Argentina will start to swirl the drain by the end of the year. Sure hope President Romney can face up to this challenge...
Facing intense criticism over the nationalization of its biggest oil firm, Argentina on Thursday ordered the seizure of YPF Gas, another group controlled by Spain's Repsol, a move expected to further inflame tensions. In a case that has sparked fears of a new wave of expropriations, a statement published in the official gazette said the Argentine government was declaring YPF Gas a public utility and taking 51 percent of the shares.
YPF Gas is not technically part of the YPF oil group ordered nationalized this week, leading to global condemnation, but a separate company. However, an 85 percent stake in the gas firm is owned by Repsol Butano SA, a division of the Spanish energy giant.
Officials said the move was an extension of the takeover of YPF, the big unit of Repsol that Argentina decided to seize this week.
The government statement indicates that YPF Gas "plays an essential role in Argentina's hydrocarbon policy."
Which is not a justification for seizing it, unless you're a 'progressive'...
The move expands the nationalization effort ordered by Argentina, which claimed the Spanish firm was failing to invest in the country and forcing it to import more of its energy supplies.
Spain, the United States, the IMF, the European Union and others lined up to take turns slamming the move by President Cristina Kirchner.
During a visit to Colombia on Thursday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy again slammed the move as "an injustice," but declined to comment on how his government might retaliate.
Ah, the invertebrate European leaders. Bring out the comfy chair!
On Thursday, World Bank head Robert Zoellick added his criticism to Argentina's move.
"I think it's a mistake and I think it's a symptom that we have to watch out for -- if under economic pressure, whether countries will move to more national, autarchic policies, respond more to nationalism, more to protectionism," Zoellick said at a news conference.
Later he told CNN that Argentina should concede the move is a mistake and reverse it.
"This is not the time to be playing with fire, and ultimately, it will leave Argentina behind in the international economy, and that hurts the people of Argentina, and that is who I am concerned about," he said. "What investor in his right mind would put money into a country where people are taking away private property?"
Repsol bought Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales in 1999 for $15 billion in what was the biggest operation of the privatization program of former Argentine president Carlos Menem.
Kirchner has argued that the expropriation was justified because YPF crude production had dropped while oil and gas imports doubled in 2011. Imports are forecast to triple by the end of the year.
Argentina also faces a drop in its trade surplus -
- down 11 percent in 2011 -- which is its main source of hard currency since foreign credit markets closed their doors after the 2001 debt default.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2012 11:21 ||
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#1
When you consider the economic conditions in Spain, nationalization makes sense. Until you notice the conditions in Argentina are even worse.
#3
Spain will be invading on their wooden galleons by November with feathers in hats and all. Can you believe Exxon Mobil is f'in dumb enough to ink up an oil deal with Russia!
#13
CHINA DAILY FORUM > QUAKE EXPERT: EARTH IS CRACKING UP | SOMETHING IS WRONG: TOO MANY STRONG OR MASSIVE EARTHQUAKES IN 48 HOURS, in addition to three MAG8.0 or higher since 2004.
ARTIC > Romanian Expert Gheorghe Marmureau = abnormal geologic activity cannot be properly explained under current Scientific knowledge.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) cited seniors' love of junk mail in urging passage of a United States Postal Service reform bill. He had to say something...
In his opening speech on Wednesday, Reid called on the Senate to quickly move forward on the passage of S. 1789, the 21st Century Postal Service Act, which restructures pension plans for Postal Service employees as well as allows the USPS to access overpayments in the Federal Employee Retirement System.
"Madam President," Reid said to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the presiding officer of the Senate, "I'll come home tonight here to my home in Washington and there'll be some mail there. A lot of it is what some people refer to as junk mail, but for the people who are sending that mail, it's very important.
"And when talking about seniors, seniors love getting junk mail. It's sometimes their only way of communicating or feeling like they're part of the real world," Reid continued. "Elderly Americans, more than anyone in America, rely on the United States Postal Service, but unless we act quickly, thousands of post offices ... will close. I've said this earlier today; I repeat it."
On Tuesday, Reid blocked Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) from adding an amendment to the postal service bill that would cut off U.S. funding to Egypt. Reid used a Senate procedure called "filling the tree" to keep Paul's amendment from coming to the floor, arguing that Paul's bill had nothing to do with saving the Postal Service.
Later on Tuesday, Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) both urged their chamber to come to some kind of compromise on amendments to move the legislation forward.
In his speech on Wednesday, Reid signaled that he would be open to adding some amendments to the bill.
"We're gonna offer amendments and we should do that as quickly as possible to move forward on this legislation," Reid said. "If there's no agreement, we'll have to vote on the substitute amendment tomorrow morning. It'll be too bad if we can't get it done."
Reid announced Tuesday evening that the Senate would vote on a motion to proceed on S. 1789 on Thursday.
#1
Congress will do anything to avoid laying off postal workers. Also note that the MSM studiously & consistently avoids even mentioning the no-layoff deal whenever the viability of the USPS is discussed.
#2
"And when talking about seniors, seniors love getting junk mail. It's sometimes their only way of communicating or feeling like they're part of the real world," Reid continued.
No sooner had Mitt Romney effectively locked up the Republican presidential nomination than President Obama began to sharpen his attacks on former President George W. Bush.
In pushing for a tax increase this week on millionaires, Mr. Obama said an unfair impact of tax cuts for the wealthy were enacted during the eight years before I took office. A White House spokesman argued that Mr. Bushs tax policies contributed to global economic chaos.
