Billionaires Steal Elections: Chamber of Commerce- A century of secrets and lies

The public is fed up.

Activists, led by Public Citizen and our allies, marked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 100th anniversary with a rally and a march last Friday on the Chamber’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

There, in a mock “birthday” celebration, we delivered cards signed by more than 30,000 activists like you.

Our message to the Chamber was clear: End your century of secrets and lies by disclosing which corporations are secretly funding the negative, misleading campaign ads you’re running across the nation.

Check out video and photos from the rally and read more about the event.

No political ads this year will say “Paid for by Chevron” or “I’m Dow Chemical and I approve this message.”

That doesn’t mean Corporate America isn’t spending millions to broadcast deceptive political ads.

As a consequence of the U.S. Supreme Court’s reckless ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, massive corporations, billionaires and other interest groups can launder their political spending through the Chamber and dark money groups like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS, concealing the spenders from any accountability to the voting public.

In the coming year, we’ll turn up the pressure on the Chamber — which also distorts the lawmaking process with its legions of corporate lobbyists — in order to inform the public about its efforts to make our government one that’s run by the corporations, for the corporations.

Read our blog for more about the Chamber’s attempts to distort our democracy.

And we’ll continue our fight for bold new reforms, including a new Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring disclosure of corporate political spending and a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, to make sure lawmakers prioritize human needs over corporate greed.

Thanks for all you do, Rick Claypool Public Citizen’s Online Action Team action@citizen.org

Romney Steals 2012 Presidency by Purging 5-8 Million Legitimate Black ,Hispanic and Jewish Voters from the Polls

Colonels in Mirrored Sunglasses

Thursday, September 6, 2012

An excerpt from Greg Palast's Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps with comics by Ted Rall and an introduction by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Here are the facts, ma'am:
In the 2008 election, no less than:

• 767,023 provisional ballots were cast and not counted;

• 1,451,116 ballots were "spoiled," not counted;

• 488,136 absentee ballots were mailed in, but not counted.

Add it up: in the last presidential election, no less than 2,706,275 ballots were cast—and never counted. I have not included a quarter million (251,936) provisional ballots counted only in part (that is, for some offices).
That's the official number I've calculated from the records of the US Election Assistance Commission.1 Approximately three million votes flushed away are ugly enough. But it gets worse.
In addition to the roughly three million ballots cast and not counted, no less than:

• 2,383,587 would-be voters had their registrations rejected;
• 491,952 voters already registered were wrongly purged from the rolls; and
• 320,000 properly registered voters were simply turned away from the polls when they tried to vote, mostly for not having IDs acceptable to a poll worker.

Add it up again and total grows to no less than 5,901,814 legitimate votes and voters tossed out of the count. Let’s call it the Missing Six Million.
Karl Rove, when he was senior advisor to President George W. Bush, summed it up perfectly:

“We are beginning to look like we have elections like those run in countries where the guys in charge are, you know, colonels in mirrored sunglasses.”

Rove's not complaining, he's boasting about his own accomplishments.
But for strategist Rove, six million isn’t enough. Through several front organizations and affiliates, Rove and his comrades have launched a campaign making brilliant use of the tactics originating from the Red Scare and the War on Terror. Now, instead of the communist lurking under your bed or the al-Qaeda sleeper cell next door, they’ve created a new monster to fear, to hunt, and to destroy: the Fraudulent Voter.
There aren’t any, of course. Or, to be accurate, so few you can literally count them on your fingers—about six in any year—not six million, half a dozen jerks convicted of voting illegally. In the whole country. But in Rove’s echo chamber of fear, in the Voter-Fraud Hysteria Factory, these six become so threatening and dangerous that they will be used to take away the vote from six million.
Tracking ballot-bending tricksters, figuring out how they game US elections and snatch the choice away from the electorate, that’s my job, my beat for more than a decade, for the Guardian newspaper and BBC television, and in 2008, for Rolling Stone.

