gas prices? WHY????

Lots of factors here, The ruble is falling for a reason. In a buyers market, An oil driven economy always suffers. Russia is still no bigger than Texas when it comes to the size of an economy. 17% Interest is a good Indicator of the so-called health of Russia. Putin's spending on his military is like my stupid sister spending all her money at the casino, instead of feeding her kids. In 1948 thru 1960 Russia and China were buddies. Then all of a sudden a large chunk of the Russian military was on the chinese border, and vice versa. They have never liked each other, and these Marriages never last.
It is true that our country isn't being run very well right now. And I'm not for bailing out any Banks, and most of the smaller banks in the U.S. weren't either. I worked with them, and the majority view was if you are failing, then you should die off, and the strong banks will pick up the assets and keep moving forward. But the guy in charge wants only a few large banks to control all the money. that way he can control us better. That is why the five largest Banks got almost all the money. Corruption to the Nth degree!

It is true that the Saudi's can pump oil at $10.00 a barrel, but their annual budget is spending money with oil being in the range of 70-80 a barrel. With oil at 58 bucks a barrel, it is Sort of like living on unemployement after being laid off, as cash flow is now negative. Russia is seeing the same results. Now, the Europeans are happy, as the Blackmail has receded.