by local Russian fringe-nationalists and pushed by the local Russian party, Harmony Center, it would confer the status of a parallel state language on the Russian language in Latvia. The referendum will fail arithmetically (see below), but it helps re-energize Harmony Center after its recent failure to work its way into Latvia’s government. Moscow had coached Harmony to re-brand itself as moderate and enter the government; but since that failed (in October 2011) it undoubtedly reconsiders those tactics.</span></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The Riga branch of the National Bolshevik party from Russia and another fringe group in the city of Liepaja (“Osipov party”) initiated the constitutional amendments and the signature-collection campaign during November 2011. Since both groups lack legal registration, they used a specially created NGO to launch this campaign. Latvia’s Central Electoral Commission promptly authorized the collection of signatures on the draft as submitted. Latvia’s Russian/Russophone voters, however, were slow to sign up for the referendum.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The campaign seemed to fall short of collecting the minimally necessary number of signatures, until Harmony Center’s leadership and its media joined midway through and urged the party’s supporters to sign. Some Latvian parliamentary deputies challenged the proposed amendments in the Constitutional Court, so as to avoid the holding of a potentially destabilizing referendum. The court, however, did not find legal cause for stopping the referendum.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Under Latvia’s constitution, citizens may initiate legislative and constitutional amendments. If supported by at least 10 percent of registered voters through their signatures, the amendments are submitted to the state president, who in turn refers them to parliament for consideration (without further editing). If turned down by parliament, the amendments are submitted to a national referendum. Constitutional amendments are deemed adopted if at least 50 percent of the registered voters cast their ballots in favor (BNS, LETA, Delfi.Lv, February 10-14).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The amendments under consideration in this referendum would change several articles in Latvia’s constitution, enshrining a parallel state-language status for the Russian language. The proposed amendments gathered some 12 percent of registered voters’ signatures, thanks to Harmony Center’s intervention in the campaign. However, gaining the support of 50 percent of the registered voters in the constitutional referendum is inconceivable. Harmony leaders and voters know this. Harmony leaders, however, are mobilizing their electorate to the referendum because these leaders thrive on political polarization along ethnic-linguistic lines. They also hope for a symbolic success if Latvian voters turn out in low numbers making the final result look relatively “balanced.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">According to the 2011 census, Latvians account for 62.1 percent of the country’s population, up from 52 percent in 1989 near the end of the Soviet occupation, but still down from 75.5 percent before the occupation. Thus, Latvians have yet to recoup from occupation-inflicted demographic losses. This holds true not only in proportionate terms but also in absolute numbers: there were 1,472,612 Latvians in Latvia in 1935 (the last pre-occupation census) and 1,284,194 Latvians in 2011. Russians accounted for 8.8 percent of Latvia’s population prior to Soviet rule (1935 census), but their share had grown to 34 percent Russians (plus some 12 percent Russophones of other ethnicities) in 1989, before receding to 26.9 percent Russians (plus some 7 percent Belarusians, Ukrainians and others, who named Russian as their native language) in Latvia’s 2011 census. Bilingualism is far more common among Latvians than among Russians/Russophones (Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, Population Census Database, 2011 census, <a href="http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=ulink&fn=Link&ssid=500&id=0js6gp573y6sma1hcw5f76kqkvq6e&id2=i9x0oinwv6wuq7284kxcfrdol0mjt&subscriber_id=ahpupcngdwpxncsrdpafvkryalkjbhc&delivery_id=avgweryuitgdymxwegzjnrqywslwbgl&tid=3.AfQ.T4H7.Chfl.5TX9..Ac0VNQ.b..l.AxTh.a.TzwPEw.TzwPEw.Lh-bpA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://data.csb.gov.lv</span></a>).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Thus, Soviet-era forced migration and language policies left an enduring legacy, necessitating the consolidation of Latvians’ cultural-linguistic environment in their own country. Compounding that legacy, the impact of Russia’s mass media significantly affects Latvia, reinforcing linguistic bipolarity in the country (and also the identification of some non-Russians as Russophones). Latvia’s legislation and policies are designed to overcome that bipolarity through integration on the basis of Latvian language and citizenship. Conversely, Harmony Center and Moscow seek to turn Latvia into a bi-communal society and state. Harmony’s entry into the government, or having two state languages in Latvia, would decisively advance that goal. With two state languages –or, as Harmony also suggests, two official languages in Latvia’s cities, where Russians/Russophones are concentrated– the incentives for non-Latvians to learn Latvian would disappear.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Harmony Center’s share of the votes roughly corresponds with the share of Russian/Russophone voters in Latvia (allowing for small crossovers in both directions between Harmony and Latvian parties). In the latest parliamentary elections (September 2011), Harmony Center received 28 percent of the votes country-wide and 31 seats in the 100-seat parliament, consolidating its position as the strongest party in Latvia. “Ethnic voting” in Latvia is a Russian phenomenon, involving single-party Russian voting versus multi-party Latvian voting. That is the basis of Harmony Center’s political strength and its social influence in Latvia’s cities. This party is interested in mobilizing voters on ethnic-linguistic issues to perpetuate the split along those lines in Latvia.</span></div><div align="right" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i><br />
</i></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-42182957108091532452012-02-05T23:05:00.000+01:002012-02-05T23:05:24.253+01:00Welfare for the Rich | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty<a href="http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/welfare-for-the-rich/">Welfare for the Rich | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty</a><div><div class="column-title" style="font: normal normal normal 15px/normal helvetica; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Robert P. Murphy</div><h1 style="font-family: helvetica, arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 20pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/welfare-for-the-rich/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Welfare for the Rich" style="color: rgb(91, 108, 32); text-decoration: none; ">Welfare for the Rich</a></h1><h2 class="subtitle" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The Wealthy Receive Billions of Dollars in Government Subsidies Each Year</h2><div class="postinfo" style="width: 385px; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold; font-family: arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">April 2007 • Volume: 57 • Issue: 3 • <a href="http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/welfare-for-the-rich/print/" title="Print This Post" rel="nofollow" style="color: rgb(192, 147, 78); text-decoration: none; ">Print This Post</a> • <a href="http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/welfare-for-the-rich/#comments" title="Comment on Welfare for the Rich" style="color: rgb(192, 147, 78); text-decoration: none; ">10 comments</a></div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; ">Advocates of the free market—including those considered “right-wing” and “conservative”—believe it is wrong to violate property rights. Consequently, they oppose egalitarian measures to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Such “income redistribution” represents naked theft and epitomizes the Founding Fathers’ fears of unfettered democracy. At the same time, champions of laissez faire devote much of their time to criticizing the thousands of distortionary and punitive regulations imposed on businesses. Indeed, Ayn Rand went so far as to write an essay in which she described big business as “America’s persecuted minority.”</span><div class="entry" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">In light of these tendencies, it is easy to overlook the fact that a large portion of the welfare state is devoted to the rich. Although couched in altruistic language and billed as serving the public interest, much of the government’s redistribution of wealth is from the hapless taxpayer to the pockets of large corporations. This may seem paradoxical to naïve observers whose political views are shaped largely by political campaigns between Democrats (the ostensible friends of the poor) versus Republicans (the ostensible opponents of welfare). But anyone familiar with political economy can quickly recognize that it makes far more sense for politicians to funnel tax dollars into the hands of powerful (not to mention rich) special interests. Big business learned long ago that the easiest way to handle taxes and regulations is to divert “public” money into its own hands and to influence the regulators to enforce measures that disproportionately burden upstart competitors.