I started covering the election games in November 2000 when I got my hands on two computer disks from the office of Secretary of State Katherine Harris of Florida. My team cracked the computer
codes and found the names of ninety-one thousand criminals—felons—Harris listed to purge from voter rolls.
We went through Harris’s list name by name. We didn't find felons. But most were guilty of VWB: Voting While Black.

Chapter Two: "Why Obama Is Likely to Lose in 2012"

“Purging” is one way to get rid of legal voters. There are eight more tricks, and I’ll take you through each in turn. It was bad in 2000. It was worse in 2004 and 2008. But in 2012, it will be muchworse. And in 2016, worse than in 2012."Why Obama Is Likely to Lose in 2012" is the title of a column Karl Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal in June 2011.
It’s not Rove’s prediction: this is his plan to make sure Obama will lose. That's fine with me—if Rove prefers vanilla to chocolate, hey, it's a free country. But how Rove plans to take Obama down is contained in the subhead, and it gives me the chills...
... Read the rest in Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps.
*****
Greg Palast is the Author of the recently published, acclaimed book Vultures' Picnic and the New York Times Bestsellers Armed Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Palast has investigated US election irregularities since 2000 where he first uncovered Katherine Harris' purge of thousands of innocent black Floridian voters from the voter rolls, thus handing the White House to George W. Bush.
Palast has since reported extensively on election issues for BBC Newsnight, the UK Guardian papers, Harper's Magazine, The Nation, Democracy Now! and Rolling Stone.
Palast's brand new book Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps, will be out on September 18. You can pre-order Billionaires & Ballot Bandits from Barnes & Noble, Amazon or Indie Bound. Author's proceeds from the book go to the not-for-profit Palast Investigative Fund for reporting on voter protection issues.
Or donate and can get a signed copy of the book.
MEDIA requests (Interviews, Review Copies, excerpts etc.) contact us.
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Romney Steals 2012 Election By Purging 5-10 Million Legitimate Black,Hispanic and Jewish Voters from Polls

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Greg Palast: "Mitt Romney’s Bailout Bonanza: How He Made Millions from the Rescue of Detroit"

Greg Palast: "Mitt Romney’s Bailout Bonanza: How He Made Millions from the Rescue of Detroit" We turn now to a major new exposé on the cover of The Nation magazine called "Mitt Romney’s Bailout Bonanza: How He Made Millions from the Rescue of Detroit." Investigative reporter Greg Palast reveals how Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney made some $15 million on the auto bailout and that three of Romney’s top donors made more than $4 billion for their hedge funds from the bailout. Palast’s report is part of a film-in-progress called "Romney’s Bailout Bonanza." Palast is the author of several books, including recently released New York Times bestseller, "Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps." [includes rush transcript]

Filed under  Mitt Romney, Election 2012, Greg Palast

Guest:

Greg Palast: "Mitt Romney’s Bailout Bonanza: How He Made Millions from the Rescue of Detroit" Greg Palast, investigative reporter who has tracked Romney’s "vulture" fund partners for five years for BBC Television’s Newsnight. He is the author of the recently released New York Times bestseller, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps. His new Nation exposé is called "Mitt Romney’s Bailout Bonanza: How Mitt and Ann Made Millions — and Mitt’s Hedge Fund Donors Made Billions — from the Auto-Industry Rescue that He Condemned."

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Links

• "Mitt Romney's Bailout Bonanza" (The Nation)

Editor's Picks

• Reporter Greg Palast Exposes How U.S. "Vulture" Funds Make Millions by Exploiting African Nations Nov 22, 2011 | Story
• Greg Palast on Vote Rigging and Suppression Ahead of the 2008 Election Oct 09, 2008 | Story
• Goldman Sachs v. Occupy Wall Street: A Greg Palast Investigation

Before Gas Hits $8 A Gallon,Here's What To Do.....

