Clipmarks | merrie's 'putin' clips

Soviet-Style Parade in Red Square

Fri, 09 May 2008 16:01:52 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: I heard the new President spoke for a couple of minutes and Putin spoke for over half an hour. Will the real Russian leader please stand up?

Clip Source: www.breitbart.com

Nuclear missiles and tanks paraded Friday across Red Square for the first time since the Soviet era but new President Dmitry Medvedev warned other nations against "irresponsible ambitions" that he said could start wars.

Marching bands and 8,000 troops goose-stepped across the square, followed by a huge display of heavy weapons including Topol-M ballistic missiles and T-90 tanks, and a fly-by of warplanes.

Reviewing his first parade as commander in chief, Medvedev warned against "irresponsible ambitions" that he said could spark war across entire continents.

Alongside the new president was his mentor and now prime minister, Vladimir Putin,

Earlier Putin said the parade was not "sabre-rattling" but "a demonstration of our growing defence capability."

On Thursday Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said his country and Russia had come close to war "several days ago" after Russia ramped up support for separatists controlling Georgia's Abkhazia region.

Big Taxing, Big Earmarking, Big Congress Grills Big Oil

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:18:45 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: (continued) will Rep. Walden agitate for lower tax rates? What about Walden’s earmarks of over $46 million? Will he think about lowering his earmarks, in light of the federal government’s record profits?

* * * * *

As Ronald Bailey of Reason writes: “Finally, if Congress wants to blame someone for high oil prices, blame the benighted oil producing countries that have underinvested in oil production for at least a decade. But Congressional grandstanders can’t haul the likes of Venezuela’s Chavez, Russia’s Putin, and Iran’s Ahmadinejad to their hearing rooms.”

The spectacle of the House blaming the oil companies in a free market for high prices would be bizarre, if it didn’t happen so often.

Clip Source: deathby1000papercuts.com

The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held hearings and grilled oil company execs over the oil companies’ 8-cent per gallon profits.

They remained close-lipped over government’s take of nearly 50-cents of taxes per gallon. Or, as the Wall Street Journal noted, “that higher gasoline prices is exactly what would happen if Congress enacts proposed global warming policies”.

Three of the House’s Select April Fools.

Edward Markey (D-Mass)
Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming

John Larson, D-Conn
Larson currently serves on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, the House committee charged with writing tax legislation and bills affecting Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs.

Greg Walden (R-OR)
Walden was the only one of Oregon’s House members to vote against a “fix-up patch” on a bill to protect the middle class from a new tax.

With federal government’s record budget of $3.1 TRILLION for 2008

Tags: energy independence, global warming, hearings, ed markey, john larson, greg walden, $3.1 trillion federal budget

Tax Dollars Supporting Countries That Undermine American Ideals And Interests

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:23:10 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks:
Use the form to e-mail President Bush, demanding that American aid dollars be for countries committed to upholding our democratic and free-market ideals.

In addition, the US Trade and Development Agency has recently authorized nearly $400,000 of for a study on a proposed rail line between a coal mine in Southern Mongolia and the railroad.

In other words, taxpayer-funded foreign aid to Mongolia is being used to undermine American ideals and interests, and embolden anti-freedom elites not only in Mongolia, but in Moscow as well.

Why is Mongolia flouting Western interests and ideals despite our nation’s generosity, you ask?

Simply put, the Russians and a few elite Mongolians would benefit if Western firms were forced to stop doing business in Mongolia and the region.

This is an outrage that must not go unchecked

Clip Source: capwiz.com

Despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer-funded aid, Mongolia has begun a full-scale assault on the rule of law with brazen disregard for legal contracts with Western natural resources firms. Worse, the Mongolian government is “shaking down” Western private sector companies that do business in Mongolia through confiscatory taxation, and undermining property rights by intimidating companies into relinquishing equity in their commercial enterprises to the state.

And, as if Mongolia’s disregard for the rule of law and property rights weren’t bad enough, here’s the kicker: The hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid to Mongolia -- care of American taxpayers -- IS GOING TO DIRECTLY BENEFIT VLADIMIR PUTIN’s RUSSIA!