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">I hope to redress the rhetorical imbalance by outlining the numerous ways rich individuals and big businesses manage to siphon off taxpayer money into their own pockets. To keep the article manageable, I’ll focus mainly on actual subsidies, that is, cases where wealthy rent-seekers literally receive cash flows (directly or indirectly) from the government. Beyond these fairly obvious examples there are dozens of clever ways in which rich and unscrupulous special interests use their political influence to enrich themselves at the expense of the public without actually receiving tax dollars. (These would include licensing restrictions and import quotas.) Because of space constraints, an extensive analysis of these subtler shenanigans will have to wait for a future article.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">One of the most blatant examples of corporate welfare is the bloated system of agricultural price supports, which started in the 1920s and was institutionalized during the New Deal. The rationale behind the program is straightforward: Under pure laissez faire, agricultural markets would (allegedly) prove extremely volatile. In good times with high prices farmers would borrow money to expand their operations and plant more crops. But this would soon lead to a glut on the markets, forcing farmers to slash prices and go into foreclosure. This tremendous uncertainty, as well as the wild swings in crop supply, could (allegedly) be rectified if the federal government stepped in to purchase surplus crops when the market’s demand proved insufficient. Such policies would presumably stabilize crop prices and the food supply, providing more rational and orderly markets in agriculture.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">As with other forms of government intervention, a pure policy of surplus acquisition would lead to disaster. If farmers were assured that whatever quantities of a crop they grew the government would buy it from them at remunerative prices, they would plant the most cost-effective crops with reckless abandon. (Indeed, at the close of 2000 the Commodity Credit Corporation [CCC], a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, held stockpiles of 97 million bushels of wheat, eight million bushels of corn, and five million bushels of soybeans, according to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. The CCC spent $133.5 million to purchase over a million metric tons of wheat on a single day in 1999.) To avoid the accumulation of stockpiles and yet maintain price supports for certain crops, the government hit on the absurd notion of paying farmers not to grow the crops in question. It is possible to qualify for such subsidies even if an owner of arable land had never intended to grow the crops in the first place.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">From 1995 to 2004 the federal government provided agricultural subsidies of over $143 billion, according to the Environmental Working Group. The recipients of these subsidies are not exactly Dust Bowl migrants from a Steinbeck novel, either. Over $104 billion (72 percent) of the loot during this period went to the top 10 percent of the recipients, which were large farming organizations or cooperatives that each received an average of $33,000 in subsidies every year. To further illustrate the phenomenon, in October 2005 the House Agricultural Committee rejected a proposal by President Bush to place a cap on annual farm subsidies of $250,000 per person.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Another classic example of how the well-to-do fleece the taxpayers is the multiplicity of “joint ventures” between the government and big business. Projects such as sports stadiums, railroads, or even amusement parks are deemed “too big for the private sector.” Besides being silly—after all, any money that the government spends on such projects was taken from the private sector—these pork-barrel expenditures represent a transfer from the poor (and middle class) to the rich.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">For example, the fiscal 2006 Transportation/Treasury/Housing and Urban Development (TTHUD) Act contained $350,000 for the Yucaipa Valley Regional Sports Complex (in California) and $100,000 for renovations to the National Orange Show Stadium in San Bernardino. The Act also contained $50,000 for the Capitol Hill Baseball and Softball League. Beyond its support for sports fans, the government also subsidized art lovers and conference attendees (not typically drawn from the downtrodden of society). Citizens Against Government Waste points out that this same Act contained $325,000 each for renovations to the Seattle Aquarium and the Fox Theater, $200,000 for renovations to the Fredonia Hotel and Convention Center in Texas, and $100,000 for D.C.’s Friends of Carter Barron Foundation for the Performing Arts.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">These anecdotes, though outrageous, are whimsical when compared with other types of corporate welfare. For example, the federal government provides enormous funding for energy research, which attempts to develop alternative supplies and technologies as well as discover better methods of using existing sources. The Cato Institute estimates that in fiscal year 2003, the Energy Department spent $670 million on such projects. Inasmuch as struggling single mothers are not designing ethanol engines, this largess represents yet more welfare for the rich.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">In a similar vein, the government spends billions funding scientific research. In FY2005 the National Institutes for Health alone spent over $24 billion on all awards, and over $20 billion of this consisted in research grants. Large pharmaceutical companies certainly benefit from this convenient assistance.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">We close this section with the epitome of a failed government/business partnership, the classic case of Amtrak. In 2005 alone Amtrak lost $1.2 billion, according to the Heritage Foundation, a shortfall made up by the hapless taxpayer. What makes this waste even more despicable is that Amtrak doesn’t even fulfill its ostensible purpose, namely, to provide affordable passenger rail service across the nation. In particular, Amtrak doesn’t offer service to Phoenix, Las Vegas, Columbus, Nashville, Louisville, Dayton, Tulsa, or Colorado Springs, even though each of these cities has over 500,000 residents. And as anyone who has ridden Amtrak knows, it is far from cheap. For example, its cheapest roundtrip fare from New York City to Washington, D.C., is currently $135 before taxes, compared to $69 for a similar ticket on an admittedly slower bus.</p><h4 style="font-family: helvetica, arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 24px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ">Government Contractors</h4><p align="left" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Even government projects that might be deemed legitimate—such as expenditures on military vehicles or renovations to the Statue of Liberty—represent hidden subsidies to the extent that the contracts are awarded corruptly. The economic principles behind the cost overruns are straightforward enough. Unlike the shareholders of a private firm, if government departments are careful to award contracts to the lowest bidder (who can still get the job done), the politicians and bureaucrats don’t pocket the savings, for that would be sheer theft of public funds. On the other hand, by awarding generous contracts, officials stay in the excellent graces of the beneficiaries. This comes in handy when officials retire from government work and look for consulting jobs.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Another source of systematic welfare is the “cost-plus” method of payment. Here, the government doesn’t settle on an actual price for goods or services delivered, but rather agrees to meet the contractor’s expenses plus some markup. Naturally, this type of arrangement puts no incentive on the contractor to watch costs, and hence represents a hidden subsidy.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">We should also consider the effect of timing and the different outcomes in private versus government settings. Congress can agree to spend, say, $20 billion on a space station that will take ten years to complete. Five years into the contract the suppliers can complain that they will require an additional $10 billion to finish the project because of “unexpected” expenses. By this point the voters don’t remember the previous expenditures, and it would seem a terrible waste not to finish such a grand project. Thus the government often ends up funding boondoggles that would never have been approved had the actual price tag been known all along.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">When it comes to welfare for contractors, no other agency can match the Pentagon, with its classified programs and aura of necessity. Besides the notorious $600 toilet seats uncovered in a 1983 audit, probably all the major purchases of hardware occur at inflated prices. (The difference is, nobody knows how much a B-2 Stealth bomber “should” cost, so its 2001 price tag of $530 million isn’t as shocking.) No outsider can really be sure of the exact amount of the hidden subsidy, or what the corporate beneficiary does to win it, but we can be fairly sure that the recipients do not reside in the inner city.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">On this topic we must mention the case of Halliburton, for this is one issue on which the leftist conspiracy theorists make a decent case. Regardless of the motivations for the invasion of Iraq, it cannot be denied that Halliburton benefited greatly from it. According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity (which required six months and 70 Freedom of Information Act requests to assemble the data), Halliburton received over $2.3 billion in reconstruction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In second place was the engineering and construction firm Bechtel Group, Inc., with just over $1 billion. International American Products, Inc., finished third with a nonetheless-respectable $526 million in contracts. (For those interested in conspiracies, Halliburton and Bechtel contributed roughly $2.38 million and $3.3 million to President Bush, respectively, while International American Products only contributed $2,500.)