10,000 St. Louis Tax Day Tea Party Protesters addressed by Gateway Pundit Jim Hoft

More than 800 tea party protests took place across the US yesterday. These give expression to the resentment of people at rising taxes and ballooning government expenditure. The Obama administration will quadruple the national deficit in one year. The Obama spending bill has 9,000 earmarks in it and will pump millions into funding of foreign abortions. Excessive borrowing is unsustainable. This powerful speech by Jim Hoft nicely encapsulates the problem faced by the US. It taps into the psyche of many that self-sufficiency rather than greater state involvement is the way forward. Indeed this speech could be delivered in many European countries, which face similar problems to the US.

Governments must learn to live within their means. Wasteful government expenditure must be eradicated. Voters in the US and Western Europe must learn to accept lower living standards. Unfortunately living standards are supported by massive borrowing splurges. The time has come to shout stop. Stimulus packages-funded by foreign borrowing- may give a temporary boost, but will quickly run out of steam if the economic fundamentals are not sound.

Their impact is similar to the effects of the quick fix on a drug addict.
Governments in the US and Western Europe must pursue sound fiscal and monetary policies over the short and long term. Quite frankly printing money is not the solution. Increasingly taxpayer revolts will become the norm if the massive government expenditure problem is not tackled. We must learn to live within our means. We cannot have the government services that we require unless the economy generates the financial resources to pay for these services. High levels of individual taxation stultify effort and are ultimately self -defeating.
Even the Russians and Chinese have learned this lesson.

Russia Cuts off Gas to Ukraine in Dispute over Payment and Price -Western European Supplies Under Threat

Gazprom (Russian state gas monopoly) has stopped its gas supply to Ukraine at 10:00am January 1 Moscow time due to unpaid debt, though 300,000 cubic metres is still passing through Ukraine, as Gazprom has promised to maintain supplies to Europe. Ukraine’s Naftogaz (state gas monopoly), claims that it sent 1.5 billion dollars to settle its debt. Gazprom claims to have received no money. The talks over the contract for the 2009 supply have collapsed with no agreement.

Ukraine according to Vladimir Putin had been offered a price for gas of $250 per 1,000 cubic metres, a large increase on the $180 it had been paying but significantly lower than the free market price of $418. Ukraine is believed to have offered US$201 per 1000 cubic metres. Ukraine's currency the hryvnia has halved in value in the the past six months. This increases repayment costs for gas to Gazprom. Kiev has however three to four months supply of gas in storage-17 billion cubic metres.

There are a number of possible implications. The cut off could cause a drop in pressure in the transit pipelines or the Ukraine could halt the flow to Western Europe as a negotiating tool. The largest consumers are Italy, Germany and the UK. The Ukraine has stated that it cannot fully guarantee the transit of gas through its country. However it appears today to have modified its position and guaranteed supplies to Western Europe. In January 2006 gas supplies destined for the EU were disrupted for several days in a similar dispute. EU countries must expedite measures to increase self -sufficiency in energy supply. This will involve the construction of more nuclear power stations and a greater concentration on renewable energy.