Shall Russia pay for Germany's great plans?

Germany is looking for ways to fund its major geopolitical projects. Taking money from the German citizens is dangerous as it may not be appreciated. German authorities set their sights on Russia. The Germans will take money from Russia without even asking for permission.

Recently the Russian-German relations have not been the greatest. Of course, they are not at the level of the Russian-American or Russian-Polish relations. Germany did not declare Russia its enemy and the Germans do not intend to stop interaction with Russia. However partnership is one thing, and money and interests is another. When money is needed for great goals, there is nothing wrong with emptying partner's pockets.

There is no other explanation for the actions of the Germans. They are very persistent in their wants. In the fall of 2011 in Berlin the offices of "Gazprom" subsidiary, Gazprom Germany, were searched. A year later, the European Commission where the Germans have an important role began an antitrust investigation against the Russian giant. The most zealous European bureaucrats issued it a bill for 15 billion euros.

The Germans (though not completely) achieved their goals. Since 2011, the Russian company has been forced to cut prices for European consumers, primarily German. Russia's dependence on German buyers is significant enough and the latter can dictate their conditions. Germany also made it clear that it would not mind starting development of shale gas on the German territory. Well, pressure is pressure.

Now number one issue in Europe is the decision of the authorities of Cyprus to partially withdraw the funds of local offshore investors. The decision was not made by the Cypriots. This was the requirement of the creditors from the EU and the IMF who otherwise threatened to refuse Cyprus a loan. Who pressured the Cypriots the most? That's right, the Germans.

This year, parliamentary elections will be held in Germany. The results of voting in certain lands indicated that the current coalition of Christian Democrats and Free Democrats have slim chances of winning. The need to help the Cyprus economy with German money will lower the bar of electoral support to a minimum. The Germans gracefully shifted the burden of salvation of Cyprus to others. This is understandable since they do not have spare money and are not willing to pay "freeloaders Greeks."

Only here Russia will be the one under attack. Approximately one-third of foreign funds in Cypriot banks are owned by Russian citizens and Russian companies. If the withdrawal takes place, they will lose more than others. Given that this way the Cypriots, urged by the Germans, want to collect nearly six billion euros, the Russians will lose nearly two billion. But the Germans will have a different use for this money. This is an elegant combination - the money is saved, and Russia was forced to pay.

Should the Germans pay Cypriots? At first glance, they do not have to, but this is only one side of the coin. The other is that Germany is considering the EU as a tool for expanding its influence. Influence costs money. Today the Germans are unconditionally number one in the EU, they want to dictate to others the rules of the game, and they want to make Germany a great power in every sense. However, they do not want to pay. Shifting the costs associated with political objectives to the Russian partner is a great solution.

Chancellor Angela Merkel represents the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Her goal is active foreign policy and turning Germany into number one country in Europe. German conservatives do not share Adolf Hitler's racial theories, but a soft "push to the east" is being implemented. They launched a series of projects that claim their country as a European leader. They are prepared to do a lot for the sake of their goal.

One of these projects is the entry of Croatia into the European Union. The decision was made in 2009-2011, when the global economic crisis was in full swing. Maybe Croatia is a very wealthy country? Not at all. The standard of living there is about the same as in Poland or the Baltic countries. Hundreds of thousands of Croats are earning money abroad, mainly in Germany. Unemployment is extremely high. There are no Economic benefits for the EU.

However, not everything is ruled by money. Croatia is a longtime ally of Germany and Austria. When Yugoslavia broke up, it was Germany who first recognized Croatian independence. Despite the resistance from France and other countries, the Germans push for Croatia's membership in the EU. The expansion of German influence in Europe and another loyal voice in the EU could come in handy for the Germans. For the sake of such expansion Germany is ready to get to the Russian offshore accounts in Cyprus.

The second project is independent Kosovo. It is not purely German, but the Germans have an interest in the matter. For German conservatives Serbia is the enemy, and should be weakened. Berlin is obviously aware that the modern Albanian Kosovo is drug dealers' territory subsidized by the European Union by 70 percent, in which the share of Germany is the largest. Funds are needed again, and the Russians have to fork out.

The third task is of internal nature. The German budget burden of payments to multiple immigrants is increasing as the time progresses. If payments stop, the Turks and other "new Germans" would revolt. If the burden is passed onto Germans they will not like it. This is a great way to postpone a solution of a long overdue problem.

