- “We are all witnessing history”…
- $1 billion a day to fight Iran…
- Have you heard of the “Presidential Bypass”? It’s a legal loophole the rich use to keep their money. And though you might not know it, you can use the same exact loophole to slash your taxes.
Dear reader,
The Kobeissi Letter:
- This is absolutely insane:
- US oil futures are now on track to rise +60% this month, marking their largest monthly gain in history.
- This follows the +34.5% gain recorded last week, the largest weekly gain on record in data going back to 1982.
- We are all witnessing history.
Indeed we are — all witnessing history, that is. More:
- Our models now indicate US GDP growth will decline by -0.5% if current levels are sustained.
- That’s equivalent to roughly -$160 billion less economic output… if current levels are sustained for 3 months, US CPI inflation would rise to ~3.5%.
- This would put US inflation at its highest level since March 2024.
The U.S. Scolds Israel
Meantime, the armed forces of Israel evidently laid waste to 30 oil storage facilities in Tehran this weekend.
United States officials — the United States president rumored to be among them — snapped their fingers at their Israeli tag-team partner.
“We don’t think it was a good idea,” one senior administration official argued… likely by way of understatement.
One Israeli official claimed Washington’s message to Tel Aviv was a dismayed Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! — “WTF!”
The administration fears that setting Iran’s fuel aflame would deprive the Iranian people… and rally them to the regime.
What is more, the administration fears the spectacle. The spectacle, that is, of burning oil tanks that would send additional shudders through the energy markets.
And the president is exquisitely attuned to energy prices. In particular, to gasoline prices during an election year, of which this is one.
One advisor to the president told Axios that:
The president doesn’t like the attack. He wants to save the oil. He doesn’t want to burn it. And it reminds people of higher gas prices.
Iran Threatens to Retaliate
Tehran, for its part, is baring its fangs. It threatens to waylay the region’s energy infrastructure if the assaults upon its own do not cease.
If the president does not like oil prices now, how would he like them then?
Meantime, Tehran claims that the United States dropped bombs upon one of its desalination plants.
A sore Tehran retaliated — apparently — by assailing a desalination plant in Bahrain.
I hazard Tehran has several other regional desalination plants, including Israel’s, prominent in its target deck.
Where would the region’s nations acquire their fresh water? How would they maintain hydration?
All the while, Iranian drones and missiles have evidently rained successful destruction upon critical American radar systems throughout the region.
These radar systems were eyes intended to detect incoming missilery. Without them, American vision is largely blind to approaching projectiles.
Some of these radar systems may not be replaced for years.
Russia Seeks Payback
Here is a question: Is Russia facilitating Iran’s assaults upon American facilities?
Rumors swirl that Mr. Putin is indeed facilitating Iran’s assaults upon American military facilities — through detailed satellite imagery.
Is he? I hazard he is… and with relish.
That is because for four years the United States has been handing Ukraine precise coordinates to assault the Russian strongman’s men.
And turnabout, as is said, is fair play.
You may disagree or disagree. Yet can you display the facts?
Alas, seven United States personnel are slain to date. Several more are wounded, some likely severely.
My agents inform me that the true figure is likely higher. They inform me further that damage to United States military installations is far graver than reported.
Of course I cannot confirm the reports. And I hope they are mistaken.
Yet I must add that my men boast superior records of accuracy. They have acquired my loyalty, earned across time.
Incidentally: Those same agents report that Israel has absorbed greater blows than reported.
Yet I understand the Israelis are superexcellent censors… and run a heavy red pencil across the damage reports.
$1 Billion a Day
I am far more dismayed by the loss of life than the loss of money. Yet by credible estimates, Operation Epic Fury is proving epically and furiously costly.
The American taxpayer is being tapped nearly $1 billion each day it lasts.
$1 billion every day!
What if this conflict endures 30 days? 60 days? 90 days — or longer?
Heap that vast cost atop the elevated gasoline prices the American taxpayer will likely confront… and he is in for quite a hosing.
Yet the American taxpayer is a decent fellow. I hazard he would accept multiple short-term privations should Iranian regime change “work.”
Yet to date, Iran’s devil regime remains securely in the saddle.
Open Season for Arms Merchants
It is my sincere hope that events turn in the United States’ direction.
And as a somewhat debased and debauched fellow… who is given heavily to sin… I hold no brief for the Islamic Republic of Iran and its stifling theocracy.
Yet I am far from confident that events will transpire in the desired fashion. Have they in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Libya?
They have not. Of what, then, am I confident?
I am confident that United States arms merchants will drive an excellent trade in the times ahead.
After all, the depleted magazines must be replenished.
And do not forget about the China menace, the Greenland menace and — have you been following the news? — the Cuba menace.
Thus I am confident that the arms dispensers will rollick in clover… even as the nation they “serve” wallows deeper in debt.
We must conclude that the sword of the Republic is heavy indeed — and growing heavier with each passing year.
When will it prove too heavy to wield?
Brian Maher
for Freedom Financial News