You won't hear about this from the grease jockeys at your local gas station...
You won't hear about it from the top brass of Big Oil either.
But we've recently learned that anybody could start collecting hundreds and even thousands of dollars per year, even as American gasoline prices continue to go up.
In fact, even if you don't drive and never buy gas... you can still collect.
Real checks. In substantial amounts. And up to 12 of them per year.
Or at least, that's what I'm going to show you today.
Are these "paybacks" the same as getting a flat out gasoline "refund?"
Not exactly.
The checks are yours to spend. And they come automatically. As I said, we've learned of a way to safely collect as many as 12 of these "gasoline payback" payouts per year.
As you'll also see, this strategy has also been written up by Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and others. Yet, it might surprise you how few Americans actually know about it.
You might also be surprised at how well it can pay.
For instance, I have no idea how much American investor Lynn Eisenhans spends per month on gasoline. But I can tell you that last August, she used this strategy to get paid an extra $1,215 cash.
And then there's someone like Thurmon Andress, who learned how to use this plan to collect at least $10,043 in extra cash income over the course of last year.
Investor Bill Barnett also did this, and managed to take home an extra $11,768.
Any way you slice it, that's more than enough to fill a gas tank several times over. And I'm just giving you some of the smaller examples.
There are still others who figured out how to make even more.
Like...

...American investor Mark Hurley, who says he took in a whopping $21,734 on April 27, 2011, thanks to this special "plan". And he's made more since...
...or businessman Ted Gardner, who learned he would be getting over $49,914 on July 28 of last year, thanks to this program...
...and American Lynn Bourdon, who has already tapped this little-known opportunity for a life-changing payout of $140,689, with more on the way...

Amounts this big are hardly the norm. Especially at the beginning. But what you're about to see is that even payouts that start out small could quickly grow much larger.
So large, in fact, that many American investors are realizing that these gas-backed "plans" are not just a smart way to cover the rising cost of gasoline... but a new way to pay for retirement.
In fact, some of these "plans" are so generous, you can use them to collect as much as three times the money that your typical blue chip income stock might pay.
Who's forking over all this cash? This might be the best part.
Because it's Big Oil itself that's indirectly forced to pay.
Again, I'm not talking about getting big oil companies to mail you dividends. In fact, earning these gas-backed income payouts that we're talking about has nothing to do with owing income-paying oil shares.
Instead, I'm talking about a generous, gas-backed money move most retirees know nothing about. Around here, we call it the "10-86 Plan."
That's because this opportunity has actually existed "off radar" for many investors since October 1986, when it was first signed into law by none other than President Ronald Reagan.
See, what Reagan did was open up a huge and vital part of the oil and gas industry to private investors to help spread out the costs of growing the nation's oil business.
It turned out to be a master stroke.
What these "10-86 plans" do is let you literally own a portion of America's vast gas and oil infrastructure... and then collect income from the Big Oil companies that use it.
So as America's oil network expands, so could your income stream. It's that simple. You're getting paid because the Big Oil companies need what you have... just to do business.
Many wealthy Americans already use these plans to take in considerable amounts of income... along with other special advantages that come with your typical "10-86 plan."
But lately, other Americans have started looking to this move for extra income too.
Why now?
Don't get me wrong.
There's nothing wrong with collecting regular stock dividends, any way you can get 'em. And when gas prices are booming, classic "Big Oil" companies can pay just fine.
Just don't expect them to pay at the levels we're talking about here.
For instance, take Royal Dutch Shell
In 2010, Shell had a banner year. And 2011 was even better. They've posted a 77% jump in profits. But how much of that have they given back to their shareholders?
About 4.5%.
Some of the "10-86 plans" I can show you offer double those yields.
Then you've got British Petroleum.
I'm sure you remember how BP froze their shareholder payouts during their gigantic Gulf oil disaster. But they're back to paying shareholders now. How much? About 3.7%.
Again, not bad.
However, I'd like to show you "10-86 plans" that could pay you better, backed by the same steady American demand for energy resources.
There's also the American oil giant, Exxon.
Last year they saw their income spike 41%.
How much do their shareholders get? Just 2.2%.
What I'm saying is that the three "10-86 plans" I've found for you also draw in "Big Oil" cash... and then pay out with as much as triple the yields other income stocks pay.
If you draw from that energy-backed wealth anyway, doesn't collecting triple the yields from a "10-86 plan" sound like a good idea? Of course it does.
As Smart Money puts it,

" ['10-86 gaspump payback plans'] are producing some of the best yields anywhere... some of the sharpest investors in the field are expecting double-digit total returns for some time to come."

