Bankrupt U.S. Launches Yet Another Unconstitutional War Plus, an interview with veteran precious metals advisor, Tom Cloud

FTMDAILY.COM – Remember back in 2007-2008 when “Candidate” Barack Obama was against the war in Iraq. During his campaign stump speeches, he often vowed to bring the troops home by March 2008…

What a difference getting elected makes…

Now, President Obama is doing exactly what he was blaming President Bush for doing: getting entangled in other countries’ civil wars. In fact, back in 2007, candidate Obama made the below remarks about getting involved in other people’s civil wars (start the video at 2:00):

Presidential Candidate Obama in 2007: We Shouldn’t Get Involved in Civil Wars

In the heat of political campaigning, it is apparently so easy for us to believe the words that come out of the mouths of the candidates…

Only the Congress has permission to declare war…

Last week, the Global Post put out a story trying to figure out how many wars the U.S. is currently fighting. Their conclusion? Anywhere between 0-134 wars, depending on your particular definition of “war.”

With the U.S. waging battles all across the world, but without Congress’ official declaration (the last of which was June 1942), technically the U.S. is not at “war.” The executive branch (and other supporters of the wars) have long relied upon Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which refers to the president as the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.”

Despite this, the Constitution is clear that it is only the Congress that holds the exclusive right to declare war.

Throughout the last several decades, several administrations have supported and expanded the broad interpretation of Article 2. They will often claim that John Adams waged war on France without Congressional approval and Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary pirates among many other instances. However, those who attempt to use these cases to create expanded (and some would say, unlimited) powers for the Executive branch often resort to half-truths and often outright lies.

After the grave excesses by the executive branch in the Vietnam war, U.S. lawmakers passed the 1973 War Powers Act, which was a feeble attempt at reigning in the President, and his ability to wage war without consent from the Congress. This is a pretty bogus Federal law that has been used — and abused — by the Executive branch.

Under the language of the War Powers Act, the President of the U.S. may send U.S. armed forces into action abroad under only one of three scenarios…

1. A declaration of war by the U.S. Congress.

2. “Statutory authorization,” where the President has express authorization through a new or existing statute.

3. In the event of a “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” (Limited to 90 days, with 60 days of actual battle and a 30 day “withdrawal” period.)

So, if you are just going off of strict Constitutional definition, the U.S. has not declared war since June 1942 and all wars that the U.S. has waged since then have been illegal and unconstitutional and cannot therefore be called wars…

If you are not satisfied with that… that the U.S. is not currently engaged in any wars, then let’s just count the conflicts where the U.S. is currently launching drone attacks without an official declaration of war. This list includes six nations: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, and as of this week, Syria.

Yet another way to determine how many “wars” the U.S. is currently engaged in is to count the number of nations in which U.S. Special Operations forces are currently operating… that is, where at around the world that U.S. Special Operation forces are either involved in combat, special missions, or advising and training foreign forces.

That number stands at a whopping 134 nations, or 70% of all of the world’s nations.

According to the Global Post:

In 2013, the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM)…had special operations forces (SOFs) in 134 countries, where they were either involved in combat, special missions, or advising and training foreign forces.

So, in addition to fighting conventional wars, Washington is engaged in CIA drone campaigns, extensive electronic spying, and other covert and top-secret “special missions” in approximately 70% of the world’s nations.

And remember what Obama said in his recent speech when he announced his plans to go to war with ISIS. “Anywhere they are” is where America is going to war with terrorism.

But how does Washington expect to pay for this? And why aren’t taxpayers asking this question?

As our bankrupt government violates its own Constitution and recklessly invades sovereign nations and territories, it has no long-term plan. The world agreed with candidate Obama when he criticized President Bush for his “unconstitutional” wars. But now, President Obama has turned around and done the exact same thing.

Presidential-hopeful Mitt Romney was asked about this very thing during a debate just before the 2012 election. He was asked if he would need Congressional approval before invading Iran. His response was that he would let the lawyers sort it out! See below…

Mitt Romney’s War Plan: Forget Congress and Call the Lawyers



There was another candidate who had an answer to this question in the same debate. When asked if he would need Congressional approval before invading Iran, Congressman Ron Paul said “Absolutely!” Consulting the Constitution is the only way to enter into a war.

Back to Iraq for a moment, Fox News has been featuring a “prophetic” speech from George W. Bush about the folly of leaving Iraq. But long before Bush Jr. said those words, his would-be Vice President Dick Cheney warned of the folly of entering into Iraq. See video below.

