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Ted Cruz

7 (6.5%)

Rick Santorum

16 (14.8%)

Michelle Bachmann

13 (12%)

Chris Christie

23 (21.3%)

Rand Paul

49 (45.4%)

Total Members Voted: 107

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Can I say that I totally called it? I totally called it. The US have an agreement with their allies in the middle east to drop the price of oil when they need their common ennemies (Iran, Russia...) weakened.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

He also said that OPEC's decision would ultimately help the world economy. "Current prices do not encourage investment in any form of energy, but they stimulate global economic growth, leading ultimately to an ‎increase in global demand and a slowdown in the growth of supplies," he said.

Iraq's oil minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, said he saw no need for an OPEC emergency meeting but "we have to wait and see" whether the group was right to keep output unchanged.

Naimi denied politics played a role in the kingdom's oil policy and said the price fall would not have "a noticeable and big" impact on Saudi Arabia or other Arab economies.

The market slide has triggered conspiracy theories, ranging from the Saudis seeking to curb the U.S. oil boom, to Riyadh looking to undermine Iran and Russia for their support of Syria.

Before the Vienna meeting, there were hints that Russia could cut output or exports if OPEC did the same. But the message from Moscow after the meeting was that the world's second largest oil exporter would maintain its output.

Lol. Um, right.

[Phmcw]

Uh, nothing in that article substantiates that claim in any way. It states that the recent boom in US oil is contributing to low prices, and Saudi Arabia doesn't support a production cut to artificially inflate prices, but not a single word supports any claim of it being a means of economic warfare.

I said they wouldn't cut their production, and I said why. Anyway others are more honest, for instance the BBC.

[smjjames]

You are aware that the Saudis do have their own beef with the Russians and could be lowering prices like that all on their own?

They're also hastening the end of economically producing wells in their region, but whatever.

[mainiac]

What kind of weird conspiracy theorist doesn't assume that everything, everywhere revolves around the US?

[scriver]

Are you saying there's a conspiracy among conspiracy theorists to make the USA look as bad as possible?
Could it be financed by China?

[Rez]

The US isn't nice, but it isn't the only country that isn't nice.

[Phmcw]

The US isn't nice, but it isn't the only country that isn't nice.

Not nice? This is pretty benign as far as international conflict goes. I find it pretty neat actually, and I do understand better why they (the US) spend so much energy and money controlling the region. That's pretty much a raw deposit of Russia's kryptonite.

The USSR (or Russia) misbehave? Backrupt them by sinking the value of their only valuable export.

[smjjames]

The US isn't nice, but it isn't the only country that isn't nice.

Not nice? This is pretty beging as far as international conflict goes. I find it pretty neat actually, and I do understand better why they (the US) spend so much energy and money controlling the region. That's pretty much a raw deposit of Russia's kryptonite.

The USSR (or Russia) misbehave? Backrupt them by sinking the value of their only valuable export.

'pretty beging'?

[LordSlowpoke]

benign, smj

that or begging but doesn't work in context

[Rez]

Russia is annexing it's neighbors.  That's Russian misbehavior, just to be clear.  Russian misbehavior is also cutting off "their only valuable export" as a ploy to force Ukraine and the EU to settle with them.  I guess, because that didn't work, people get to complain about global markets adjusting to deal with an actor who uses their energy exports as a weapon.

[Culise]

Uh, nothing in that article substantiates that claim in any way. It states that the recent boom in US oil is contributing to low prices, and Saudi Arabia doesn't support a production cut to artificially inflate prices, but not a single word supports any claim of it being a means of economic warfare.

I said they wouldn't cut their production, and I said why. Anyway others are more honest, for instance the BBC.

That one doesn't suggest American involvement, either; it explicitly claims that the Saudis are acting because they feel their Western allies are not.  If anything, it supports smjjames' assertion that they are be doing it as a part of an independent policy against Iran and Syria (indirectly, via Russia).  I think it's still more likely an assault on American shale oil to disincentivize any further increases in production (what's already gearing up will already be bad enough), with countries like Iran and Russia being collateral damage.  This would be analogous to the Chinese surge in rare earth production that shut down other mines worldwide in the 90s, though that was less a conscious political decision and more simply China reaching "natural" production capabilities; even as China is now rolling back production for export, barriers to entry are still significant enough to block these mines from being reopened immediately.  So too with shale production.

[Lord Shonus]

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/john-mccain-arizona-tea-party-113849.html

John McCain has launched a purge against Tea Party officials in Arizona.

[Baffler]

I don't know if I should be happy that he's making such an effort to remove the extremists, or intimidated by such a show of force.

[Angle]

Fight! Fight! Fight!

[Mictlantecuhtli]

It's nice to see the chickens come home to roost for obstructionist non-representatives.