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SEE YOUTUBE RECORDING OF Sen. Cruz's SPEECH HEREIn a speech on the Senate floor last night, Sen. Ted Cruz lambasted legislation that tied aid to Ukraine with changes to how much the United States gives to the International Monetary Fund.“These IMF provisions, if passed into law, would dramatically expand the financial exposure of the United States of America, effectively doubling our contribution, expanding our exposure,” said the Texas Republican.“We should not be opening up the U.S. taxpayers to billions in additional financial liability without a debate on the merits,” Cruz added. “It shouldn’t be just tied to Ukranian aid and...

With Ukraine no longer paying for Russian gaz, and with Gazprom making it clear Kiev has to a) first pay the overdue $2+ billion in invoice and then b) prepay some $5 billion in gas until the end of the year of Europe gets it, it was only a matter of time before the US Treasury stepped in and paid off part or all of Gazprom's demands. That time is now, when moments ago Jack Lew announced a $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine - very much the same way that the US provided billions in loan guarnatees for the...

The IMF Is Sleepwalking Into Another Global Economic Catastrophe The Guardian PHILLIP INMAN, The Guardian Apr. 12, 2014, 7:22 PM The complacency is palpable. Despite some dire warnings about risky trading and the threat posed by overly indebted banks, the mood last week at the International Monetary Fund's spring conference was one of calm. We have turned a corner since the financial crisis, the Washington-based organisation says. Normality is returning. And this will mean establishing normal interest rates (up from 0.5% in the UK to 2%-3%, according to Mark Carney), restoring normal inflation and generating steady growth in the west...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's top finance officials expressed confidence Saturday that the global economy finally has turned the corner to stronger growth. This time, they may be right. Despite challenges that include market jitters about the Federal Reserve's bond-buying slowdown and global tensions over Ukraine, policymakers said they believe there is a foundation for sustained growth that can provide jobs for the millions of people still looking for work five years after the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. "Creating a more dynamic, sustainable, balanced and job-rich global economy remains our paramount collective goal," the policy-setting...

Finance chiefs from around the globe on Friday gave the United States until year-end to ratify long-delayed reforms to the International Monetary Fund and threatened to move forward without it if it fails to do so. The inability to proceed with giving emerging markets a more powerful voice at the IMF and shoring up the lender's resources appeared the most contentious issue. In a final communiqué, G20 finance ministers and central bankers said they were "deeply disappointed" with the delay. "I take this opportunity to urge the United States to implement these reforms as a matter of urgency," Australian Treasurer...

Russia wasn’t all bad for Ukraine. A 45% reduction in the price of natural gas and what was supposed to be an additional $15 billion in aid was a necessary “lifeline”, the International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday. Speakqing to PBS News Hour on April 2, IMF's Managing Director Lagarde said, “The economy of Ukraine was against the wall and heading for disaster. It’s an economy that needed reforms, that Ukraine needed profound transformation of its fiscal policy, monetary policy and on its policy on energy to mention just the key ones. Without the lifeline it was getting...

KIEV, Ukraine — To Viktor Yushchenko, the man at the heart of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution a decade ago, March 2014 looks a lot like August 1939. Europe, once again, is at war. But Europe is also, once again, refusing to realize it and react. Yushchenko, the former Ukrainian president who has spent much of his political life at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and incurred his wrath, says there should not be any doubt about what is going on: Putin’s Russia has been waging economic and information war on his country for years. It has now added a territorial...

It should come as no surprise The New York Times would bury news of a conservative victory over President Obama on page eight. The lead paragraph said it all: Senate Democrats, bowing to united House Republican opposition, dropped reforms of International Monetary Fund governance from a Ukraine aid package on Tuesday. The real question is whether this was merely a moment in time or a seminal shift in how congressional Republicans will approach future showdowns. And to be clear, future showdowns are inevitable if we are to achieve any conservative policy victories. Before going further, it is important to explain...