</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">The “War on Terror” has been a bonanza for defense and related contractors. According to Robert Higgs, Department of Defense outlays excluding payments to military personnel rose from $217 billion in FY2001 to $366 billion in FY2006. In this same period the number of companies with federal homeland-security contracts grew from nine to a whopping 33,890, a jump so large that it renders typical percentage figures—in this case, a growth of 376,456 percent—rather meaningless.</p><h4 style="font-family: helvetica, arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 24px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ">Small Business Administration</h4><p align="left" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">The Small Business Administration (SBA) is another agency with an apparently noble mission that nonetheless acts in reverse-Robin Hood fashion. In 2005 the SBA announced that $79.6 billion in federal contracts were awarded to “small businesses.” However, according to the New York Times, some of this money went to mom-and-pop organizations such as Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Bechtel, and General Dynamics. Indeed, the <em>Christian Science Monitor</em> reports that almost $5 billion of the contracts classified as “small business” were for the 13 largest government contractors.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Beyond winning contracts theoretically intended for small businesses, there is another way big business benefits from the SBA. In a scheme that Doug French (himself a Las Vegas banker) calls “welfare for bankers,” the SBA guarantees loans for qualifying businesses. Banks are then able to pool such loans and sell them in secondary markets. Now in a simple model of perfect competition, the SBA guarantees would benefit only the loan recipients, because they would acquire funding at lower interest rates. But in the real world, savvy banks acquire “PLP status,” meaning they are preferred lenders. This allows them to issue SBA-guaranteed loans without as much paperwork and other hassles as other banks would need to suffer, and so allows these privileged banks to earn a net income from the entire process. To the extent that PLP status represents a hurdle that has nothing to do with merit or business performance, the process is a form of subsidy to certain (rich) bankers.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">The Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or “Ginnie Mae”) is a public corporation in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ginnie Mae boosts the secondary mortgage market by guaranteeing principal and interest payments on mortgage-backed securities. In a typical case, a bank or other institution will acquire dozens of individual mortgages from homebuyers and place them into a single pool, then issue securities to other investors based on the cash flows from the mortgage payments. In the event of unexpected defaults by the homebuyers, Ginnie Mae would step in to guarantee the payments to the secondary investors.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">This pledge obviously makes the guaranteed securities more attractive, lowering their promised rate of return. This in turn lowers the mortgage rates faced by the original homebuyers, but also provides liquidity in the secondary mortgage market and no doubt higher commissions for politically savvy middlemen. (As Ginnie Mae’s Wikipedia entry puts it in an unintentionally humorous line, “This arrangement seemingly benefits everyone involved.”) Naturally the loser is, as always, the U.S. taxpayer, who must assume the losses from mortgage loans made at rates that do not reflect the true risks involved. Although in recent years Ginnie Mae has itself earned more in service fees than it paid out on defaults (and thus did not use any public funds), this is only possible because the taxpayers are ultimately liable for the outstanding collection of guaranteed mortgage-backed securities; total potential exposure in 2004 was $453.2 billion.</p><h4 style="font-family: helvetica, arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 24px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ">Other Guarantees and Bailouts</h4><p align="left" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">The same analysis applies to other government loan guarantees. For example, suppose the federal government guarantees that it will make good on bonds issued by the Mexican government in the event of a default. Such a pledge undoubtedly showers benefits on both the Mexican government and the (typically wealthy) investors in its bonds, while the source of these benefits is undoubtedly the American taxpayer. This is true even if the Mexican government does not default on its bond payments. After all, if the taxpayers pledged to pay all costs associated with a fire at any of General Motors’ factories, this would certainly be a subsidy to GM, even if no such fire ever occurred. (This is obvious; with the federal guarantee, GM would save the money it otherwise would have spent on fire-insurance premiums.) In a similar fashion, even if the Mexican government doesn’t default, it still benefits from borrowing money at lower interest rates than would otherwise be the case.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Of course, if and when the U.S. government has to make good on these types of pledges, the transactions involve funneling taxpayer dollars to wealthy investors both at home and abroad. Sometimes these subsidies are particularly subtle. For example, during the Mexican “peso crisis” of 1994, the Clinton administration contributed some $20 billion to the international bailout effort by providing loan guarantees and currency swaps. This latter move, executed by the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, swapped cash flows denominated in dollars with those denominated in pesos. Inasmuch as the dollar flows originated (at least partly) with the government Fund, and also because the whole purpose of the intervention was to engage in currency swaps that the private market considered unprofitable, President Clinton’s decision used U.S. tax dollars to shield the Mexican government from its irresponsible monetary policies. In short, yet another example of welfare for the rich and powerful.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">The celebrated fate of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM), a huge hedge fund that had Nobel laureates Myron Scholes and Robert Merton on its board, presents yet another case of corporate welfare. Because its trading strategy took advantage of slight (but theoretically “irrational”) overvaluations of newly issued bonds (versus older “off-the-run” bonds), LTCM was highly leveraged, sometimes with a leverage ratio of over 30. When the Russian government defaulted on its bonds in 1998, this set in motion a chain of events that proved catastrophic to LTCM’s positions. In the course of a few months the amazing success story had lost over $4.6 billion. Citing the potential disruptions to the entire financial community if LTCM itself defaulted, the New York Federal Reserve Bank intervened. Though it technically did not use public money in the bailout, the Fed nonetheless used “moral suasion” (backed perhaps by implicit pressure?) to get LTCM’s major creditors to allow for an orderly liquidation. Supporters of the move claimed that it prevented a financial meltdown, while critics pointed out that the “too big to fail” mentality would only encourage large institutions to take risky positions in the future, and that the ultimate fallback to the government-sponsored rescue allowed LTCM to reject a private-sector bailout effort led by Warren Buffett. (Under Buffett’s plan, the managers of LTCM would have been fired and the shareholders would have fared much worse than they did under the “necessary” Fed-brokered arrangement.)</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">We cannot leave this section without mentioning the post-9/11 federal bailout of the airlines. The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (signed on September 23, 2001) gave $10 billion in loan guarantees, as well as $5 billion in direct “relief,” to the airlines. Now even libertarians may differ on the justification for this bailout. After all, the federal government hampered the ability of the airlines to prevent 9/11 (through gun bans and other interventions) and also forced them to lose business by the mandatory flight ban immediately after the catastrophe. Nonetheless, the entrepreneurs involved in the airline industry certainly did not live up to their task of anticipating the future better than others. In a truly free market the consequences of poor preparation are losses. When the critics ask, “If the free market is so good, why did the government need to take over airline security?” the defender of laissez faire can reply, first, that government was involved in security before 9/11 and, second, that airline executives did not actually face the full pressures of the profit-and-loss test. When their inadequate security measures allowed disaster, they didn’t bear the full brunt of these shortsighted decisions.</p><h4 style="font-family: helvetica, arial, lucinda, verdana, geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 24px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ">Government Deficits and the Federal Reserve?</h4><p align="left" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Though not as clear cut as some of the other examples in this essay, the annual issuance of hundreds of billions of dollars in new government bonds may qualify as welfare for the rich. If one agrees that the federal guarantee of Mexican bonds represents goodies to the wealthy at the expense of the taxpayer, then by consistency one must also condemn massive federal deficits for the same reason. This is because all Treasury bonds are “guaranteed” by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government as a matter of course. This practice allows the Treasury to obtain loans at low rates of interest and undoubtedly showers income on politically connected banks and other financial brokers. As always, the losers are the taxpayers (who must ultimately pay off the Treasury’s debts) and the smaller banks that do not enjoy the privileges of Fed membership.