Specifically, American taxpayers -- through the Millennium Challenge Corporation -- are giving Mongolia nearly $300 million in foreign aid to improve its rail system, which is co-owned by the Russian government.

Tags: millennium challenge corporation, mongolia, vladimir putin, russian government

Bush's Letter Puts Putin In A Good Mood

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:48:54 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Two Cold War-era agreements -- The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which Russia suspended last year, and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires next year -- will also be addressed.

A source in the Defense Ministry said progress was only likely if Rice and Gates "bring with them new proposals that take into account Moscow's concerns," Itar-Tass reported.

But the Pentagon's Morrell reiterated on the sidelines of Monday's meeting that nothing new was on the table.

"We come armed with no new proposals," he said, adding that the purpose of this visit was to demonstrate that the United States planned to "stand by its proposals. We are not going to sweeten them."

Putin's guardedly positive statement Monday came in contrast to efforts by both sides ahead of the talks to dampen expectations for any significant progress on the missile-defense issue. U.S. officials stressed that they would not make any new offers, while Moscow said new overtures were necessa

Clip Source: www.themoscowtimes.com

President Vladimir Putin looking across the table at U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the Kremlin on Monday.

The existence of the letter, public details of which remained sketchy, became known through Putin's statement to visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the Kremlin on Monday.

"It's a serious document and we analyzed it carefully," Putin said of the letter. "If we manage to agree on its main provisions, we will be able to say that our dialogue is progressing successfully."

Putin said that, while there was hope that some bilateral issues were closer to resolution, there was much that still needed to be sorted out. He added that he and Bush had discussed these issues in a recent telephone conversation.

The visit is the first by major U.S. officials since the March 2 presidential election.

Before the discussion with Putin, Rice and Gates met with President-elect Dmitry Medvedev.

Tags: bush, putin, defense sec gates, sec state rice, kremlin, bilateral issues resolution, pentagon

From Russia With Love:Prime Minister Putin

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:28:38 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Foreign investments, though at record levels, remain less than 3% of GDP, on the whole foreigners remain reluctant - not to say scared stiff - to touch Russia. Worse yet, though foreign investments have grown, they usually go to mineral extraction, not to production of finished goods. During Putin's reign oil and gas production nearly trebled, to nearly a full third of the entire economy, and four-fifths of all exports. Putin initially capped government spending and ended the derelict printing of cash, last year - according to The Economist - the state bureaucracy expanded by more than 50% to 828,000 people, while government spending rose 20%.

PUTIN'S MAIN message has been that the demise of communism and the Warsaw Pact, and even the arrival of former communist states in the EU and NATO, don't yet spell freedom's historic victory. The world has been introduced to a new authoritarianism, one which emulates the kind overseen a generation ago by Chile's Augusto Pinochet

Clip Source: www.jpost.com

Russia today is in many ways even more lawless than it was under communism, as crime - petty, organized and political - is rampant. Where electable rivals are disqualified from running for office - like in Iran - while outspoken businessmen get jailed and daring journalists get shot, it should come as no surprise that highway robbers rule some neighborhoods, gangs haunt entire marketplaces, and thugs often clutch whole industries.

The symptoms of Russia's downturn are already budding. While inflation reached the teens and construction became dominant in economic activity, only 5% of businesses were established during Putin's rule. This means that driving, as Russia's exhibitionist nouveaux-riches do, easy-earned Bentleys and wearing precious mink coats, Versace suits and Rolex watches is one thing, but learning to invent, manufacture and market quality goods is another. And that Putin wouldn't encourage because it would require more freedom than he was prepared to grant.

Tags: vladimir putin, dmitri medvedev, oil and gas revenue, foreign investments, gdp

Putin Says Kosovo Independence Is Illegal

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 05:15:33 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Indeed, if we attempt to buy peace at the expense of law, we might find out we end up with neither. If the Russians (and possibly the Chinese) oppose revision of Resolution 1244 to grant Kosovo effective independence, and if the United States and its allies ignore these concerns and endorse the [UN special envoy, Martti] Ahtisaari plan [which permits Kosovo to conclude international agreements and become a member of international organizations], the reverberations will be felt well beyond the Balkans."