And it's not just the bigger payouts where "10-86 plans" and stocks part ways.
See, unlike regular "Big Oil" dividends, these "10-86 plans" can help you...
Collect energy-backed income, even if gas and oil prices crash
How could that be?
I'm sure you know that Big Oil companies own the gas and oil they sell. That's one of the big reasons why they take a big hit when oil prices drop.
But not "10-86 plans."
They're energy backed, yes. But they typically don't own any oil or gas. Instead, what the "10-86 plan" operators do is get paid to move the oil and gas around the country.
You see, "10-86 plans" were created to build the 385,000 mile pipeline network that flows fuel back and forth across the U.S.
Take a look at this map...

While you sleep, the lifeblood of America pulses through this network.

America cannot survive without this fuel network.
And neither can Big Oil.
These pipelines flow oil and gasoline across deserts, across snow and across ice fields. Even mountain ranges. Some of the pipes are a mile long, others stretch over 1,000 miles.
Many are buried where you'll never see them, underground.
Obviously you couldn't build a network like this without spending a fortune.
That's why Reagan signed his "loophole" to create a way to pay for these pipelines without forcing any one company or the U.S. government to pay the tab.
It's capitalism at work.
Because these "10-86 plans" allowed investors to band together and build the pipelines instead... in return they get paid fees by anyone using their pipes.
It's just like you paying a toll to use State highways.
Only in this case, it's gasoline, oil, and liquid natural gas that are flowing.
And it's Big Oil footing the bill.
These pipes are typically full and flowing, day and night. And the fees pour into the "10-86 plans" in a steady stream.
Even when gas prices drop, these pipelines typically remain full... flowing fuel from crude oil deposits to refineries and storage fields.
That's how "10-86 plan" owners keep getting paid. And thanks to Reagan's law, they also get to rake in all that "Big Oil" fee income-tax-free.
That's right.
This is a "for profit" business paying zero federal income tax.
How rare is that!
Of course, there's a catch.
See, because they're getting such a big tax break, the plan owners have to agree to pass on a lot of these profits between partners. By law, they have to give out 90% of that cash.
And then it's just the partners paying tax at their own rates.
In other words, the "10-86 plan" partners are getting their hands on money coming in... but without forking over for the usual double-tax other corporations pay.
Here's where you come in...
Anybody can join as a partner and collect a share of this incoming cash.
It's like getting dividends, only bigger -- with these plans typically paying out much more than most income stocks pay. And you're not just a shareholder.
You're officially a part owner of the pipelines.
You don't need to do anything. There are no meetings you have to go to. You never even have to see the pipelines. You just take in your cut of the fees Big Oil pays.
Your typical "10-86 plan" sends out checks four times each year.
And I've found what I believe are the three best of these "plans" out there today.
Obviously, paying no income taxes can provide "10-86 plans" with huge pools of cash. And remember, by law they have to dole out 90% it... or risk losing their tax break.
And you could be on the receiving end of those payouts.
Here's why gas and oil prices don't much matter
In up markets, these pipelines flow oil and gas to refineries and shipping depots.
In down markets, the fuel still flows from refineries to storage.
But here's the real key.
You see, unlike the oil companies, "10-86 plans" don't own the gas and oil. And don't lose on those assets when prices go down.
To finish reading this article and find out how to invest in these companies click here.

Say Goodbye to 'Made-In-China'

And say hello to the breakthrough technology that's launching a 21st-century industrial revolution right here in America. Business Insider calls it "the next trillion dollar industry."