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">When it comes to the “moral hazard” of federal relief, the standard illustrations are the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and federal checks to property owners after natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes. By insuring checking deposits (up to $100,000), the FDIC provides an incentive for banks to invest in riskier projects because on the margin the (expected) costs of doing so are reduced. In a similar manner, when the government provides massive relief to owners of beachfront condos and hotels after a hurricane, this encourages more development in disaster-prone regions than would otherwise occur (if the owners had to pay full market insurance premiums). To the extent that owners of banks and beachfront property tend to be above-average income earners, these programs represent yet more examples of subsidies to the rich.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">The final example we shall discuss is one of the most blatant and economically unjustified: the Export-Import Bank. It is worth quoting the Bank’s own mission statement in its entirety:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank’s mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Ex-Im Bank enables U.S. companies—large and small—to turn export opportunities into real sales that help to maintain and create U.S. jobs and contribute to a stronger national economy.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Ex-Im Bank does not compete with private sector lenders but provides export financing products that fill gaps in trade financing. We assume credit and country risks that the private sector is unable or unwilling to accept. We also help to level the playing field for U.S. exporters by matching the financing that other governments provide to their exporters.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Ex-Im Bank provides working capital guarantees (pre-export financing); export credit insurance; and loan guarantees and direct loans (buyer financing). No transaction is too large or too small. On average, 85% of our transactions directly benefit U.S. small businesses.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">With more than 70 years of experience, Ex-Im Bank has supported more than $400 billion of U.S. exports, primarily to developing markets worldwide.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">As with most descriptions provided by the agencies themselves, the Ex-Im Bank’s statement seems innocuous enough. Yet Henry Hazlitt, in his wonderful <em>Economics in One Lesson</em>, long ago exploded the myth that subsidizing exports is good for the economy. For example, when the Ex-Im Bank “levels the playing field” by “matching the financing that other governments provide to their exporters,” what does this really mean? It means that the federal government gives money to foreign governments or companies which they then use to purchase products from American exporters. To clearly see what is going on, it would be simpler if the U.S. government first bought the products from domestic producers (using tax dollars, of course) and then handed them over for free to the foreign organizations. Yes, this practice benefits the workers and shareholders of the privileged exporting firms, but these gains are more than offset by the losses to the taxpayers. After all, as Hazlitt pointed out, the country as a whole doesn’t get rich by giving goods away.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Similar to the Ex-Im Bank is foreign aid in general, to the extent that the recipient governments spend the money on U.S. exports. For example, according to the Cato Institute, in FY2003 $3.7 billion in federal money was used to finance weapons purchases for foreign governments.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; ">Free-market enthusiasts often rail against welfare for the poor, and rightly so. However, as both experience and political economy suggest, the welfare state also redistributes wealth into the hands of the rich and politically powerful. To offer a consistent message—as well as attract support among more-egalitarian observers—advocates of laissez faire should condemn the billions of dollars in annual subsidies for the rich.</p></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-16573625143839515522012-02-05T23:02:00.000+01:002012-02-05T23:02:47.080+01:00George Soros at Cato: It's all about Hayek. - Slate Magazine<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2011/04/left_right_and_soros.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2">George Soros at Cato: It's all about Hayek. - Slate Magazine</a><div><div class="sl-art-head" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 14px; font: normal normal normal 1em/normal arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><h2 class="sl-art-head-hed" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 2.769em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Left, Right, and Soros</h2><h1 class="sl-art-head-dek" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 1.384em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; ">The billionaire philanthropist says he wants to stay out of politics, at least for now.</h1><p class="sl-art-byline" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 14px; font: normal normal bold 1em/normal arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">By <a rel="author" href="http://www.slate.com/authors.david_weigel.html" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">David Weigel</a><span class="sl-art-datetime" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 0.923em/normal arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); "><span class="sl-art-head-pipe" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 7px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 7px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; top: -1px; ">|</span>Posted Friday, April 29, 2011, at 1:53 PM ET</span></p></div><div class="sl-art-body" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div class="parsys editorsNote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 0.923em/normal verdana, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; "></div><div class="body parsys" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 0.923em/normal verdana, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; "><a name="pagebreak_anchor_1" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; visibility: hidden; "></a><div class="parbase image slate_image section" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><span class="sl-art-illo-cntr" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; text-align: center; width: 250px; "><a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2292421/" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); "><img title="1_123125_123054_2279718_2290180_110428_pol_soros_tn" alt="Hungarian-American financier George Soros. Click image to expand." class="cq-dd-image sl-art-illo" src="http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/archive/2011/04/1_123125_123054_2279718_2290180_110428_pol_soros_tn.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; cursor: pointer; " /></a><div class="sl-art-illo-cap" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 10px; font: normal normal normal 0.846em/normal arial, helvetica, sans; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: left; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); line-height: 1.154em; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ">George Soros<span class="sl-art-illo-cred" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 10px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); "></span></div></span></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The Cato Institute opened its doors to George Soros on Thursday, and he came in peace. The <a linktype="External" href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/10/billionaires-2010_George-Soros_L9II.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">35<sup style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 10px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; ">th</sup>wealthiest man in the world</a> arrived at the libertarian think tank, evaded a question about Donald Trump from a video-camera-wielding reporter, and relaxed in a back room as a crowd gathered for his speech.</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">It wouldn't just be <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">his</em> speech. Soros was one of three panelists speaking about a new edition of <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><a linktype="External" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226320847/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=slatmaga-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0226320847" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">The Constitution of Liberty</a></em>, the most enduring book by the libertarian economist Freidrich von Hayek. The editor of the new edition, Ronald Hamowy, was tasked with introducing the experts, moderating questions, and keeping the whole thing from becoming a circus. He eyed the audience warily, hopefully.