Clip Source: www.cato.org

"Putin said that Russia remained utterly opposed to Kosovo breaking away from Serbia. If Kosovo's Albanian leaders ignored Russian objections and announced independence this Sunday Moscow would be forced to act, he said."

The dilemma confronting policymakers is acute. Kosovar aspirations cannot be denied much longer, but the effort to satisfy them absent an agreement with Serbia is bound to alienate the Serbs and, by extension, the Russians

And if we craft solutions that bypass existing law, we should recognize that we are creating opportunities for mischief down the road. Indeed, if we attempt to buy peace at the expense of law, we might find out we end up with neither.

In BBC's HardTalk with Stephen Sakur, Cato senior fellow and former adviser to Vladimir Putin Andrei Illarionov said:

"'Putinism' would be characterized as some level of nationalism, some level of aggressiveness, first of all directed against people inside the country, and to some extent, outside the country as well."

Tags: moscow, serbia, kosovo albanians, independence, resolution 1244, putin, nationalism

"False hopes?" Obama told a crowd "There's no such thing."

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:47:16 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Meanwhile the authoritarian Putin has punkishly succeeded in restoring Russia to its inglorious heritage, reminding the world of the old formula that capitalism plus state power equals fascism. In Iran, none of Ahmadinejad's domestic troubles seem to have modified the state's sense of ascendancy, or its will to nuclearize itself, or its appetite for instability in its region. In Iraq, the streets are safer but the sects are not sweeter. In the Korean peninsula, diplomacy has gone ominously cold. In Palestine there are two Palestines, and one of them belongs to Hamas. In Darfur--well, you know, because everybody knows. In Latin America, the failures of liberal economics have sullied the reputation of liberal politics. And so on.

And into this unirenic environment strides Obama, pledging to extract us promptly from Iraq and to negotiate with our enemies.
What is the role of a conciliator in an unconciliating world?

Clip Source: www.tnr.com

He makes no applause line out of American defense. And jihadist terrorism is only one of the disorders in an increasingly disordered world. The most repercussive fact of our time is surely the transformation of China. The "metrics" are all staggering. Quantities, quantities, quantities. China already has the power to wreck the American economy. However many tanks and fighters it has, its hoarding of American dollars is itself a kind of arsenal. And the bounty of wealth that it promises American business, the fantasy of greed-fulfillment that it represents, makes it almost impossible to conduct a serious discussion of the implications of this emerging world power for American principles and American interests--certainly not in Washington, where, when it comes to the art of dodging debate, Beijing is better than Bandar. What China wants, China gets. Not even the gold medal in tyranny that Beijing will win in its Olympics will make a difference.

Tags: obama, hope, china, american economy, putin, ahmadinejad, kim jong-il, chavez

Georgian Billionaire Found Dead In Surrey Feared Plots

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:50:19 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Russian Alexander Litvinenko [mysteriously died of polonium 210 poisoning Nov 2006] also had links with the Georgian
businessman. Sources in Tbilisi have told The Times that he stayed at Mr Patarkatshvili's residence in Georgia en route to Turkey when he fled Russia to seek asylum in London in 2000.

Russian prosecutors claim that Mr Litvinenko also visited Mr Patarkatsishvili as well as Mr Berezovsky in London shortly before he was poisoned. They accuse Mr Berezovsky of involvement in the murder of the former Federal Security Service (FSB) agent as part of a plot to damage President Putin's international image.

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

British detectives were investigating today whether an exiled Georgian billionaire found dead in his mansion in Surrey last night died of natural causes or was the victim of an Alexander Litvinenko-style murder plot.

He told The Sunday Times in December that Mr Saakashvili's regime was planning to send an assassin to kill him in London. He released a covert tape recording of negotiations between what he said was a Chechen warlord and an official from the Georgian Interior Ministry.