Finally, let's consider the fourth reason. Many representatives of the German elite are not hiding their negative attitude towards Russia. Going after "Gazprom" and urging Cypriots to withdraw Russian money, Germany tends to weaken a competitor in the face of Russia, making it more agreeable. The Germans have leverage with Russia, but it is not always enough. The more leverage, the better. What could be better than a transformation of a dangerous rival into a willing partner?

Pavel Chernyshev

Pravda.Ru

UPDATE 1-Germany warns Cyprus "playing with fire" as aid deadline looms

* Germany insists Cyprus hit banks to win bailout
* Merkel ally says Nicosia "playing with fire"
* German parties, media support tough Berlin stance
By Noah Barkin
BERLIN, March 22 (Reuters) - Europe's paymaster Germany stepped up pressure on stricken Cyprus on Friday, rejecting its proposal to nationalise pension funds to plug its finance gap and demanding it take an axe to its banks if it wants a bailout.
Chancellor Angela Merkel stuck to the hard line Berlin has been pushing for weeks, telling lawmakers that while she wanted to keep Cyprus in the euro zone, the country must first recognise it had no future as an offshore financial centre for wealthy Russians and Britons.
One of her conservative allies took to the airwaves to warn Cyprus it was playing a risky game by refusing to impose losses on depositors in its banking sector, which has swollen to eight times the size of the economy and is on the brink of collapse.
"I still believe we will get a settlement, but Cyprus is playing with fire," Volker Kauder, parliamentary leader for Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), told ARD public television.
The tough rhetoric from Berlin came as Russia rebuffed Cypriot demands for aid, leaving the island's increasingly isolated leaders mere days to satisfy their European partners or face a default that could reverberate across the 17-nation bloc.
EU leaders are now awaiting a "Plan B" from Cyprus. The government must come up with 5.8 billion euros by Monday, the day the European Central Bank has said it will cut off funds to Cypriot banks.
A closely-watched survey of German business morale on Friday showed that after a lull to start the year, the euro crisis was unnerving domestic firms again. The indicator from the Munich-based Ifo institute fell for the first time in five months.
With just six months to go until Germany holds an election, a poll for ZDF television showed that average Germans are also growing worried, with nearly two-thirds expecting the crisis to worsen and nearly half fearful for their savings.
In previous bailout standoffs with euro members like Greece, Merkel has demanded a high price for aid only to compromise at the last minute in order to avert disaster.
But with tiny Cyprus, a Mediterranean island of just a million inhabitants, she seems determined not to bend, even if that leads to bankruptcy.
"VICTORY FOR BLACKMAIL"
Comforting the Germans in their stance has been the relative calm of financial markets since the crisis in Cyprus flared up.
On Friday, the German benchmark stock index and most other European bourses were in positive territory, while the bonds of peripheral euro zone states like Spain and Italy were also trading higher.
That was partly due to a deal struck on Friday whereby Greece agreed to take over local units of stricken Cypriot banks, shielding its own financial sector from the fallout.
But it also suggested contagion from Cyprus may be limited, as German politicians have suggested in recent days.
Zsolt Darvas of Brussels-based think tank Bruegel said back-tracking by Berlin and other euro zone states at this point would be seen as a "victory for blackmail".
German media have also been withering in their criticism of the Cypriot government, which insisted at a euro zone meeting in Brussels a week ago that small savers in its banks be hit in order to limit losses on wealthy depositors.
President Nicos Anastasiades, elected only a few weeks ago, appears intent on preserving an economic model that relies on attracting billions of euros in foreign deposits, mainly from Russia, with loose regulations and low taxes.
Merkel explained in a closed-door session with conservative lawmakers, according to participants, that she considered this model dead and that Cyprus could not expect aid until it too acknowledged this.