Dick Cheney Says Occupying Iraq is a Bad Idea

I couldn’t agree more with the 1994 version of Dick Cheney on the issue of Iraq… we should never have gone into Baghdad! It is indeed a “quagmire”.

From the very beginning, this series of wars has been a huge mistake. According to a new survey, only 36% of Americans can name the three branches of government (executive, judicial, and legislative). So, what Americans don’t know won’t hurt them, right? Most Americans apparently don’t know, or don’t care, about maintaining the checks and balances in Washington. And the American people apparently think someone else is footing the bill for this war. Either that, or they just don’t care. (How many Americans would still want to maintain a global military empire if they had to personally write a check for it each month. Thus, the stealth income tax that takes money out of your check before you even get a chance to think about it!)

Speaking of writing the check for wars, recall the Sep. 10, 2001 announcement from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that $2.3 trillion had gone missing from the Pentagon. Americans didn’t care then and they apparently don’t care now. Besides, $2.3 trillion is “chump change” considering that we are now in an economic “recovery”. Let’s summarize this “recovery” Washington has been touting:

The national debt has risen $7 trillion since Obama entered office

36% of Americans have no retirement savings

1 out of 7 Americans rely on food banks to eat

1 out of 3 Americans aged 18-34 still live with their parents

America’s unemployment situation is dismal

And the list goes on and on…

This is the economic “recovery” Washington has been telling you about. Pushing along this “recovery” has been the fraudulent Federal Reserve.

The Fed’s artificial depression of interest rates has not only greatly enriched the same people who brought us the last economic crisis. It has also ripped off savers, prodded investors globally to take on excessive risks, and has nudged borrowers to beg for just a “little bit more” than they normally would under higher borrowing costs… It is beyond time to end the Fed. – Jerry Robinson

Americans who want to stop ISIS should demand that Washington begin, not by dropping bombs, but by cutting all financial support to the radical jihadi group. Where does the money come from? Well, they certainly have their own source of income from oil sales and taxes, but American “allies” in the region, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have also been funneling money to these terrorists.

Tell Washington to cut the funding before dropping bombs…

For even more on this topic and for the complete commentary, listen to the podcast above…

Introducing the NEW FTMDaily News Feed!

Trying to keep up with all of the news that’s important to you, your family, your faith, and your wallet can be a challenge. Additionally, sifting the “wheat” from the “chaff” can be an even greater chore. That’s why we are excited to announce the launch of the new FTMDaily News feed. The new FTMDaily news feed is an interactive way to stay informed. Leave a comment, share an item on Facebook, and read the comments of others. Tom Cloud – Precious Metals Advisor Tom Cloud joins us for the latest in the gold and silver markets and shares some of the fundamental and technical factors that are affecting prices right now. Free Precious Metals Investing Resources >> Click here for over 10 hours of free precious metals investing educational resources >>

Next, Jennifer Robinson is here to update our FTM Insiders on Trigger Trading activity for the past week. It was an up-and-down ride in the markets last week, but we certainly came out ahead with our stock trades. We earned over 8% on two of our positions: GNLG and CLX (GLNG earned 8.97% in only seven trading days!). Our play on Italy’s stocks market with EWI stopped out for a 3.04% loss. Three more of our trades stopped out, but thankfully after we had already raised the stop loss order to the breakeven price. We have two stocks in play in the markets: HBAN up 2.24% and SIRI, which is flat from its buy price. Six of Jerry’s stock ideas are still awaiting his trigger price. Recent Trigger Trade Performance Ticker Buy Date Buy Price Sell Date Sell Price Days Held Profit/Loss % GLNG 9/12/14 $65.88 9/22/14 $71.79 7 8.97% CLX 8/21/14 $89.48 9/22/14 $97.11 22 8.53% AMTD 9/17/14 $33.62 9/22/14 $33.62 4 0.00% IDTI 9/18/14 $16.66 9/22/14 $15.99 3 4.02% AVT 8/18/14 $43.52 9/19/14 $43.52 24 0.00% CSCO 9/3/14 $25.02 9/19/14 $25.02 13 0.00% EWI 8/28/14 $16.45 9/16/14 $15.95 13 -3.04% ERB 9/10/14 $3.87 9/16/14 $3.71 5 -4.13% View More Stock Trading Performance Results >>



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DISCLAIMER: The above trading ideas are from my own personal stock watchlist and are for educational and informational purposes only. They are NOT specific buy recommendations. Trading stocks is risky and you could lose all of your money. Trade at your own risk. Jerry Robinson is not an investment advisor. You should always consult a trusted financial services professional before making any financial or investment decisions. READ FULL DISCLAIMER.