Mr Lugovoy was responsible for protecting Mr Patarkatsishvili and Mr Berezovsky at the time as head of security at the Russian TV channel ORT, which the two men controlled.

Mr Patarkatsishvili remained good friends with Mr Lugovoy, a former KGB officer who is now a member of the Russian parliament. The pair were seen socialising together in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, shortly before Mr Litvinenko was poisoned.

Mr Litvinenko also had links with the Georgian businessman

Tags: 52-year-old, patarkatsishvili, rose revolution, exiled georgian billionaire, saakashvili, berezovsky, litvinenko, lugovoy, former kgb officer

Russia Violates Japanese Airspace

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:12:35 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The BBC reports that Putin's Kremlin is pressing ahead with its plan to alienate and provoke every single country on the planet, leaving Russia utterly alone in the world

Japan responded by scrambling 22 jets and lodging an official protest with the Russian embassy. But a spokesman for the Russian air force denied any incursion into Japanese airspace had occurred. Alexander Drobyshevsky told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency that strategic bomber flights had been "carried out in strict accordance with international rules on flying over neutral waters, without violating the border between the two countries.

Clip Source: russophobe.blogspot.com

Russian Tupolev 95 bomber flew for about three minutes over the isle of Sofugan

Russia last violated Japan's airspace in January 2006 near Rebun Island near the northern island of Hokkaido

On Thursday, Japan held an annual rally to demand the return of four disputed islands - known as the Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan - which Russia seized in the closing days of World War II. The dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty to formally end the war. It was not clear whether Saturday's flyby was related to the rally. Despite their territorial disputes, Japan and Russia have recently indicated their desire to improve relations, the BBC's Chris Hogg reports from Tokyo. Russia wants Japanese financial support for development of its far eastern regions while Japan wants greater access to Russia's oil reserves. Whether the alleged incident was a mistake or something more sinister, such as an attempt to test Japan's defensive tactics

Tags: russian tupolev 95, bomber, violated japan's airspace, itar-tass

Senator McCain by Mark Steyn January 31, 2008

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:37:56 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Primary triumph doesn't seem to be doing anything to mitigate the small and graceless side of McCain. On the other hand, John Hinderaker might be on to something here:

"Businessmen, in my experience, are generally more idealistic than politicians. Businessmen really do make deals with a handshake. No one would dream of doing that with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or the Clintons. Turning a businessman loose in the political world is basically a mismatch. That's the sense I get of McCain's reaction to having Romney as his last serious rival. He can't believe his good fortune; Romney is an amateur. McCain can poke him in the eye, knee him in the groin, and the rule-following businessman has no idea how to respond"
powerline.com

Maybe. But, just because McCain can poke Mitt in the eye is no indication he'll be as effective with Putin, a remarkable number of whose enemies wind up splattered on the sidewalk outside their apartment house after opting for.......
http://corner.nationa

Clip Source: corner.nationalreview.com

I'm getting a bit tired of Senator McCain's anti-business shtick. The line about serving "for patriotism, not for profit" is pathetic. America spends more on its military than the next 35-40 biggest military spenders on the planet combined: Where does he think the money for that comes from?

As for his line about "some greedy people on Wall Street who need to be punished", aside from being almost entirely irrelevant to the subject under discussion (the subprime "crisis"), it reveals, I think, one of the most unpleasant aspects of McCain. For a so-called "maverick", he's very comfortable with the application of Big Government power, and the assumption of Big Government virtue. Undoubtedly there are "greedy people on Wall Street". Why should he and his chums be the ones who decide whether they need to be "punished"? If greed is to be punishable, why doesn't he start with a pilot program applied to, say, the United States Senate and report back to us in five years how that's going?

Tags: mccain, romney, anti-business, wall street, punished, big government, u.s.senate, putin

Vladimir Putin '08 For Democratic U.S.President

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:56:55 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks:
Iowa Activist: I want the strongest candidate on the Democratic ticket in 2008 and Putin is it. I wish any of our Democrats could be half the man he is in dealing with the right-wing media.
Most experts agree that if Putin were to run on the Democratic platform, he could easily beat other candidates at their own game by promising the American people a smorgasbord of entitlements. "The values are the same, and so is the shared vision of massive government expansion to save the children from the dangers of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," continues General Yezhov. "And when the product is the same, salesmanship and experience take the priority. That's all what's left for your political observers to talk about - experience. And who's got more experience in expanding the power of the government than Putin? Who I ask?"