Administration officials also took verbal swipes after North Koreas unsuccessful missile launch last week, accusing Mr. Bush of having rewarded North Korea with food aid years ago in spite of its nuclear weapons activities. Yeah, you'd have to be a fool to make any agreements after that.
Mr. Obama has criticized the Bush administrations policies in the past, but the attacks of the past two weeks have been more direct and specific.
In a poker game, this would be called a tell, said Steve Schmidt, who managed Republican John McCains presidential bid in 2008. Its a signal about what the campaign is going to be. From the perspective of the Obama campaign, theyre trying to have a debate about things other than the presidents economic record.
Mr. Obama also is trying to link Mr. Romney, a wealthy former Massachusetts governor, to Mr. Bushs policies, especially the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003.
Take a look at what happened between 2000 and 2008, Mr. Obama told an audience in Ohio this week. Instead of faster job growth, we had the slowest job growth in half a century. Instead of broad-based prosperity, the typical American family saw their incomes fall by about 6 percent. And who contributed to an inflation rate of about 10% for the last three years? Six percent vs. about 30%. Hmm.
Outsourcing, rampant; phony financial profits all over the place, the president said. Instead of strengthening our economy, our entire financial system almost collapsed. We spent the last 3 1/2 years cleaning up after that mess. So their theory did not work out so well. Obean, you and your crew seem to have "cleaned up" this mess about as well as my daughter "cleans up" her room.
The tactic prompted House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, to comment this week that the Obama team is going to pull out every bogeyman they can. And then some.
The strategy of attacking Mr. Bush worked well for Mr. Obama in 2008, but Republicans said that by reaching for this blame Bush tactic again, the president is acknowledging implicitly that he has failed to improve the economy during his term. Reagan did it in two. I'll bet any economy can be turned around in about two years given the right leadership.
President Obamas re-election strategy is clear he doesnt have a record to run on, so hes going to attack his opponent with small things and point fingers at everyone but himself for his failure to turn the economy around, said Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. As he said in 2008, candidates that dont have records to run on talk about small things.
A New York Times/CBS News poll released Thursday didnt ask voters about blame for the economy, but whether they thought an Obama re-election would improve their financial situations. Thirty-eight percent said it would have no effect; 33 percent said it would make their situations worse. Only 26 percent said a second Obama term would improve their economic situations. Proving yet once again that about a third of voters are blithering idiots, shouldn't be allowed to vote, shouldn't be allowed in public without a chaperone, and have managed to reproduce only by the grace of God.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed that 56 percent of respondents disapprove of Mr. Obamas handling of the economy, and 38 percent approved. The split among independents was especially wide, with 67 percent disapproving of the presidents job performance on the economy and 28 percent approving. I'd like to see the demographics on that split vote, but nobody seems to have the brass to go there.
Mr. Schmidt said the Obama campaigns strategy will play well with some Democrats who still harbor deep antipathy toward the Bush administration, but he thinks it wont win over the independent voters who will decide the election. Why such antipathy? Half the stuff he did was liberal. Heck, he even stared QE and bailouts.
I dont think the people who are in the dab-smack center of the electorate, the 6 percent of the electorate thats going to determine its outcome, are going to be animated in their vote by looking backwards, Mr. Schmidt said. Thats a fundamental, structural problem for Obama, because its difficult to run a backwards, finger-pointing campaign when your initial campaign that launched your presidency was about hope and change for the future.
Still, a poll taken in early January showed that a majority of voters do blame Mr. Bush for the economy. The Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 54 percent of respondents and 57 percent of independents said Mr. Bush was more to blame, while 29 percent faulted Mr. Obama. One-fifth of Republicans in the poll blamed the Bush administration. Sure Bush and his unqualified cronies exacerbated it all. But what would have happened had Obean been in charge the whole time? I shudder to think about it.
A CNN/ORC poll in late March found that 56 percent of respondents blamed Mr. Bush and congressional Republicans for current economic conditions, while 29 percent said Mr. Obama and congressional Democrats were responsible.
Mr. Obamas anti-Bush rhetoric is being answered, both by Mr. Bush and by his vice president.
In a speech last week to the New York Historical Society, Mr. Bush criticized Mr. Obamas push for higher taxes on the wealthy as harmful to the economy. Former Vice President Dick Cheney was more blunt in his assessment of Mr. Obamas presidency.
He has been an unmitigated disaster to the country, Mr. Cheney told a gathering of the Wyoming Republican Party on Saturday, three weeks after undergoing a heart transplant. Fortunately we've had the House to mitigate him since 2010.
Hes a lion, said Mr. Schmidt, who served as the former vice presidents counselor. Hes a tough guy whos been at the center of the debate for four decades. And hes still at it three weeks after a heart transplant its awesome.
#2
Like the old joke about the drunk lookin' for his car keys.
Bush is where he wants the light to be so he can "find" his solutions (hope'n-change). Don't want the light shining on where he dropped the all those bombs now do he?
#3
it may not be a great strategy but its the best one he has
Blaming Bush and running a "fear the Republicans" campaign will keep his core on board (even it they aren't happy about it) and allow his allies in the non-Fox media to do their best to support him.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/20/2012 14:20 Comments ||
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#4
Only saw Bush claim a war was over prematurely at least he didn't kiss and beg and grovel to appease the enemy!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) cited seniors' love of junk mail in urging passage of a United States Postal Service reform bill.
No sooner had Mitt Romney effectively locked up the Republican presidential nomination than President Obama began to sharpen his attacks on former President George W. Bush.