</p></div></div><div class="sl-art-ad-midflex" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "><span class="sl-ad-label" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 10px; font: normal normal normal 0.769em/normal verdana; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); ">Advertisement</span><br /><div id="insider_ad_inner" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><iframe src="http://d3.zedo.com/jsc/d3/ff2.html?n=1302;c=70;s=14;d=9;w=300;h=250;l=http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh%3Dv8/3c12/3/0/%2a/j%3B252934453%3B0-0%3B0%3B24232931%3B4307-300/250%3B40068918/40086705/1%3Bu%3Do%2A_5bCS_5dv1_7c2796A0B585160EAB_2d400001A1400041F6_5bCE_5d%3B%7Eokv%3D%3Bsz%3D446x33%2C300x250%3Bpos%3Dmidarticleflex%3Bpoe%3Dno%3Bad%3Dfb%3Bad%3Dbb%3Bdel%3Djs%3Bajax%3Dn%3Bdcopt%3Dist%3Bheavy%3Dn%3BpageId%3Dslate-articles-news_and_politics-politics-2011-04-left_right_and_soros-single%3B%7Eaopt%3D6/1/ff/1%3B%7Esscs%3D%3f" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true" width="300" height="250" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "></iframe></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The worry was that someone would show up at the panel and decide to confront George Soros, philosophical dabbler, with George Soros, the nightmare figure who shows up on Fox News prime time the way Emmanuel Goldstein showed up at the <a linktype="External" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Minutes_Hate" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">Two Minutes Hate</a>. Soros, who made his billions in international finance, <a linktype="External" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53902_Page4.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">has funded many of the new institutions of the professional left</a> since George W. Bush started seeking re-election. He seeded ACT, a get-out-the-vote project that didn't quite work in 2004, and then he helped fund the Center for American Progress ($3 million) and Media Matters for America ($1 million, only last year). Entering politics, he <a linktype="External" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=hYu4NTKo2DwC&pg=PT39&lpg=PT39&dq=soros+vachon&source=bl&ots=Cs2uv9KvBW&sig=4AntmK3AV7NZUgGJNa2LrMcqNls&hl=en&ei=nEy6TdecGsW9tgef89G3AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=soros%20vachon&f=false" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">became a political target</a>. He's the sort of billionaire whose website has to include a <a linktype="External" href="http://www.georgesoros.com/faqs/archive/category/childhood/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">FAQ</a> about where he was when the Nazis invaded Eastern Europe, because someone who <a linktype="External" href="http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=43876" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">Googles his name and "collaborator"</a>gets a lot of false results.</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">That problem might have reached its natural conclusion. As Soros walked into the Hayek Auditorium, his spokesman Michael Vachon told a couple of reporters that the man really wasn't paying attention to American electoral politics. "The truth is, he's not really thinking about that right now," said Vachon. "He's doing a lot of work in <a linktype="External" href="http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE72100X20110302" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">New Guinea</a>, and on transparency. The election's a long ways away."</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Soros' speech and comments reinforced that view. He stuck to his topic—the debate in the 1940s between Hayek and Karl Popper, the philosopher Soros cites the most (his Open Society Institute is named for Popper's work). Popper argued that "the incontrovertible truth is beyond the reach of the human intellect."</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">"While I was admiring the elegance of Popper's theory, I was also studying elementary economics," said Soros. "I was struck by a contradiction between the theory of perfect competition, which postulated perfect knowledge, with Popper's theory, which asserted that perfect knowledge was unattainable. The contradiction could be resolved by recognizing that economic theory cannot meet the standards of Newtonian physics. That is why I sided with Hayek, who warned against the slavish imitation of natural science and took issue with Popper, who asserted the doctrine of unity of method."</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Soros was wistful. The debate between Hayek and Popper had been enlightening. The current debate, the one in the media, was anything but.</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">"The political controversy on the role of the state in the economy is raging in full force today," said Soros, "but the standards of political discourse have greatly deteriorated since then." The two opposing sides in politics "have each got hold of one half of the truth."</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">"Although I am often painted as the representative of the far left and I am certainly not free of political bias," said Soros, "I readily recognize that the other side is half right in claiming that the government is wasteful and inefficient and ought to function better. But I also continue to cling to the other half of the truth, namely that financial markets are inherently unstable and need to be regulated. Moreover, I am profoundly worried that those who proclaim half truths as the whole truth, whether they are from the left or the right, are endangering our open society."</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Soros said all of this to an audience whose chairs were marked with plaques, thanking some donor or another who'd helped build the auditorium. Among the names on the plaques were "Charles Koch." The left that Soros didn't quite want to be lumped in with has become obsessed with the Kochs, and with conservative and libertarian donors in general, and as Soros was speaking, some liberal donors were putting the finishing touches on Priorities USA and Priorities USA Action, which <a linktype="External" href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53905.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">aim to raise $100 million</a> to play in the 2012 election. There is an outright panic among some liberals about conservative money, and a sense that Their billionaires are more loyal than Our billionaires.</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">At Cato, as the questions started coming, it got harder to imagine Soros getting involved again at that level. Richard Epstein, a <a linktype="External" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRut_LTJpwI" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">University of Chicago professor</a> who shared the stage, ended his remarks by criticizing the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, and challenging Soros to live up to his talk about government waste and abuse.</p></div></div><div class="pagebreak section" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "></div><a name="pagebreak_anchor_2" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; visibility: hidden; "></a><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">"I want you, George, to come out on the record now to say that you're in favor of the repeal of the National Labor Relations Act," said Epstein. "Then we'll have something we can talk about!"</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Soros didn't answer that, but he did criticize Dodd-Frank. "I look at the way the Dodd-Frank bill, and its failure to address the issues, how it was lobbied into incomprehension and inconsistency by special interests of various kinds," he said.</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Hamowy mostly prevented the audience from taking the conversation from Hayek to politics. A question about the Affordable Care Act slipped in anyway. Soros didn't love the new law.</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">"The pharmaceutical companies made a fabulous deal," he said, "when they voted off any reduction in further costs for medicines, and then the insurance companies destroyed the core of the reform, which would have provided a public option."</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The speeches ended, and Soros eluded more questions about politics. One reporter tried to ask him about the Koch brothers; Vachon quickly assured Soros that he didn't really know them, and that the question needn't be answered. He did take a question about Hayek.</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Was his dream of a high-minded political/economic discussion possible?</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">"Stop proving your point by proving the other side wrong," he said. "Once you recognize that principle, you have a reasonable base for discussion. Get to some new basis for discussion instead of effectively tearing the country apart, which is what right now the political parties are doing."</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">But how did that happen? One reason for the renewed interest in Hayek, after all, is the newfound interest in <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><a linktype="External" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226320553/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=slatmaga-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0226320553" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(86, 129, 140); text-decoration: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153); ">The Road to Serfdom</a></em>, his best-selling but least serious work. Glenn Beck's viewers haven't read much about Hayek's rejection of conservatism or even his economic theories. They've read about how any and all social welfare leads inexorably toward fascism.</p></div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="text" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">"[Hayek] has, perhaps, allowed himself to be used by some extremists without him being an extremist," shrugged Soros. With that, he headed out of the building.