Clip Source: www.thepeoplescube.com

"Our theory was confirmed by Time Magazine's selection of Putin as 'Person of the Year' for bringing stability to Russia. Time editors must have subliminally guessed what's best for America. And that's why Vladimir Putin is your top choice for president.

Having been named 'Person of the Year 2007' by an American magazine that invariably supports progressive candidates, soon-to-be Russian ex-President, Vladimir Putin, is now listening to political consultants advising him to start a vigorous campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire as the strongest candidate on the Democratic ticket in 2008.

Barbra Streisand: Vlad has definitely got more chutzpah than Hillary

Oprah Winfrey:

can't believe it! Why didn't Vlad tell me before I did that stupid show for Obama in Manchester?

Daily Kos:

Now Putin is officially the most popular man in America - AND he is available!

Putin '08: Cooler than Obama, More Experienced than Hillary

Tags: time magazine, putin, president, socialist programs, iowa, new hampshire, democratic ticket

"Man Of The Year" And Master Of The Universe

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 06:49:47 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Belkovsky - who published a book about Putin's finances last year, and who is the director of the National Strategic Institute, a Moscow thinktank - claims he is confident of his assessment of Putin's hidden wealth. "It's not a secret among the elites",he said.

Belkovsky adds that the west has misunderstood Putin and has been distracted by his "neo-Soviet" image. Putin, Belkovsky claims, is ultimately a "classic" businessman who believes money can solve any problem.

In an interview on Wednesday with Time magazine, which named Putin its person of the year, the president vehemently denied that those inside the Kremlin were corrupt.

Asked whether "some of the people closest to you are getting rich", Putin said: "Then you know who and how. Write to us, to the foreign ministry, if you are so confident. I presume you know the names, you know the systems and the tools.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Citing sources inside the president's administration, Belkovsky claims that after eight years in power Putin has secretly accumulated more than $40bn (£20bn). The sum would make him Russia's - and Europe's - richest man.

In an interview with the Guardian, Belkovsky repeated his claims that Putin owns vast holdings in three Russian oil and gas companies, concealed behind a "non-transparent network of offshore trusts".

The first hints of the intra-clan warfare gripping the Kremlin emerged last month, when the FSB arrested General Alexander Bulbov, the deputy head of the federal drug agency, and part of the liberal group. His arrest saw a surreal standoff, with his bodyguards and FSB agents pointing machine guns at each other.

Putin has created a new, more streamlined oligarchy, his critics say. "The crown jewels of the country's wealth have ended up in the hands of Putin's inner circle," Vladimir Rzyhkov - a former independent MP - wrote in Monday's Moscow Times.

Tags: vladimir putin, oligarchy, "classic" businessman, private companies, below-market value, offshore companies

Garry Kasparov's Views On Putin

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:40:39 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Gigot: I asked him how western leaders should respond to the crack down on free speech in Russia and whether it would matter if they criticized Vladimir Putin.

KASPAROV: It matters a lot. But it is not only about criticizing it is about actions. They played into Putin's hands by accepting him as one of the equals. Bringing Putin into the G-7 exclusive club created a democratic aura for Putin in Russia and made it difficult for us to criticize him.

GIGOT: He is sitting with all those guys, the other democratic leaders.

KASPAROV: Absolutely. And they call him a democrat. So who we are in Russia telling that Putin is wrong in doing certain things in our country.

Also, it helps Putin to boost his authority with Russian ruling elite. Money, all money of Russian bureaucracies kept in the free world. They can make friends with China, Iran, whoever but their financial interests are in the free world. So if the Western readers want to look serious they have to follow the money.