Duke of Devonshire evicts farmer whose family have worked on his estate since 1830 - because the rent was ONE DAY late

Edward and Elizabeth Hill served with 'notice to quit' Chatsworth House

Parkinson's sufferer Mr Hill, 63, forgot to pay £2,000 in overdue rent

He immediately paid up after being served with the notice

But the couple's tenancy was terminated by the estate anyway

Letter: The Duke of Devonshire has evicted a farmer from his Chatsworth House estate because the rent was a day late

For almost two centuries his family has run a farm on the Duke of Devonshire’s famous Chatsworth estate.
Edward Hill himself was born on Game Lea Farm, and has spent his life working hard to earn a living there – the seventh generation of his family to do so.
But now the farmer has been evicted from his Peak District home – all because of a rent payment that was one day late
Mr Hill, 63, suffers from Parkinson’s disease and blames his condition for forgetting to pay around £2,000 in overdue rent.
The day after the final payment date, officials from the estate visited the farm to serve Mr Hill and his wife Elizabeth, 61, with a ‘notice to quit’.
The farmer immediately paid up the arrears, insisting he had simply been forgetful – but the estate terminated the tenancy anyway.
After prolonged negotiations, and despite pleas for sympathy to the Duke himself, the family were forced to sell their animals and hand over the farmland to a neighbour. They have been told they must be out of their home by Monday.
The Hills have been shocked by their treatment. Mr Hill said: ‘I was not ready to hang my clogs up. They have not got a shred of humanity or sympathy in them. It has ripped my life apart.’
The couple and their 17-year-old daughter Alicia have already found another home to rent eight miles away, leaving other members of the family at Game Lea Farm for the time being.
But Mrs Hill’s son Dorian Madin, 32, his partner Georgina Parker and their children Josephine, seven, Harriet, five, and Philippa, 15 months, fear being left homeless.

 

They are preparing to leave too and hope to be given a council house soon.
Mr Hill claimed the estate had also been similarly ‘ruthless’ in their dealings with other farmers.
John Hill founded the farm back in 1830 when he developed it from moorland. The farm was passed from one generation to the next through the centuries as Chatsworth House was also passed to successive Dukes.

Chatsworth House: Mr Hill's family have run a farm on the Duke of Devonshire's estate for 183 years

Mr Hill’s father Joe, 89, ran the farm under four different Dukes of Devonshire before retiring. He wrote to the current 12th Duke appealing to let his son stay.
But that letter, along with one written by Mr Hill himself, was never acknowledged.  ‘The Duke has shown us no respect at all,’ said Mr Hill. ‘The way we have been treated is absolutely outrageous.’

Shocked: Parkinson's sufferer Edward Hill and his wife Elizabeth

The farmer had been in the second generation of a ‘three generation’ long-term tenancy deal at the 200-acre farm.
Mr Hill said he had hoped to negotiate a new five-year business tenancy with the estate, but in October 2011 discussions were brought to an end and they were given 18 months’ notice to leave.
But that agreement was ended when he failed to pay his six-monthly rent on time.
It had previously been run as a dairy farm, but the family diversified in recent years and ran a charity helping people with learning disabilities and problem children by allowing them to visit the farm, complete with its cattle, sheep and poultry.
Mr Hill said: ‘They were saying the land was not tidy and the hedges and walls were not in place and things like that. They were also not happy about us running the charity from here.’
His wife added: ‘We have been appallingly treated, but we are not the first farmers to be forced out.’
The couple hope to continue running the charity from their new home, which comes with a smallholding.
George Dunn, chief executive of the Tenant Farmers Association who was involved in negotiating with the estate, said the Duke of Devonshire’s estate has been ‘quite benevolent’ in the past and is now ‘more commercial in its approach’ and ‘more aggressive’ in its rate reviews with farmers.
A spokesman for the Chatsworth estate said: ‘It is a very complicated and difficult situation and due to the circumstances we cannot discuss any details for legal reasons.’
He said the land was now being farmed by neighbouring tenants who were ‘slowly bringing the land back into condition’.

Heritage: Mr Hill's grandfather, also called Edward, with a horse-drawn cart

If Cyprus falls into Putin's grip, the West will have lost the first battle in the new Cold War

The capitalists will sell us the rope on which we hang them, said Vladimir Lenin. And for his successor in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, Cyprus shows the truth of that maxim. 
The West’s financial weakness has become its Achilles heel. Greed and naivety have left an EU member in a vital strategic location at imminent risk of falling into Russia’s hands. 
Fury among ordinary Cypriots at what they see as a ham-fisted European raid on their savings has stoked a search for an alternative economic saviour — Russia.

