From The Emails 021708

Hey folks,

I know it's Sunday. But since the breaking news about the House being bought off by Trial Lawyers and walking out on America was happening on Friday, I felt that was a bit more important to talk about. Now, I want to thank all of you who sent in emails this week. Friday / Saturdays night was GREAT Emails. Seriously. I really enjoyed going through it. Today I will highlight two. Both having to do with Senator and Presidential Candidate Obama.

First up, by Gary D. Halbert. Gary D. Halbert is the president and CEO of ProFutures, Inc. and its related companies, collectively known as "ProFutures Investments." Located in Austin, Texas, ProFutures Investments is a highly diversified investment advisory firm that manages hundreds of millions of dollars for investors all across the U.S.

Finally, Be Careful What You Wish For!

No doubt, many conservatives, and indeed a growing number of Democrats, would like nothing more than to see Obama take out Hillary, with no return of the Clintons to the White House. But those who are cheering Obama on had better realize just what they're in for if he becomes our next president.

On the foreign policy front, he has no experience. What we do know is that he intends to talk directly to foreign despots such as Kim Jong Il, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and others. He also wants to talk directly with Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, perhaps in the US at Obama's invitation. On the war in Iraq, Obama has made it clear he will withdraw our forces as soon as possible, no matter what the inevitable results will be for Iraq.

When Obama was asked if he thought an immediate withdrawal from Iraq would lead to chaos and genocide, the Associated Press reported he said: "The United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there."

Maybe Obama thinks he can sit down with Iran's madman Ahmadinejad, perhaps on Oprah's show, and convince him to stay out of Iraq after he pulls US forces out and leaves Iraq to the takers. Can he really be that naive? We just do not know.

On domestic policy, Obama has made it clear that he will raise taxes on upper income Americans in the first year of his presidency, in addition to eliminating the Bush tax cuts. Obama says he would cut taxes for middle class Americans, but he has offered no specific plan for doing so that I can find. Sounds like "get elected" rhetoric to me.

Obama has proposed eliminating the earnings cap on Social Security taxes - read raise taxes - now set at the first $102,000 of income. Those earning $102,000 or more would get an immediate tax increase, so the "wealthy" would become those earning just over $100,000 a year. Think about that. According to the Heritage Foundation and other watchdog groups, Obama's tax proposals would also raise taxes for millions of Americans that are considered to be in the middle class, despite his rhetoric to the contrary.

Also don't forget that employers are going to be required to pay half of the increased Social Security tax burden. Faced with an additional 6.2% of all payroll in excess of the $102,000 per worker, corporate profits will suffer and employers will likely look for ways to reduce costs. That could mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the economy. Hmmm...suddenly, soaking the rich doesn't sound like such a good idea, does it?

Obama has made it clear that he will institute his version of nationalized health care. While his socialized health plan differs somewhat from Hillary's, the results would be largely the same. He would put the world's greatest health care system in history on track to become on par with those of Europe and Canada over the next decade. Do we really want that? And more importantly, how do we pay for it? Can you say much higher taxes?

Next, Obama's higher income taxes will come at a time when the US economy is very possibly in a recession. Have we not learned the lesson that you don't raise taxes in a time of recession; just the opposite, that the best medicine for a recession is tax cuts? I guess not if you are Barack Obama (or Hillary). Unfortunately, most American voters don't think these issues through, and Obama knows it. Just vote for the candidate that promises the most.

And finally, what about the military and national security? Other than ending the war in Iraq as quickly as possible, little else is clear in regard to Obama's positions on these two issues based on what he has said publicly. Many left-wing ideologues tend (privately) to despise the military and want it reduced. Yet day after day, we hear that the US armed forces are already stretched too thin, and we need to strengthen the military. This is a key national security issue, and we need to know where Obama stands.

I could go on with the list of things we should be concerned about with regard to Barack Obama. But what concerns me even more is that Obama has said virtually nothing with regard to his specific policy positions. For the most part, all Obama talks about is "hope" and "dreams" for his presidential reign, and very little of substance. Maybe that is because of his inexperience.

Whatever the reason, Obama is clearly the most charismatic political candidate in a long time; yet he is the best at saying virtually nothing of substance. Nevertheless, it seems to be working.

Obama has been successful in bringing millions of younger Americans into the political process. This is the primary reason why the Democrats voting in this year's primaries have dwarfed the number of GOP voters.

Say what you will, but Barack Obama is a "paradigm shift" in American politics, for better or worse. Barring some big surprise, he is on track to knock out the Clintons for good in the next month or two. And if so, he has the potential to steamroll John McCain in November as well. I hope not.

Republicans have some important decisions to make just ahead: Will they get behind McCain or stay at home? The stakes are now very high.

Be careful what you wish for.....

Next week, we return to investment and retirement themes.

Very best regards,
Gary D. Halbert

Then this from someone who said this. "I thought you might be interesting in more information of Obama." Here is the link. Accuracy in Media - Obama’s International Socialist Connections, by Cliff Kincaid

Campaign workers for Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama are under fire for displaying a flag featuring communist hero Che Guevara. But Obama has his own controversial socialist connections. He is, in fact, an associate of a Chicago-based Marxist group with access to millions of labor union dollars and connections to expert political consultants, including a convicted swindler.