The suits on Wall Street think this idea is too good to be true. But the guys who brought you the iPod and Amazon.com are already on board. You still have time to join them, if you act fast...

Dear Fellow Investor,

Tell me if this sounds crazy. I just saw a violin appear out of thin air and play a Bach sonata.

And that's not the half of it.

Right before that, I saw someone cram a milk jug into a metal tube and pull a shoelace out at the other end. Heck, when I sat down to my desk this morning, I saw an anatomically perfect human kidney spun together on a cotton candy wheel. A surgeon used it to perform a successful transplant.

You're right. All of those things do sound crazy! But all of them are real.

And technology experts are convinced that this is just the beginning.

Not just hackers, hobbyists, and over-caffeinated engineering professors, mind you. We're talking some of the biggest players in the big ideas business.

They saw the same incredible video demonstrations that I did, and decided they just had to get a piece of the action.

• Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos joined an investment group that plowed $10 million of venture capital into this game changer.
• Google rushed their development team to make a software app for it.
• Hewlett Packard cut a deal with one of the two main hardware makers.
• The Consumer Electronics Association featured it at their 2012 extravaganza in Las Vegas, where it "stole the show."
• The Pirate Bay -- the world's most powerful digital copyright cheater -- released a manifesto declaring that intellectual property law is now obsolete and predicting the death of the factory as we know it. All because this "impossible" technology is now not only possible, but affordable.

Naturally, there are skeptics.

"People Will Never Buy One of Those !!!" -- Top 10 Bonehead Technology Predictions "[The telephone] is a great invention but who would want to use it?" -- U.S President Rutherford Hayes (1872) "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (1977) "Everyone acquainted with the subject will recognize [the light bulb] as a conspicuous failure." -- Chairman of the American Lighthouse Board (1880) "Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever." -- Thomas Edison (1889) "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value." -- internal memo to the President of RCA (1921) "Who the h*** wants to hear actors talk?" -- one of the Warner Brothers (1927) "Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant." -- Canadian astronomer (1902) "Television won't last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." -- Producer for 20th Century Fox (1946) "We don't think we'd do well in the cell phone business." -- Steve Jobs (2003) "But what is this [microchip] good for?" -- IBM Engineer (1968)

When it comes to truly disruptive ideas that force us to rethink our basic assumptions about everything, there always are.

Most "reasonable" people thought the telephone, the light bulb, the radio, the television, the personal computer, and the cell phone would never be commercially successful. (See the box on the right for a good laugh.)

But that's the thing about "reasonable" people. When they imagine the future, they only see the present.

The truth of the matter is, the world we enjoy today is built on technologies that imagined a new future.

Technologies that transformed ordinary people's lives by making them easier and better.

And that's exactly what this invention does.

Analysts in the know are calling it
"THE NEXT TRILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY."

Right now, only a few forward thinking investors understand how truly enormous this change will be.

But when we're looking at an industry that's sustained a mind-blowing 26.2% annual growth rate for more than 20 years… how much longer do you think that can last?

Look, I've never been the kind of guy who gets caught up in the "next big thing" hype.

My name is Mark Brooks, and I publish an award-winning financial newsletter called Motley Fool Stock Advisor.

Believe me, I've seen a lot of "next big things" come along in my day. So I don't blame you if you want to look before you leap.

Here at The Motley Fool, we don't chase after hype. We look for smart investments that have outstanding long-term growth potential.

We think for ourselves, and we think you should too.

So it took me a lot of research before I clearly understood how 3D printing was going to change our world in a profound way.

More than anything, it was one conversation that changed my mind...

That's why I urge you to take the next few minutes to read this report from cover to cover.

In plain language, it breaks down this incredible technology and how it will transform everything about our economy -- from manufacturing, to transportation, to healthcare, to defense, to education, to... you name it.

You'll learn about the three visionary companies that are destroying the S&P 500, and the one man who knows exactly when and how to invest in them.