</p></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2314428705793916366.post-21069536296327090882012-02-05T22:59:00.000+01:002012-02-05T22:59:35.761+01:00Social Welfare State, American-Style, Means Relief For The Rich<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html">Social Welfare State, American-Style, Means Relief For The Rich</a><div><div class="float_left padding_5_0 reporter-piece-main" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; 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"><div class="col entry_right full" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; float: left; width: 580px; "><h1 class="title-news" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font: normal normal bold 32px/36px Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; ">Social Welfare State, American-Style, Means Relief For The Rich</h1><div class="margin_bottom_10 relative" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; position: relative; "><img width="570" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/465614/thumbs/r-SOCIAL-WELFARE-SPENDING-large570.jpg" alt="Social Welfare Spending" id="img_caption_1205357" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; 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border-image: initial; line-height: 16px; color: rgb(105, 105, 105); "><span class="posted-and-updated" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">First Posted: 1/13/12 05:48 PM ET<span class="vborder-dashed margin_0_2" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: dotted; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(83, 87, 93); font-size: 8px; "> </span>Updated: 1/14/12 04:04 PM ET</span></p><a class="print-link absolute" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html?view=print&comm_ref=false" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; position: absolute; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/b_pixie.png?v4); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; 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list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-right-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-left-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; text-transform: capitalize; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/v/bg-button.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; ">Important<br style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html#" id="link_vote_1" title="Funny" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-right-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-left-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; text-transform: capitalize; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/v/bg-button.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; ">Funny<br style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html#" id="link_vote_2" title="Typical" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-right-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-left-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; text-transform: capitalize; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/v/bg-button.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; ">Typical<br style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html#" id="link_vote_3" title="Scary" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-right-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-left-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; text-transform: capitalize; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/v/bg-button.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; ">Scary<br style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html#" id="link_vote_4" title="Outrageous" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-right-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-left-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; text-transform: capitalize; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/v/bg-button.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; ">Outrageous<br style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html#" id="link_vote_5" title="Amazing" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-right-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-left-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; text-transform: capitalize; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/v/bg-button.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; ">Amazing<br style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html#" id="link_vote_6" title="Innovative" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-right-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-left-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; text-transform: capitalize; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/v/bg-button.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; ">Innovative<br style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html#" id="link_vote_7" title="Finally" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 2px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; float: left; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-right-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; border-left-color: rgb(187, 187, 187) !important; text-transform: capitalize; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/v/bg-button.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(232, 232, 232); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; ">Finally<br style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></a></div><div class="clear_first" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; "></div><div class="read_more with_verticals clearfix" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; position: relative; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; "><div class="float_left follow_tags_headline normal_weight" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-weight: normal !important; float: left; "><div class="float_left margin_right_3 arial_14" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-size: 14px; font-family: Arial; float: left; ">Follow</div><img src="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/images/bignews/follow-arrow.png" width="8" height="12" class="margin_right_3 padding_top_2" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; " /><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div></div><div class="float_left follow_tags_cont_regular" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 485px; float: left; "><span style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><span class="follow_bignews_wrapper" hovercard_params="{"tag_url":"/news/barack-obama","tag_name":"Barack Obama", "root_tag_id":"13"}" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/barack-obama" class="follow_bignews" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/entries/follow-bignews.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: inline-block; height: 15px; width: 14px; background-position: 0px 1px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "> </a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/barack-obama" class="follow_bignews_link" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">Barack Obama </a></span>, <span class="follow_bignews_wrapper" hovercard_params="{"tag_url":"/news/mitt-romney","tag_name":"Mitt Romney", "root_tag_id":"186"}" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/mitt-romney" class="follow_bignews" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/entries/follow-bignews.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: inline-block; height: 15px; width: 14px; background-position: 0px 1px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "> </a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/mitt-romney" class="follow_bignews_link" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">Mitt Romney </a></span>, <span class="follow_bignews_wrapper" hovercard_params="{"tag_url":"/news/social-security","tag_name":"Social Security", "root_tag_id":"18461"}" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/social-security" class="follow_bignews" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/entries/follow-bignews.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: inline-block; height: 15px; width: 14px; background-position: 0px 1px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "> </a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/social-security" class="follow_bignews_link" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">Social Security </a></span>, <span class="follow_bignews_wrapper" hovercard_params="{"tag_url":"/news/video","tag_name":"Video", "root_tag_id":"3"}" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/video" class="follow_bignews" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/entries/follow-bignews.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: inline-block; height: 15px; width: 14px; background-position: 0px 1px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "> </a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/video" class="follow_bignews_link" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">Video </a></span>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/american-welfare-state" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">American Welfare State </a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/european-welfare-state" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">European Welfare State </a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/social-welfare-state" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">Social Welfare State </a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/tax-code" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; 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border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has taken to accusing President Barack Obama of trying to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120111/eu-britain-romney-attack/" target="_hplink" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">turn the United States into a European-style social welfare state</a>.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">The hyperbole about Obama's actions aside, the United States already is a social welfare state -- almost right up there with the Europeans -- if you measure the total amount of drain on the Treasury caused by spending and subsidies on such things as health care and retirement.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">The one big difference is that in the American social welfare state, a lot of the benefits go to the rich.