Economic saviour? The West's financial weakness has become its Achilles heel. Greed and naivety have left an EU member in a vital strategic location at imminent risk of falling into Russia's hands

On Wednesday, the island’s finance minister was holding talks in Moscow about a loan, after his country’s parliament rejected a €10 billion EU-led bailout.
We do not yet know what Moscow’s terms for such a loan would be, but the likely result is a bonanza for the Kremlin, which stands to gain a naval base in a world hotspot and preferred access to the gas riches that lie deep below the Mediterranean seabed.
That would mark a stunning renaissance after the Soviet collapse of 1991, which saw the Kremlin’s empire shrivel to its Russian heartland and the West triumphantly welcome the former captive nations into NATO and the EU. 
For Europe, it will be a humiliation.

 

The common currency was meant to unite Europe politically and economically. Now it is driving one of its weaker members into the arms of a regime whose rule is based on corporate looting and murder, and pays only lip-service to the democratic ideals supposedly cherished by the EU.
For Britain — whose colonial rule over the island ended only in 1960, after a bloody civil war, and which retains two sovereign military bases in Cyprus — the blow would be particularly heavy. 
It has been almost 25 years since we grimly talked of countries falling within Russia’s sphere of strategic influence. That could be about to happen again and the consequences would be just as disturbing as those felt during the Cold War.
For Cyprus is on the doorstep of the world’s most explosive region. In its casinos, brothels and banks, Israelis, Iranians, Russians and Saudis forget their differences in pursuit of pleasure and profit.

It's been almost 25 years since we talked of countries falling within Russia's sphere of strategic influence. That could be about to happen again and the consequences would be just as bad as those felt during the Cold War

You can buy anything in Cyprus, the saying goes, from a villa on the beach to the entire country. The Russians started with the first and are on the way to the second.
It is easy to imagine how the Kremlin masterminds will laugh at the West’s weakness in coming years.
First, they pumped money into Cyprus, buying everything from real estate and banks to officials and politicians.
One of Europe’s poorest countries, Cyprus rolled over instantly when the oligarchs came calling in the early Nineties. Tens of thousands of Russians flocked to the island. 
They have newspapers, schools, churches, banks and lawyers. Many of them are decent and honest, eager to escape the unfriendly climate (meteorological and legal) back home. Cyprus requires no visas for Russians. 

You can buy anything in Cyprus, the saying goes, from a villa on the beach to the entire country. The Russians started with the first and are on the way to the second (pictured Kyrenia Old Port, Northern Cyprus)

The island set up hundreds of thousands of companies for Russians and took in billions of dollars — often in cash — with no questions asked. By the time the hapless bureaucrats who police the world’s financial system tried to get a grip, it was too late.
It was all too clear what kind of clientele the island was attracting — I still treasure a Russian-language newspaper I picked up on a visit in 1999. Its front page bore an advertisement for a law firm that specialised in defending clients ‘charged with racketeering, extortion and organised crime’. 
Meanwhile, politically, Cyprus effectively became a warm-water outpost of the Russian Federation. 
It shunned NATO. Cables exposed by WikiLeaks show U.S. diplomats describing their exasperation with former president Demetris Christofias, a Russian-speaking, Moscow-educated communist. He proudly called himself Europe’s ‘red sheep’. 
The island paid only lip-service to international attempts to clean up the financial system. Mystifyingly, the West turned a blind eye. 

Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris has held talks in Moscow about a loan, after his country's parliament rejected a 10 billion EU-led bailout

After strident protests from Greece, European countries dropped their objections and allowed Cyprus to join the European Union in 2004. 
That was a huge mistake. It sabotaged any chance of peace in the Cyprus conflict, which has left the island divided between the Greek-run south and a Turkish puppet state in the north. 
The Turks had agreed to a deal that would have ended the crippling division of the island. But once in the EU, the authorities in the south refused to budge. That has left both parts of the island a playground for organised crime, money laundering and sinister games by outsiders.
Worse, admitting Cyprus to the EU has given Russia eyes and ears in Brussels. In vain, top European officials went to Nicosia to urge officials to stop leaking secrets on trade, energy and security to Moscow. 
‘We are a small country. Russia is a big friend and Brussels is far away,’ a friend of mine was told by a smirking Cypriot official.
The most scandalous display of Russian influence was in the spy scandal of 2010, when the flame-haired spy Anna Chapman and nine other undercover ‘illegals’ were arrested in America by the FBI. 
The prize quarry for the American spy-catchers was the spies’ boss, who went under the name Christopher Metsos. A seasoned Russian spook, he had fled America as the FBI swooped. 
Metsos, whose real name was Pavel Kapustin, was arrested in Cyprus — only for the authorities there, inexplicably, to release him on bail. He promptly disappeared. America was furious. 
Other scandals abounded, involving arms sales and money laundering for rogue regimes.
The result of the sleaze was nemesis worthy of the Greek legends in which Cyprus features so prominently. When the island’s financial system capsized in the wake of the disaster in Greece, it found it had no friends in Europe. 

