Putin's platform

Armed with a robust new majority in parliament, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared yesterday that the Kremlin will consider seizing business assets acquired illegally by some of the country's richest men and imposing new taxes to regain some of the nation's privatized mineral wealth.

Providing an important window into how he will govern if elected to a second term, the Russian president said only businessmen who followed the law when acquiring their assets "can feel calm and sleep soundly."

He said it was time for Russian business to help reverse the fortunes of the 31 million Russians who live in poverty.

"The business community cannot and must not stand on the sidelines, evading the solution to social problems," Putin said in an address to the board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "The state has a right to count on the business community's social activity."

Parties that had helped block earlier attempts by the government to tax "excess" profits and rein in the nation's powerful private oil, gas and mineral companies - most of them held by a handful of billionaire oligarchs - have little voice in the parliament for the first time since the Soviet Union's breakup.

"The drive behind all of this is simple: The government believes it needs a higher share of the oil-sector profits," said Steven Dashevsky, an analyst in Moscow with the Aton Capital Group. "They're saying, 'These guys had it good for a long time.' Now, the government thinks it's time for a bit more social justice and equality."  article

Sounds good to me. (With the caveat that a politician is generally not someone to trust.)

But I am expecting a ramp up over here back to the old evil empire propaganda. Not only because big business (and American-tied oil execs) are being cracked back into line, but because there is a situation in the Caucasus that involves oil-based economic competition. (See the links in this post.) If we can get the Arabs in line, then we will replace them with Putin as our arch nemesis.

Round and round we go.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.