Obama's socialist backing goes back at least to 1996, when he received the endorsement of the Chicago branch of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for an Illinois state senate seat. Later, the Chicago DSA newsletter reported that Obama, as a state senator, showed up to eulogize Saul Mendelson, one of the "champions" of "Chicago's democratic left" and a long-time socialist activist. Obama's stint as a "community organizer" in Chicago has gotten some attention, but his relationship with the DSA socialists, who groomed and backed him, has been generally ignored.

Blogger Steve Bartin, who has been following Obama's career and involvement with the Chicago socialists, has uncovered a fascinating video showing Obama campaigning for openly socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Interestingly, Sanders, who won his seat in 2006, called Obama "one of the great leaders of the United States Senate," even though Obama had only been in the body for about two years. In 2007, the National Journal said that Obama had established himself as "the most liberal Senator." More liberal than Sanders? That is quite a feat. Does this make Obama a socialist, too?

DSA describes itself as the largest socialist organization in the United States and the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International. The Socialist International (SI) has what is called "consultative status" with the United Nations. In other words, it works hand-in-glove with the world body.

The international connection is important and significant because an Obama bill, "The Global Poverty Act," has just been rushed through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with the assistance of Democratic Senator Joe Biden, the chairman, and Republican Senator Richard Lugar. The legislation (S.2433) commits the U.S. to spending hundreds of billions of dollars more in foreign aid on the rest of the world, in order to comply with the "Millennium Goals" established by the United Nations. Conservative members of the committee were largely caught off-guard by the move to pass the Obama bill but are putting a "hold" on it, in order to try to prevent the legislation, which also quickly passed the House, from being quickly brought up for a full Senate vote. But observers think that Senate Democrats may try to pass it quickly anyway, in order to give Obama a precious legislative "victory" that he could run on.

Another group associated with the SI is the Party of European Socialists (PES), which heard from Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, back in 2006. Dean's speech is posted on the official Democratic Party website, although the European socialist parties are referred to as "progressive." Democrats, Dean said, want to be "good citizens of the world community." He spoke at a session on "Global Challenges for Progressive Politics."

Following up, in April 2007, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen reported that European socialists held a meeting "in the Democrats HQ in Washington," met with officials of the party and Democratic members of Congress, and agreed that "PES activist groups" in various U.S. cities would start working together. The photos of the trip show Rasmussen meeting with such figures as Senator Ben Cardin, Senator Bernie Sanders, officials of the Brookings Institution, Howard Dean, and AFL-CIO President John W. Sweeney, a member of the DSA. The Brookings Institution is headed by former Clinton State Department official Strobe Talbott, a proponent of world government who was recently identified in the book Comrade J as having been a pawn of the Russian intelligence service.

The socialist connections of Obama and the Democratic Party have certainly not been featured in the Washington Post columns of Harold Meyerson, who happens not only to be a member but a vice-chair of the DSA. Meyerson, the subject of our 2005 column, "A Socialist at the Washington Post," has praised convicted inside-trader George Soros for manipulating campaign finance laws to benefit the far-left elements of the Democratic Party. Obama's success in the Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses is further evidence of Soros's success. Indeed, Soros has financially contributed to the Obama campaign.

It is not surprising that the Chicago Democrat, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, has endorsed Obama. Schakowsky, who endorsed Howard Dean for president in 2004, was honored in 2000 at a dinner sponsored by the Chicago chapter of the DSA. Her husband, Robert Creamer, emerged from federal prison in November 2006 after serving five months for financial crimes. He pleaded guilty to ripping off financial institutions while running a non-profit group. Before he was convicted but under indictment, Creamer was hired by the Soros-funded Open Society Policy Center to sabotage John Bolton's nomination as Ambassador to the U.N.

After his release from prison, Creamer released a book, Listen to Your Mother: Stand up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, described by one blogger as the book that was "penned in the pen." A blurb for the book declares, "Some people think that in order to win, Democrats need to move to the political center by adopting conservative values and splitting the difference between progressive and conservative positions. History shows they are wrong. To win the next election and to win in the long term, we need to redefine the political center."

In addition to writing the book, Creamer is back in business, running his firm, Strategic Consulting Group, and advertising himself as "a consultant to the campaigns to end the war in Iraq, pass universal health care, change America's budget priorities and enact comprehensive immigration reform." His clients have included the AFL-CIO and MoveOn.org. In fact, his client list is a virtual who's who of the Democratic Party, organized labor, and Democratic Party constituency groups.

Creamer's list of testimonials comes from such figures as Democratic Senators Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Harold Meyerson, MoveOn.org founder Wes Boyd, and David Axelrod, a "Democratic political consultant."

Axelrod, of course, is much more than just a "Democratic political consultant." He helped State Senator Barack Obama win his U.S. Senate seat in 2004 and currently serves as strategist and media advisor to Obama's presidential campaign.

Be right back.

Peter