Putin, who termed the collapse of the Soviet Union the 'geopolitical catastrophe of the century', sees the humiliation of the hated West as the prime goal in his desire to restore Russia's greatness

Now it has run to the arms of Russia, for whom the Cypriots’ woes are little more than a strategic opportunity. For decades, its only ally in the region has been Syria — Russia has its only overseas naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus. 
Though the semi-derelict floating dock is of little use for the Kremlin’s clapped-out navy, it has other functions. Russia’s fearsome GRU military intelligence service uses the toe-hold on the Syrian coast for espionage, arms sales and other clandestine work. 
But if the Assad regime falls, Russia’s redoubt will be threatened, too — and Cyprus would become an even more valuable prize.
A whiff of the intrigues that bubble below the surface came in 2010 when the body of the GRU’s second-in-command, General Yuri Ivanov, washed up on a beach in Turkey. He had been visiting the Russian base in Tartus. Few believe the official story of a swimming accident. General Ivanov was in charge of a programme of assassination against the Kremlin’s enemies abroad.

Fear: As Obama's America retreats from Europe, we can no longer rely on a friendly superpower to protect our interests

It is these murky games that await the Cypriots if they bow to Russia and offer a naval base to Mr Putin’s Kremlin as part of any economic deal.  
Make no mistake. Putin, who termed the collapse of the Soviet Union the ‘geopolitical catastrophe of the century’, sees the humiliation of the hated West as the prime goal in his desire to restore Russia’s greatness. Where the Czars and Communists failed, he may succeed, in snatching a client state in the balmy Med. In 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet empire and economy, the 50 ships of Russia’s once-mighty Mediterranean fleet departed those waters, leaving what Russian strategists bitterly term a ‘NATO lake’. 
Under Putin, the coffers brimming with petro-roubles, the country is hurling money at its naval forces again. 
Its $659 billion (£440 billion) rearmament programme will add 18 warships and more than 30 other vessels to its fleet by 2016, including six submarines. Mr Putin is also shopping abroad: he has ordered two state-of-the-art Mistral helicopter carriers from France. 
As a further signal of intent, the Kremlin only recently announced it was sending a fleet of five-to-six warships to the Med. How will NATO, many of whose members are pre-occupied with economic troubles, feel if those warships are patrolling the region from a Cyprus harbour in years to come?
And what will be the future of Britain’s sovereign bases, at Akrotiri and Dhekelia? 
They are a vital military, intelligence and diplomatic toe-hold in the Eastern Mediterranean. Our soldiers, spooks and allies use these bases for electronic snooping, for undercover missions by the SAS and Special Boat Service, and as a hideout for clandestine meetings of all kinds.
For the moment, the Union Flag flies serenely over their trim lawns, bristling antennae and top-secret bunkers. If Russia has the whip hand, that could soon change. 
In the middle of the 19th century, Britain and France went to war to stop Russian imperial expansionism in the Crimea. Does anyone believe we would now go to war to protect our right to stay in Cyprus if a new Moscow-friendly government in Nicosia demanded we pack our bags? 
As Obama’s America retreats from Europe, we can no longer rely on a friendly superpower to protect our interests. Our shrunken defence budget and waning geopolitical clout will be pitifully exposed as a resurgent Russia shows it is back in the Great Game.
Edward Lucas is author of Deception: Spies, Lies And How Russia Dupes The West.

Cyprus Should Let the Banks Go Bankrupt

Cyprus should let the private banks fail and create a public bank that focuses on strengthening the real economy.

No to the transfer of private debts of the Cypriot Banks onto the public of Cyprus.

