Ukrainian Crisis is about Taxes

American Thinker ^ | May 9. 2014 | Chriss Street

[Rashputin]

The bloody crisis between the pro-Western two thirds of Ukraine and pro-Russian third of the country is about taxes. The recent $17 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan required Ukraine on May 1st to raise taxes and increase natural gas prices by 50%. With about 58% of the Ukraine’s industry in the eastern zone and workers there making about 50% higher wages, the east is paying the majority of the tax increase. Although residential users will not feel pain from the natural gas price increase until fall, eastern heavy industry is feeling the pain immediately. With the corrupt west raising taxes for the IMF, why is there any surprise the east is rebelling?

[Rashputin]

Apparently everyone doesn't buy the propaganda about it being all the fault of Russia that Eastern Ukraine is in an uproar ever since the mob took over in Kiev.

[Sacajaweau]

And that is what the EU is about....The money comes from the World Bank...which is funded chiefly by the USA.

We gain absolutely nothing and the only thing Ukraine gains is new obligations which will hurt its own people.

[samtheman]

So Putin invading a sovereign nation is justified? Wherever there’s corruption and high taxes.

That pretty much sums up all of Europe.

[cripplecreek]

Van Rompuy: If The Public Doesn't Want EU Expansion, 'We Do It Anyway'

[wetphoenix]

In was clear since the beginning that one of the objectives of Kiev authorities is to kill off Ukrainian industries and turn their country into a source of cheap export labor and a market for Western Europe.
One in two jobs in Ukraine is working for Russian market, and probably 8 in 10 highest paid jobs.
Yet, former government which has opted for tariff-free exports to Russia and $15 billion bailout are ‘sellouts’, and imposing unbearable EU regulations on national businesses and closing Russian market for a prospect to ‘probably once in a future’ allow Ukrainians travel to EU to be immigrant labor is a good thing?
I guess non-working and low-wage Ukraians are backing their new government dreaming about German EBT-card and urban ‘intellectual’ useful idiots are all about hope and change dope.
What about educated hard-working people, who are building ships and aircraft and won’t keep their jobs?

[Rashputin]

Invading?

Please, if Russia were even giving Eastern Ukraine serious help the "anti-terrorist" Ukrainian troops now shooting Ukrainian civilians here and there would be nothing but a burning column of APCs.

[agere_contra]

We don’t have to exonerate Putin in order to see that a great deal of East Ukraine will willingly cleave to Russia.

Just as we can see that Western Ukraine will never abide Russia - because of long, tyrannical, genocidal repression by Russia.

The fault lines in Ukraine are obvious. The US has a sensible self-interest in preventing the re-establishment of the USSR: we must (for instance) defend Poland from falling back into a new Warsaw pact. We should at the same time be strongly in favor of self-determination for both West and East Ukraine.

And we should absolutely drill, baby drill. If Gazprom had had competition in Europe from American LNG exports these last five years, then Putin wouldn’t be flexing his muscles.

[wetphoenix]

~So Putin invading a sovereign nation is justified?~

Of course no. But you are looking from a samtheman perspective.
Now imagine you are Putin, you are sitting in Kremlin and you have an ugly turmoil with your ally which is responsible for export of your major commodity (and it is only one thing why Ukraine is important for him).

[grania]

we gain absolutely nothing and the only thing Ukraine gains is new obligations which will hurt its own people

The EU gains another source of labor to exploit and a country that won't have to follow EU rules for manufacturing and farming. The oligarchs get even richer and more powerful and the people get impossible debt, and they'll never see membership in the EU or NATO.

There are things that are being ignored that are disturbing. First of all, does the temporary gov in Kiev have the right to accept this financial deal for Ukraine? Will voting them out negate the obligation? The other thing is those darn neoNazis being organized into military units. The EU has to be concerned that there's nothing to stop them and their movement from spilling over into the EU. Do Germany, Poland, and Latvia seriously want to worry about that?

I have to assume there is stuff going on behind the scenes to stop the insanity....before it spreads to Europe, with the problems it's already created for itself.

What am I missing here?

[grania]

What about educated and hard-working people who are building ships and aircrafts and won't keep their jobs?