What People Are Saying about The Motley Fool "Sharp, up to the minute financial advice." -- Wired "Solid information for individual investors." -- The Washington Post "An ethical oasis" -- The Economist "You can find vast amounts of help and information here, all written in plain English instead of Wall Street jargon." -- Fortune

He's up 210.0% since making his first investment in this technology in 2008. The rest of the market returned only 15.3%. He made 77.9% with his second 3D printing investment in 2009, even better than the 40.3% return that everyone else has made since then. And he's made an incredible 123.9% in just a few weeks by adding the third and final piece of this trillion dollar puzzle in January. (The S&P grew 8.7%.)

He's the one who convinced me this technology is for real. And that I needed the right plan if I wanted to invest in it.

What can I say? I'm a believer now.

So I was nodding my head in agreement when I saw the following headline on the newsstand at the airport the other day. It was in Forbes. It said this invention...

"Will Change Absolutely Everything
It Touches"

Are you ready to find out what it is?

I thought so. And I'd hate to keep you in suspense any longer.

It all started in the early 1980s, at a small laboratory in Southern California's canyon country.

That was right around the time that Hewlett Packard and Epson were marketing the first commercially successful desktop printers.

Skeptics at the time said no office would ever buy its own printer.

Then they said that it made no sense to put one on an employee's desk.

Then they said that nobody would want one in their home. That color printing would never work. Or photo printing...

But think about how much desktop printing has changed our working lives. Do you remember mimeographs? Carbon paper?

Secretaries?

Meanwhile, at that lab in the sun-kissed Santa Clarita Valley, researchers were already laying the groundwork for the next revolution.

This bold advertisement predicted that desktop printers would be an $11.84 billion market by 1985. The estimate turned out to be too conservative. The market for 3D printers was over $1 billion in 2011... how big could it become by 2015? And how much could you profit?

What was it?

If you think about it, a printer is really just a nozzle that moves from side to side, spitting out or pressing ink onto a two-dimensional surface -- a piece of paper.

It's not really the ink or the paper that matter, but the precision of the device, and the computer program that guides it to lay down the desired pattern.

That same computer software also powers more advanced two-dimensional printing technologies, like laser printers. And if we can print in two dimensions...there's no scientific reason why we can't also print in three dimensions.

(Click "play" on the video below and you'll see what I mean!)

Yes, there are 3D printers. You just saw a real one in action.

And just like 2D printing did, 3D printing is exceeding expectations by rapidly becoming both cheaper and better.

Machines that cost more than $100,000 a decade ago are now selling for $1,299.

And they can now print with more than 99 different materials. Not just high quality plastics, many of which are completely recyclable (like milk jugs) or biodegradable. But also some of the most durable and useful physical materials we use in the "analog" world, like wood, glass, rubber, steel, and concrete. Some printers can even handle biological materials like human kidney cells. Or composites of more than two materials that create special properties like heat resistance. Some can make three dimensional objects from ordinary printer paper and even chocolate.

But who would want to print in 3D?

How about an architect building a model? Or a product designer making a prototype? Or a dentist casting a mold?

These are some of the professionals who are already gaining a competitive edge by using 3D printing technology.

(One dentist in Belgium even fabricated an entire titanium jaw and successfully implanted it in an 83-year old patient. He says "there are no limits" to what 3D printing can do in the medical field: "We can replicate bones and even make them stronger than the original. It's like the Six Million Dollar Man.")

I know, I know.

As soon as I heard "3D" I thought it was just a gimmick.

I remember those ridiculous blue and red glasses we wore at the drive-ins in the 1970s. I remember when everyone was talking about "virtual reality" in the 1990s. And I've heard all the hype about today's 3D movies and 3D televisions (personally, they just make me dizzy).

But when it comes to printing, 3D actually makes sense.

In fact, it makes MORE sense than 2D printing does. I'm being completely serious!