Democracy and Class Struggle shares the frustration of Costas Lapavitsas with the Left who should be vocal in the protection of the real economy in Cyprus and its natural resources - a new public bank should be created immediately and the corrupt banking system should be allowed to fail.

The new public bank should protect small savers. Russia or European Union are not saviours of the Cypriot people just potential ruthless extractors of its natural gas resources.

Any good assets in the corrupt banks should be transferred to the new State Bank immediately, the natural gas resources of Cyprus should not be sold in a fire auction but protected so that they can assist Cyprus make a recovery in its real economy, the financial industry of  Cyprus which is the cause of the crisis should be shut down just like the banks.

The People of Cyprus must determine their own fate and not look to Brussels or Moscow.

Sinclair - Lagarde’s IMF Disaster Forces Bernanke Out Of Fed

Today legendary trader Jim Sinclair told King World News that Lagarde’s IMF Cyprus disaster, in stunning fashion, has now forced Chairman Ben Bernanke out of the Fed.  Sinclair, who was once called on by former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker to assist during a Wall Street crisis, takes readers on a trip down the rabbit hole that has become know as “The Cyprus Catastrophe” in this extraordinary and exclusive interview:

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Eric King:  “Remarkably, just a day and a half ago you stated on King World News that ‘Putin has faced down the International Monetary Fund, which by the way is located in Washington, DC, and is in fact Washington itself.  So in the sense of a Cold War, you have Washington vs Moscow, and Moscow won this round.  The bottom line here is Lagarde took on Putin, but Putin has checkmated both her and the IMF the same way a Russian grandmaster chess player would destroy his opponent.’  Within hours of KWN reporting that news, Lagarde's apartment was raided by police and she is now scrambling.”

Sinclair:  “The important point is, how long has this case been going on in which there was a police raid on the Lagarde’s apartment?  This is a 20-year old case, making it look a little less like just a coincidence.  I would also add to that I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve has now indicated the possibility that he will not be reappointed, and that he will not accept the reappointment....

“In truth, the IMF disaster which has just taken place in Cyprus is comparable to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that started World War I.  This is a major event in history.  We have the mainstream media and some talking heads telling people that ‘Cyprus is a tempest in a teapot.’  That is completely false.”

Eric King:  “This IMF disaster which has occurred, and obviously Lagarde is now being dealt with, but going forward you talked about the possibility of destabilization in the Western world.  You are saying they can’t make a misstep here, and what about this Bernanke development?”

Sinclair:  “The gamble was they were going to shift the onus of the funds required from the busted banks to the depositors and away from central banks.  That would have been to the depositors, and away from QE.  This is also being proposed in New Zealand and in Spain, but in tiny, negligible amounts.  Obviously no amount of theft is acceptable, but the theory coming out of Cyprus was a 10% theory, and that is enormous money.

It was a historic mistake because what Mrs. Legarde and the IMF have done is potentially ruined all of Bernanke’s work.  It has also potentially ruined all of the work of the central banks which have been doing QE in order to maintain sovereign solvency. 

If she (Lagarde) had succeeded, the ease would have been to the governments, and the pressure would have been to the depositors.  Up to now what has been done is to insure the bank depositors without them having to lose.  This was the ‘Super Glue’ to hold together the possibility of an economic recovery.  That’s what has been put into risk because of this debacle by Mrs. Legarde and the IMF in Cyprus. 

This police raid and the 20-year old case is tied directly to her colossal failure in Cyprus.  It is also directly tied to Bernanke’s indication that he wouldn’t seek to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve after his term is up.

Again, what the IMF’s catastrophe in Cyprus has done is put into jeopardy every single dollar that any central bank has put in to maintain sovereign solvency.  This is enormous.  The IMF originally telling Cyprus to ‘Go to hell,’ has in fact said to the world, ‘Go to hell.’  The Western financial world may now indeed go to hell, and Fed Chairman Bernanke knows it.”

Eric King:  “Just so I understand this, the degree of damage that has been done because of the IMF disaster in Cyprus now has Bernanke saying, ‘I want out.’”

Sinclair:  “This historic event is one of the single largest and most important in my 50+ years of being involved in markets.  It is as serious as what I have said, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is saying, ‘They are going to screw up all of my work; to hell with them, I don’t want to be Chairman when this hits the fan.”