(Reuters) - Ukraine won a $27-billion international financial lifeline on Thursday, rushed through in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea, while Moscow's economy minister acknowledged that his country's growth would slow dramatically as funds flee abroad. The International Monetary Fund announced a $14-18 billion standby credit for Kiev in return for tough economic reforms that will unlock further aid from the European Union, the United States and other lenders over two years, effectively pulling Kiev closer to Europe. Raising the political temperature, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, released from jail last month after her arch-rival Viktor Yanukovich fled from...

video at link

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats dropped International Monetary Fund reforms that were holding up passage of an aide package for Ukraine. Conservatives declared victory, having always viewed the inclusion of the reforms as (at best) a non sequitur, and (at worst) potentially harmful (as the New York Times reported, the reforms would have ironically given more authority “to emerging economic heavyweights like China, Brazil — and Russia.”) In the end, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s prediction that the GOP-led House wouldn’t pass the bill without stripping the provisions, and Secretary of State John Kerry’s signaling to Majority Leader Harry Reid that...

Senator Ted Cruz with Cavuto speaking about the IMF in the Ukraine aid package and Hobby Lobby issue before SCOTUS.

AbstractOn February 28, Russian troops, aided by pro-Russian local militia, occupied important sites across the Crimean Peninsula under the pretext of “protecting Russian people.” Now Crimea is under Moscow’s de facto control and the Russian parliament has voted to annex the region into the Russian Federation. The failure of the Obama Administration’s Russian “reset,” the unilateral disarming of Europe, and the U.S. reduction of forces and disengagement from Europe have led Russia to calculate that the West will not respond in any significant way. The Administration can demonstrate America’s commitment to its NATO allies and support for the Ukrainian...

Updated 1:51 p.m. | Democratic leaders seem on the verge of nixing the International Monetary Fund provision in a Ukraine aid package that House Republican leaders oppose, in what would amount to a victory for House Republican leaders and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and a defeat for the White House. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., conceded that removing the IMF provisions was the likely outcome. “The House Republican leadership is intransigent about IMF, despite the fact, that IMF, I think, is very important,” Menendez said Tuesday. “And if that’s the case, and there is no pathway forward,...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering dropping a provision to reform the International Monetary Fund from a bill to help Ukraine — a move that could clear the way to send an aid package to the president’s desk. Republicans have balked at President Barack Obama’s call to include the language, vowing to reject the provisions in the House. The tussle in Congress over reforming the IMF has threatened the unified message officials in Washington had hoped to send to Russian President Vladimir Putin and those responsible for the invasion of Ukraine. A final decision on the IMF provision could...

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — Conservative radio host Mark Levin exploded on Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP leaders on Monday for refusing to stand against “extraneous” funding for the International Monetary Fund currently included in a Ukraine aid bill. He accused McConnell of undermining House Republicans in the fight to pass a “clean” bill that only includes the $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine and other U.S. sanctions of Russia. “[McConnell] delivered more than half of the Republican conference into the hands of Harry Reid and the Democrats, enabling them to gain leverage over the GOP-controlled House and pass...

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — Conservative radio host Mark Levin exploded on Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP leaders on Monday for refusing to stand against “extraneous” funding for the International Monetary Fund currently included in a Ukraine aid bill. He accused McConnell of undermining House Republicans in the fight to pass a “clean” bill that only includes the $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine and other U.S. sanctions of Russia. “[McConnell] delivered more than half of the Republican conference into the hands of Harry Reid and the Democrats, enabling them to gain leverage over the GOP-controlled House and pass...

March 24, 2014 Boehner Spokesman Calls Reid’s GOP/Crimea Comments ‘Unhinged’ STEPHEN KRUISER Somebody had to say it. “The Senate Majority Leader sounds completely unhinged,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told Business Insider in an email. “The House has acted, and is continuing to act, in a reasonable and responsible way to give the White House the tools it needs to hold President Putin accountable.”Every time Reid opens his mouth something remarkably ignorant comes out of it. Nancy Pelosi may be devious and an awful person, but she’s not stupid (she does dumb it down for the cameras, I believe). Reid, however,...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that Republicans may have helped Russia annex Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in a surprisingly sharp attack ahead of a test vote on a bill authorizing more U.S. sanctions on Russia and $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine. […] Reid’s charge comes despite widespread support among Republicans and Democrats in Congress for providing Ukraine with much-needed economic assistance and hitting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government with sanctions. …

As we begin debate on this aid and sanctions package, I also hope that Republicans who stopped action on this legislation prior to the break have considered how their obstruction affects United States’ national security.” “In light of such clear-cut Russian aggression against Ukraine, it’s difficult to believe Republicans blocked this package at all. But it’s almost unimaginable why they blocked it – to protect the anonymity of their own big-money donors. ““Democrats fought hard four years ago to pass this landmark expansion of quality, affordable health care. And we will fight just as hard to make this law work...