What about them? Will the jobs and those people, already part of the Russian culture move to Russia and the parts of Ukraine that gain independence or join Russia? It would give Russia a boost in population that speaks the language, is part of the culture, is educated, hardwoking, and gives Russia a population and economic boost. And Ukraine keeps....the oligarchs, neoNazis, and cheap exploited labor.

[McGruff]

IMF warns Ukraine on bailout if it loses east. In other word suppress the revolution in Eastern Ukraine or no money for you. Can you say extortion?

[Rashputin]

Oddly enough, just coincidence I'm sure, the next day the Kiev crowd announced they were resuming "anti-terrorist" opoerations that had been suspended when a Parachute Brigade defected to the locals in Eastern Ukraine.

They did what the guy they overthrew never did, they commanded the Ukrainian Army to attack Ukrainiuan civilian protesters and use lethal force where they saw fit to do so.

You have to wonder what sort of squealing and crying there would be from the Kiev PR regurgitators had the guy they threw out done the same thing in Kiev they're doing all over Eastern Ukraine.

[wetphoenix]

~What about them? Will the jobs and those people, already part of the Russian culture move to Russia and the parts of Ukraine that gain independence or join Russia? It would give Russia a boost in population that speaks the language, is part of the culture, is educated, hardwoking, and gives Russia a population and economic boost. And Ukraine keeps....the oligarchs, neoNazis, and cheap exploited labor~

I don’t believe Obama and EUSSR would let these people be independent, let alone join Russia.

[mikey_hates_everything]

"Ukrainian Crisis is about Taxes"

Sounds like the American Revolution.

[grania]

I don't believe Obama and EUSSR would let these people be independent, let alone join Russia

At some point, the US and the EU won't be able to keep their globalist-banker thing (that brings to mind Darth Vader and the evil empire) together. Demands for autonomy are getting louder. There is international disgust that govs can blow up civilizations but until everyday people finally said ENOUGH were ignoring the plight of 300 teenage girls kidnapped to be sold into slavery. Will the EU-US be able to stop independence movements eveywhere?

Even if they succeed at that, what about eastern Ukraine? They can't hold industries and ethnic Russians slaves. What I'm saying is that part of the population and industry could move to underpopulated Russia. Sochi's just sitting there, a very fine place for a major Russian city.

[Thunder90]

So what. Wait until the Soviets get there and redistribute everything by force.

[wetphoenix]

It is a question who are the Soviets there. Have you read this article?

[wetphoenix]

~At some point, the US and the EU won’t be able to keep their globalist-banker thing (that brings to mind Darth Vader and the evil empire) together. Demands for autonomy are getting louder. There is international disgust that govs can blow up civilizations but until everyday people finally said ENOUGH were ignoring the plight of 300 teenage girls kidnapped to be sold into slavery. Will the EU-US be able to stop independence movements eveywhere?~

Demands for autonomy are getting sunk in blood right now and not a peep from the media, as far as ‘good’ guys are doing the killing.

As for moving to Russia, have you ever been an immigrant? It is a really tough choice, not for everyone.

The majority will stay in place to suffer they demise.

[grania]

What I'm saying is it won't be tough for the ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine who would choose such a move. By all accounts, they're already Russian. The protests started when Kiev puts stops to using Russian as the language and airing Russian TV. Many were born Russian. The WW2 vets fought for Russia against Nazis.

It would be ironic if the EU ended up controlling an even worse economy with even less manufacturing and skilled workers.

[rbmillerjr]

“At some point, the US and the EU won’t be able to keep their globalist-banker thing (that brings to mind Darth Vader and the evil empire) together.”

Why is it that every former Warsaw Pact country...has flailed itself into the West and the EU to take part in Western capitalism? They are all fleeing the real evil, Russia, for the West.

Equivocating the Western capitalist system and the US to the real evil that comes from Russian autocratic ruling is a joke.

You guys have really chugged the Putin Kool Aid.

Jailed journalists, murdered journalists and dissidents to the leap toward authoritarianism, real state media controlling the information, annexing sovereign nations’ land, allying with rogues like NKorea and Iran.