UPDATE - The KWN audio interviews with Michael Pento, MEP Nigel Farage, billionaire Eric Sprott and the former US Treasury official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts are available now and you can listen to them by CLICKING HERE.

© 2013 by King World News®. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.  However, linking directly to the blog page is permitted and encouraged.

The interviews with Michael Pento, Nigel Farage, Eric Sprott, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, Egon von Greyerz, Rob Arnott, James Turk, Jim Sinclair, John Embry and Andrew Maguire are available now.  Also, be sure to listen to the other recent KWN interviews which included Marc Faber, Felix Zulauf and Art Cashin by CLICKING HERE.

Eric King

Colt to bolt? Gun maker's boss says company feels unwelcome in Connecticut

 


Colt's Manufacturing, the company that has made the iconic gun dubbed "The Peacemaker" for more than a century, could pull up its Connecticut stakes after coming under fire in the national debate over the Second Amendment.
President and CEO Dennis Veilleux said the pro-gun control climate that has taken hold in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre and other firearm attacks has left him feeling unwelcome in the state his company has called home for 175 years. Proposed laws being debated by the Legislature and pushed by Gov. Dannel Malloy include a new gun offender registry, an expanded assault weapons ban, ammunition restrictions and a ban on bulk purchases of handguns. Veilleux said those measures have put Colt and its nearly 700 employees in the crosshairs.

“At some point, if you can’t sell your products … then you can’t run your business," Veilleux told FoxNews.com. "You need customers to buy your products to stay in business.”
Veilleux, who wrote an op-ed that appeared in The Hartford Courant this week in which he raised the prospect of leaving the state, said the company doesn’t have any such “definite plans.” But if Malloy follows through on his promise to ban the purchase and sale of AR-15 rifles, the centerpiece of the company’s business, he said leaving could become an option.
Veilleux, 47, said Colt is “constantly approached” by other states to relocate. Several red state governors have made no secret of the fact they covet firearms makers, an industry that by some measures contributes $1.7 billion annually to Connecticut's economy.
Click for photos of Colt's Manufacturing and Connecticut through the years
The gun company boss acknowledged that even raising the possibility of a move could be troubling to workers, whose roots in Connecticut are in many cases as deep as Colt's.
“The employees are what the company is,” he said. “It’s not a building with a bunch of machines in it. The company is the employees. They’re proud of what they do, they represent their community – and I would say a lot more than some of the legislators do. They’re real people.”
Malloy spokesman Andrew Doba says the Democratic governor does not want Colt and its 670 employees to leave the state.
“The governor has been clear for some time that while he does not want manufacturers to leave the state, we need to move ahead with common sense gun violence prevention legislation that will improve public safety,” Doba wrote FoxNews.com in an email.
Veilleux made headlines last week when he closed down his factory and bused 400 workers to the state Capitol so they could personally urge lawmakers not to pass gun control legislation that they say could risk their livelihoods.
Connecticut's unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in December. In Hartford County, where Colt is based and provides what Veilleux considers high-paying jobs, that figure was 8.1 percent. Both jobless rates are well above the national average of 7.7 percent.
Ron Pinciaro, executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence, defended the pieces of legislation currently under consideration.
"We feel that because of the enormity of the situation that happened on Dec. 14, that if we just put some Band-Aids on things, it's really not going to be enough," Pinciaro said.
Twenty first-graders and six educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14. Gunman Adam Lanza also killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, before committing suicide as police responded to the school.
Full coverage of Colt's Manufacturing from The Hartford Courant
The shootings, as well as last year's movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colo., have triggered a renewed debate over gun laws, especially laws governing background checks and assault rifles. On Wednesday, a Colorado ammunition magazine manufacturer went a step further than Veilleux, saying that it will leave the state after lawmakers approved new gun laws there.
Magpul Chief Operating Officer Doug Smith said the moving process has begun following the signing of a bill by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper that bans the sale of gun magazines with more than 15 rounds. A new location has yet to be determined.
“Our moving efforts are under way,” Smith told the Denver Post. “Within the next 30 days we will manufacture our first magazine outside the state of Colorado.”
Magpul, which employs roughly 200 workers, is based in Erie, about 30 miles north of Denver. It’s the largest Colorado company that potentially would be affected by the bill, one of three state gun measures passed this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.