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

GIGOT: Now it seems Putin, we talk about his opposition to American foreign policy, he seems to be more overt all the time

KASPAROV: The game is quite simple. A, he doesn't want America to interfere in Russian domestic affairs, i.e., to criticize Putin for destruction of democratic institutions. That's why he creates bargaining changes like missile defense and others to trade. But the most important element of Putin's geopolitical games, high oil prices. He only cares about high oil prices. Anything that he can do to keep them high or to make them higher is a big priority.

GIGOT: He needs to stir the pot in the Middle East. Instability .

KASPAROV: Absolutely. Instability. Not the big, big war because that might backfire but instant and small wars. Hezbollah attacking have the.
That's why missiles always ship to Hezbollah and Hamas. The Iran problem continues. Putin kept promising to solve Iranian problems for four or five years, it is still there. That is all he needs.

Tags: kasparov, putin, power, u.s.foreign policy

Elections Will Be Free And Fair

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:31:16 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The Kremlin is planning to rig the results of Russia's parliamentary elections on Sunday by forcing millions of public sector workers across the country to vote, the Guardian has learned.
Analysts say the pressure is designed to ensure a resounding win for the United Russia party and for Putin, who heads its party list. The victory would give him a public mandate to maintain ultimate power in the country as "National Leader" despite being unable to stand for a third term as president in March.
Anna, 31, a schoolteacher in Ulan Ude, said: "We were called to the staff room in my school about a month ago and asked to sign a formal declaration promising that we would vote for United Russia. I told them that I wanted to vote for another party, but they told me to sign it in such a manner that there was no way to refuse. They hinted I could lose my job."

Clip Source: www.drudgereport.com

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Local administration officials have called in thousands of staff on their day off in an attempt to engineer a massive and inflated victory for President Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party. Voters are being pressured to vote for United Russia or risk losing their jobs, their accommodation or bonuses, the Guardian has been told in numerous interviews with byudzhetniki (public sector workers), students and ordinary citizens.

In a televised speech yesterday Putin implored the nation to turn out and vote for United Russia, saying: "I count on your support." The president enjoys genuine popular backing but a spokeswoman for Golos, an independent organisation monitoring the elections, said "big pressure on voters across the country" was being used to balloon the result for United Russia.

Doctors, teachers, university deans, students and even workers at psychiatric clinics have been warned they have to vote. Failure to do so will entail serious consequences, they have been told.

Tags: putin, united russia, engineered victory, voters, pressure, jobs threatened

"Voting Correctly For Kremlin" Coercion

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:40:39 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Some complaints came from hospital patients, who said they had been threatened with early discharge if they did not produce absentee ballots
Hundreds of people have called an election hot line to complain about the use of absentee ballots, the Central Elections Commission said in a summary of the complaints posted on its Web site
Non-governmental organizations and opposition political parties also have reported receiving many complaints.

"It is unbelievable. The use of bureaucracy is on an unprecedented scale," said Marina Dashenkova of Golos, an election-monitoring group. "People are complaining that their bosses are forcing them to take absentee ballots and vote for whom they say."
The use of absentee ballots in this way is new and kills two birds with one stone for the Kremlin: By getting absentee ballots, people are registered as voting even if the votes are never cast, boosting turnout; and when they vote under the supervision of bosses they are likely to vote "correctly."

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

MOSCOW — With the Kremlin determined to see a high turnout in Sunday's election, many Russians say they are being pressured to vote at work under the watchful eyes of their bosses or risk losing their jobs.

They say they also are being told to provide lists of relatives and friends who will vote for United Russia, the party of President Vladimir Putin.

The constitution requires Putin to step down as president in May, but with the support of the majority of Russians he could claim a popular mandate to retain power.

"The plebiscite will become a mockery if only slightly more than half of the people vote and if only 60 percent of those vote for United Russia," as the latest opinion polls predict, political analyst Alexei Makarkin said.

Similar accounts have been given by teachers, doctors, factory workers and others around the country. Some have said they were warned they would lose their jobs if they did not comply

push to get out the vote, the absentee ballot has become a popular new tool.

Tags: putin, united russia party, kremlin, absentee ballots, plebiscite, doctors, hospital patients, teachers, factory workers