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">"We spend a tremendous amount on private social welfare through tax subsidies," said Christopher Faricy, a political science professor at Washington State University whose forthcoming book is about our divided welfare state.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">"It just goes to a drastically different population than what we usually associate with welfare programs," Faricy said.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">Direct government social welfare spending pays for such signature programs as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">But there's also a whole other world of social-welfare measures in the tax code -- <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/18/the-top-10-tax-breaks-_n_850534.html" target="_hplink" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">called tax expenditures</a> -- that benefit individuals and companies.</p><div id="ad_mid_article" class="ad_wrapper" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 300px; float: left; "><form id="qas_dfp_frm" name="qas_dfp_frm" method="get" action="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html" target="" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></form><iframe name="adsonar_serve382206" id="adsonar_serve382206" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" vspace="0" hspace="0" width="300" height="250" src="http://ads.tw.adsonar.com/adserving/getAds.jsp?previousPlacementIds=&placementId=1523113&pid=2345767&ps=-1&zw=300&zh=250&url=http%3A//www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html&v=5&dct=Social%20Welfare%20State%2C%20American-Style%2C%20Means%20Relief%20For%20The%20Rich&metakw=social,welfare,state,,american-style,,means,relief,for,the,rich,politics" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; "></iframe></div><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">The two biggest tax breaks with a social welfare purpose are the exemptions for employer-sponsored health benefits (which cost the U.S. Treasury about $184 billion a year in foregone revenue) and for contributions to 401(k) and other retirement plans and pensions ($113 billion).</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">In stark contrast to social programs that involve the actual outlay of tax dollars, the tax breaks vastly favor the rich over the middle class and the poor. The biggest benefits accrue to people who can afford to put a lot away for their retirements and have generous health insurance plans. Even the charitable-donation exemption (which costs the Treasury about $43 billion a year) favors those in the higher tax brackets, because they get a bigger federal subsidy for each dollar they give.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">Based on direct spending on social welfare programs as a proportion of the total economy, the U.S. (at 16.2 percent) lags behind every country in Europe except Slovakia, according to <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/is-the-european-welfare-state-really-more-expensive_5kg2d2d4pbf0-en" target="_hplink" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">data analyzed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development</a>.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; "><img src="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/oecdpse.jpg" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; max-width: 100%; height: auto; " /></p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">By contrast, when it comes to tax breaks with a social purpose, the U.S. -- at 2 percent of gross domestic product -- leads the pack.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; "><img src="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/oecdtsp.jpg" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; max-width: 100%; height: auto; " /></p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">"Once tax expenditures for social welfare programs are included in social spending figures, the U.S. welfare state is a similar size to those in Europe," Faricy said.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">Faricy's research focuses on how there are essentially two American social welfare states -- one for each political party -- and they ebb and flow depending on which is in power. But the point is: "They both believe in massive government subsidies."</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">While the Democratic welfare state -- based on direct spending -- redistributes wealth from the middle class and the wealthy to the poor, the Republican welfare state -- based on tax breaks -- redistributes wealth upwards.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">"The top 20 percent receive 80 percent of those benefits," Faircy said of social welfare tax breaks.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">"The middle class gets some from the Republican welfare state, but not as much as the rich," Faricy said. And since the Democratic welfare state primarily serves the needy, "the middle class is getting squeezed at both ends," he said.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">Faricy said there's a lot of misunderstanding about the politics surrounding the Republican welfare state. While opponents of social programs often complain that what they call entitlement spending is allowed to grow unrestrained, Faricy argues that the tax expenditures are even more protected from the budget process, as there's no actual line item for the revenue that each of them costs the Treasury.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">"The only way to get rid of these tax expenditures is to pass a tax bill," Faricy said -- and that's no simple task. "If you considered it spending, then we'd revisit it annually," he said.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">Faricy also argues that tax expenditures distort the economy. "Look at areas where we've had bubbles: housing; health care, the financial industry," he said.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">Subsidized health insurance has resulted in people overbuying health care, subsidized mortgages have encouraged people to buy oversized homes, and subsidized 401(k)s have generated huge proceeds for Wall Street, he said.</p><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; ">"There's a correlation between the areas that we spend the most on through the tax code and industries that have cost problems," he said.</p><center style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">*************************</center><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; "><em style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Dan Froomkin is senior Washington correspondent for The Huffington Post. You can <a href="mailto:froomkin@huffingtonpost.com" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">send him an email</a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/reporting/dan-froomkin" target="_hplink" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; 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margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></div><div id="fiveMinCB_1_fb" isfairbalance="true" class="null fiveMinFairBalance" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "></div><div style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div><div class="sbm-main margin_5_0 clearfix" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 570px; "><div class="sbm-soc" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 276px; float: left; "><div class="sbm_menu_text margin_bottom_10 vertical_color relative padding_5_0 georgia_12 bold center uppercase politics_modal_inner" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-color: rgb(3, 73, 126) !important; border-right-color: rgb(3, 73, 126) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(3, 73, 126) !important; border-left-color: rgb(3, 73, 126) !important; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; font-weight: bold !important; font-family: Georgia; position: relative; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom-width: 1px; ">FOLLOW HUFFPOST <span class="georgia_12" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">POLITICS</span><div class="absolute white_bg sbm-follow-sub" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: -11px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 2px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; position: absolute; bottom: -9px; font-size: 10px; left: 50%; width: 18px; ">ON</div></div><div class="sbm-follow-item float_left bold" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 9px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-weight: bold !important; float: left; "><div class="float_left vertical_color sbm-follow-title" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 2px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; float: left; ">Facebook:</div><div class="float_left sbm-follow-fb" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; float: left; width: 90px; max-width: 90px; min-width: 50px; "><div id="fb_like_submissions" fblike_params="{"width":"90","height":"20","show_faces":"false","href":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuffPostPolitics","background_color":"#cccccc","font":"Trebuchet","layout":"button_count","vertical_id":2,"hp_track":"Vertical Page"}" class="float_left i_v_fb_like like_fb_like_action i_v_with_count" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; float: left; z-index: 200; width: 90px; "><div class="relative" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; position: relative; "><div class="facebook_like_button connect_widget button_count" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; "><div class="connect_button_slider float_left" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; float: left; position: relative; "><div class="connect_button_container" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html" class="connect_widget_like_button clearfix like_button_no_like" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: block; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(202, 212, 231); border-right-color: rgb(202, 212, 231); border-bottom-color: rgb(202, 212, 231); border-left-color: rgb(202, 212, 231); float: left; background-color: rgb(236, 238, 245); "><span class="liketext" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 17px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background-image: url(http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/zh/r/Ch71Zv858xU.png); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); display: block; white-space: nowrap; height: 14px; line-height: 13px; font-weight: normal; background-position: 0% -47px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Like</span></a></div></div><div class="connect_widget_button_count_nub" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; float: left; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 5px; width: 5px; z-index: 2; "><s style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-color: transparent; border-right-color: rgb(215, 215, 215); border-bottom-color: transparent; border-left-color: transparent; border-top-width: 4px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 4px; border-left-width: 0px; display: block; position: relative; top: 1px; "></s><i style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-color: transparent; border-right-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: transparent; border-left-color: transparent; border-top-width: 4px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 4px; border-left-width: 0px; display: block; position: relative; top: -7px; left: 2px; "></i></div><div class="connect_widget_button_count_count" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 2px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 2px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(209, 209, 209); border-right-color: rgb(209, 209, 209); border-bottom-color: rgb(209, 209, 209); border-left-color: rgb(209, 209, 209); float: left; top: 1px; font-weight: normal; height: 14px; line-height: 14px; min-width: 15px; position: relative; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap; ">109k</div></div><div class="fb_like_xml absolute" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; position: absolute; "></div></div></div></div></div><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div><div class="sbm-follow-item float_left bold" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 9px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-weight: bold !important; float: left; "><div class="float_left vertical_color sbm-follow-title-tw" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 2px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; float: left; ">Twitter:</div><div style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: -12px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; display: inline-block; float: left; width: 65px; "><div id="twitter-follow-button-910428028" class="twttr-fw-btn" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; height: 20px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; "><div class="container" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><a class="fw-button" title="Follow @HuffPostPol on Twitter" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); outline-style: none !important; outline-width: medium !important; outline-color: initial !important; text-decoration: none; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/twitter-follow-sprite.png); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; width: 61px; height: 20px; display: inline-block; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; vertical-align: bottom; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "> </a></div></div></div></div><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div><div class="sbm-follow-item email-alert-sbm" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 9px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><input type="text" id="email-address-body" value="Enter Email Address" class="input_border" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; color: rgb(137, 137, 137); "> <a class="button politics small" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 0%, 0% 100%, from(rgb(0, 150, 216)), to(rgb(3, 70, 120))); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(0, 150, 216); border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0.5px 5px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0.5px 5px; font-weight: bold; position: relative; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial; line-height: normal; font-size: 11px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Get Alerts</a></div></div><div id="submissions_shortcuts" class="sbm-shortcuts padding_0_5" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 285px; float: right; "><div class="sbm_menu_text margin_bottom_10 vertical_color georgia_12 bold center relative padding_5_0 politics_modal_inner" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-color: rgb(3, 73, 126) !important; border-right-color: rgb(3, 73, 126) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(3, 73, 126) !important; border-left-color: rgb(3, 73, 126) !important; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; font-weight: bold !important; font-family: Georgia; position: relative; text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; ">CONTRIBUTE<div class="absolute white_bg sbm-contribute-sub" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: -47px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 2px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; position: absolute; bottom: -9px; font-size: 10px; left: 50%; width: 90px; ">TO THIS STORY</div></div><div class="clear_fix" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><ul class="float_left" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; 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margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 3px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/bnpages/follow.png); background-color: rgb(3, 73, 126); float: left; width: 20px; height: 20px; background-position: -2px -115px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html" class="subm_link float_left margin_top_1 bold sbm_send vertical_color" id="submissions_send_correction" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 1px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold !important; float: left; cursor: pointer; ">Send Corrections</a><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div></li><li class="margin_10_0" style="list-style-type: disc; list-style-position: inside; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><span class="follow flink vertical_background float_left margin_right_5" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/bnpages/follow.png); background-color: rgb(3, 73, 126); float: left; width: 23px; height: 13px; background-position: 0px -86px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html" class="subm_link float_left bold sbm_send vertical_color" id="submissions_send_link" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold !important; float: left; cursor: pointer; ">Send us a Link</a><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div></li><li class="margin_10_0 last" style="list-style-type: disc; list-style-position: inside; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><span class="follow fcontact vertical_background float_left margin_right_5 margin_left_3" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 3px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/bnpages/follow.png); background-color: rgb(3, 73, 126); float: left; width: 20px; height: 20px; background-position: -2px -145px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html" id="submission_contact_us" class="subm_link float_left margin_top_1 bold sbm_send vertical_color" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 1px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold !important; float: left; cursor: pointer; ">Contact us</a><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div></li></ul><ul class="float_right" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; float: right; "><li class="margin_10_0 first" style="list-style-type: disc; list-style-position: inside; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><span class="follow ftip vertical_background float_left margin_right_5" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/bnpages/follow.png); background-color: rgb(3, 73, 126); float: left; width: 23px; height: 15px; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html" class="subm_link float_left bold sbm_send vertical_color" id="submissions_send_tip" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold !important; float: left; cursor: pointer; ">Send a Tip</a><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div></li><li class="margin_10_0" style="list-style-type: disc; list-style-position: inside; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><span class="follow fphotos vertical_background float_left margin_right_5" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background-image: url(http://s.huffpost.com/images/bnpages/follow.png); background-color: rgb(3, 73, 126); float: left; width: 22px; height: 23px; background-position: 0px -25px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/american-social-welfare-state-mitt-romney_n_1205357.html" class="subm_link float_left margin_top_2 bold sbm_send vertical_color" id="submissions_send_media" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 2px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 136, 195) !important; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold !important; float: left; cursor: pointer; ">Send Photos/Videos</a><div class="clear" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px !important; line-height: 1px !important; overflow-x: hidden !important; overflow-y: hidden !important; font-size: 1px; "></div></li><li class="margin_10_0 last" style="list-style-type: disc; list-style-position: inside; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><span class="follow fcomment vertical_background float_left margin_right_5" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; 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