Think about it... do we really need to print paper documents anymore? We can scan and email anything. I mean, I suppose we'll always physically sign and stamp our most important documents, like college diplomas and property deeds.

Our world just isn't made of paper anymore. And really, it never was.

Our world is made of physical objects with three-dimensional "resolution."

But right now, the way we create, manipulate, and transport those objects is just as primitive as dispatching a messenger on horseback with a scroll and a wax seal.

And that's all about to change.

Scientists at Drexel University in Philadelphia are using 3D technology to create exact scale-model replicas of ancient dinosaur bones, a breakthrough that was never possible before. Another group of researchers is making shells for "homeless" hermit crabs. (They like the printed shells even better than the real thing.)

The Air Force's new F-35 fighter jets use components created with 3D printers. The process can make complex structures that were previously impossible to manufacture.

Of course, paleontologists and hermit crabs don't pay big money for their 3D printing needs. But guess who does:

The United States Air Force.

They're using the technology to fabricate sophisticated parts for their new F-35 fighter jets. Rolls Royce is using them too.

And better precision is just one of many advantages that 3D printing fabrication holds over the traditional manufacturing process.

It's Faster... with 3D printing, the delay between design and fabrication is now a few hours instead of a few weeks. Motorcycle maker Ducati cut 20 months (or 70%) off its usual development time for a new racing engine.

It's Cheaper... companies that use 3D printing don't need to tie up capital investing in expensive tools and dies. They can also eliminate shipping costs. A small supplier to Nike called Union Footwear got a leg up on its bigger competitors by faxing its design bid in 3D.

It Encourages Innovation... by eliminating the delays and costs created by traditional "manufacturability" constraints, 3D printers allow designers to change their minds and implement a new idea at any time. An Ohio company that supplies crash test dummies to automakers is using the technology to produce new shapes and sizes that respond to client needs that can evolve by the day.

It's Less Wasteful... traditional manufacturing is "subtractive," discarding up to 90% of the initial blocks of raw material. 3D printing is an "additive" process that builds objects from the ground up, layer by layer. One architect is even using it to make entire buildings.

It's More Durable... designers can tweak these "additive" printers to produce denser (but lighter) layers of material than would usually be possible. The Smithsonian is using 3D printers to digitize their entire collection; the statue of Thomas Jefferson you see in the National Museum of American history is actually a 3D replica of the original brass statue.

It's Customer Friendly... 3D printing allows for a level of product customization and personalization that has never before been possible. Shoppers are already ordering lamps, jewelry, sunglasses, and even bikini swimsuits, all made to their exact specifications. (I know I won't miss having to try on shoes at the mall.)

Karl Marx said the problem with capitalism is that it makes "everything solid melt into air."

I think we all know the problem with Karl Marx !!

But it turns out he was right about this one thing.

Actually, his statement doesn't go far enough.

With three dimensional printing...

There is no longer any important difference between a computerized design that exists in "the cloud" and
a real, physical thing.

If you remember the old Star Trek shows, which take place in the distant future of the 23rd century, a device that could print physical objects from computerized designs was called a "replicator."

Incredibly, this science fiction is now fact.

And here's how smart 21st century capitalists like you and me can take this real-world replicator straight to the bank.

While everyone else will be left behind, wondering how they missed out on something that makes so much sense.

If a physical object is a software code, then... there are no longer economies of scale in manufacturing.

In other words, it won't make sense any more to pay Chinese factory workers to make 100 million duplicates of the same product. Better to pay American designers to make 10,000 different products specially tailored to individual customers -- in the exact size and style they want to buy. Products they can receive in the mail, or print out at Home Depot, FedEx Office, Wal-Mart, or whichever retailers are smart enough to embrace this technology first.

If a physical object is a software code, then... everyone from an aerospace engineer to an ice sculptor is really a computer programmer creating digital designs.

And the market for those designs will be just like today's market for music, movies, and books. You'll have the iTunes store, Amazon.com, and other legitimate download vendors on one side of the law, and a thousand fugitive "pirate bays" on the other. Your grandchild's Happy Meal toy will be scanned onto your smart phone at the cash register and it will be finished printing before you get home from the drive-through.

Finally, if a physical object is a software code, then... the companies that make the best design software and the companies that can offer a comprehensive package of hardware, input materials, and servicing stand to make HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

Just like Hewlett Packard, Epson, and Canon have made on 2D printers. And here's how...

What did you pay for the desktop printer you own now? Probably not all that much.

OK, now here's a better question. What did you pay for the cartridges? And how much money does your company pay in servicing costs for its main printer hub?

This is what economists call a "razor and blade" model. Sell the razor as cheaply as you can. But lock in repeat business from loyal customers who need replacement blades.

Right now 80% of the people buying the raw materials that 3D printers use, in the form of cartridges and powders, are using them to create and test prototypes. But once 3D printers come to be used mainly for the end stages of production -- a research firm called Wohlers that has expertise in this area says it will happen before the end of the decade -- the demand for those "blades" will increase dramatically.

Demand will also skyrocket as the technology becomes more mainstream, just like it did for computers and cell phones. That will push prices down, which in turn will pull demand even higher.

The Atlantic explains the process like this:

"First... companies create and use a very expensive set of technologies. Then, garage tinkerers start to use... cheaper, smaller versions of the original technology. They create a culture that makes the technology easier to use and they give it more users, which drives down its costs. Finally, when it is sufficiently cheap and easy to use, mass market consumers start to buy it."

Right now, we're at the very beginning of the transition from the "garage" stage to the "mass market" stage.

And that's the moment when you want to be investing.

Sure, you could make some money later.

You could wait until the market is more "proven." But as we've seen, this technology is already scientifically sound, and it's already used by professionals in every imaginable field of human enterprise.

You'd really be waiting for other investors to catch on. Because when the big money on Wall Street finally embraces 3D printing, the growth in this industry is going to be massive.

Did you invest in Apple in 1980?
Did you invest in Microsoft in 1986?

If so, you're probably reading this on your yacht, sipping a $150 glass of champagne.

If not, this could be your second chance.

And I've heard comparisons that are even more exciting.

Three-dimensional printing "may have as profound an impact on the world as the coming of the factory did... Just as nobody could have predicted the impact of the steam engine in 1750 -- or the printing press in 1450, or the transistor in 1950 -- [this] technology is coming, and it is likely to disrupt every field it touches."

It gets better...

The person who just compared the 3D printer to Gutenberg's revolutionary printing press isn't a wild-eyed blogger living in his parents' basement.

Or an excitable housewife who saw the detectives on CSI using a 3D printer to make a model of a crime scene bullet.

He's a writer for The Economist. (The thinking businessman's favorite sleeping pill.)

His 3D printing article was the COVER STORY.

And The Economist isn't the only traditionally sober publication doing backflips over the incredible potential of this industry.

It seems like everywhere I look these days, I see an article about 3D printing.

The problem is, none of these articles have compelling, easy to use advice for the individual investor who wants to put money into this industry NOW but isn't sure which companies to invest in.

That's why, when it comes to my own money, I rely on David Gardner.

He was one of the first high-profile investment advisors to understand the tremendous potential of 3D printing.

That was back in 2008 when nobody in the news media was talking about it, and when most of the companies in the industry weren't even showing a profit yet.

In the years since, David has identified three companies in the 3D printing industry that he calls "top dogs" and "first movers." Companies positioned to dominate over the next 10 years because they have the six key traits that signal explosive growth.

It's the same method that made David a legend in the investment business. (CNN's Money.com website calls him one of "the most widely followed stock pickers in the world.")

He's delivered mind-bending returns -- in the worst economy since the Great Depression, he's picked companies that soared 1,493%, 2,366%, and even 2,382%. But he also built his world famous reputation by sticking up for the little guy -- individual investors like you and me who need sound advice to navigate a financial system that's rigged to benefit insiders.

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