Baltimore — (TFN): Somebody get a bucket because I’m about to puke. I am having an impossible time trying to digest what I’m reading and hearing this week.

How could things have gotten this bad?

My sister is one of those liberal teacher types with an ideology that so many of us like to pick apart. It’s sort of a sport of mine, but she understands and takes it like any sister should take a sibling rivalry. She drops her kids off at my house with little to no notice.

With our divergent political beliefs, you should have no problem guessing my reaction when she recently told me she was applying for dual citizenship in France.

“I just want my kids to have the best opportunities available to them,” she said. I just about plopped my pants when she showed me the paperwork. Opportunities… in France? She’s got to be kidding me.

But it turns out, big sis may be getting wise in her old age. After the news I heard this week, I’m thinking about sneaking through her back window tonight and rifling through her drawers. I want to know the process.

France is starting to look like a libertarian’s dream.

What pushed me over the edge? It wasn’t mandatory healthcare. Or a global tax on Wall Street. Or a Nobel Prize. Or pay caps. Or Cash for Caulkers (but that was close).

It was the news that Congress is working on legislation that would force the NCAA to go to a playoff system.

Yes, just days after committing tens of thousands of young men to a savage war and in the midst of figuring out how to redistribute a vast percentage of the nation’s GDP, a House subcommittee took the time and the tax dollars to discuss the BCS bowl situation.

Normally a subject reserved for sports editors and afternoon talk show hosts, our leaders feel this is a vital move for the American people.

Darn I’m glad I’ve got such a visionary sister. She saw this coming months ago. I just hope there’s time to get out before they lock us all in.

*** I know, I know. Many of you are saying what in the world does this have to do with contrarian investing.

My answer… everything.

Just imagine this country’s future, economically and politically if we have a government that believes college football or even mandatory healthcare is any of its business. Do you think we’re ever going to see the Dow hit 14,000 ever again?

Not unless Obama makes it an order.

I know a lot of investors think gold is the answer, but it isn’t. Hopefully this week’s plunge helps illustrate the point. With just the stroke of a pen, Obama could pull a Roosevelt and suck it all back in. You remember Executive Order No. 6102, right?

The answer is international exposure. Just like my sister, your portfolio needs dual citizenship. If you’re sitting on nothing but domestic positions, you are sitting on a time bomb. Tick… Tick… Tick…

Fire your advisor then seek international diversification. My preference is anything Chinese, but Australia, with its rising interest rates, and even Brazil (it already beat Obama once) aren’t looking too bad.

*** Earlier today, I told TFN readers about a Chinese car retailer that’s been making strong headway (i.e. triple-digit revenue growth) over the last year. If you’ve been reading anything from the group’s publisher, J. Christoph Amberger, you know the Asia car market is red hot.

Here’s a section of what I wrote:

“While the Chinese yuan is anything but free-floating against the dollar, a stronger American currency will certainly have an impact on any country exporting goods to the States.

“That’s just part of the reason why shares of AutoChina International (NASDAQ:AUTC) are up by over 15% today. The other major catalyst is the company’s latest fiscal results.

“The Chinese auto retailer is a relatively young company with a market value of $270 million and some 25 dealerships spread across the country. In case you’re not familiar with the Asian market, it’s red hot right now.

“The quarterly figures prove it. Over the last three months, the company recorded revenues of $242 million, a whopping 110% increase over this time last year. It turned the sales into a bottom line of $7 million, yet another triple-digit increase over last year’s figures.

“If you are frequent reader of TFN articles, AutoChina’s action is not new. We’ve been tracking and writing about this stock for months, as it share price quickly climbed from just $7 to over $30 and back to $24 today.

“From here, you can expect shares to top out near the $30 range once again in coming months if current macroeconomic trends (including the strengthening dollar) continue.”

You can read the original piece here.

*** Finally, political incompetency doesn’t stop in Washington. Oh no, state governments are just as useless. Isn’t that right, Arnold?

At home in Pennsylvania, we’ve got a gambling debate on our hands. Right now, slots and electronic forms of poker are perfectly legal, but bring that animated dealer to life and give him a good-paying job, and it’s illegal.

Of course, a political debate like this can’t go on without a little bit of leverage. Tied up with the gambling bill is funding for the state’s major colleges.

That’s right. While the local bozos determine what cut of gambling revenues will go to their campaign funds, tens of thousands of students are looking at higher tuition bills next month as schools like Penn State see their funding held as a political hostage.

In France, my sister’s kids won’t have to worry about tuition… it’s already included in the tax bill.

Once again, politics are getting in the way of running the nation’s businesses. I will give you one guess which party is behind the shenanigans. Yep, it is Nancy Pelosi and her business-hating Democrats.

Apparently, their only political goal is to not allow anybody to get rich until the nation is free from poverty, a trip to the doctor is free, and every person (whether they are willing to work or not) makes the same middle-class income.

As long as Pelosi has control of the big chair in the House, you might as well hang up your goals of becoming a rich businessman. In her eyes, profits are something you can only get if you steal from your neighbor.

Colombia has poor people too

By now, you must have heard of President Bush’s goal of lowering trade barriers with Colombia. With the possibility of being a key ally in Latin America, his administration wants to ensure free trade and continued economic cooperation.

Rational thinkers see there are very few ways, if any, this deal could hurt Americans. But Pelosi and her left-leaning posse are not known for their rational thinking.

Nope, they see this as a political opportunity to stand up for the little guy. You know the guy I am talking about. He has no education, four kids, does not like the way work makes him feel, and has a killer HDTV setup. Until the American taxpayer buys him a pain-free life (and he is locked in as a Democratic voter), international policy is on hold.

Pelosi says she opposes the free-trade deal with Colombia because of the way the country treats its union leaders. They tend to get killed.

I can understand why she feels that is a bad action to support. But has anybody wondered if those labor groups would have to fight less if we let natural economic laws run their course? If free trade were allowed with Colombia, those union leaders would not have time to fight. They would be too busy working.

Vote the “right” way

Let’s face it. In November, we have a very big decision to make. To the right, we could go with a pro-business, free-market protecting leader. And to the left, we could go with a pro-citizen, big-government kind of leader.

For decades, maybe even centuries, most economists have understood that money is best (most efficiently) spent by companies. After all, they have limited funds and a bottom line to protect. Governments, on the other hand, have the ability to continuously raise their revenues and have no profit margins to worry about. So why would they care about efficiency? It isn’t their money.

That is exactly why the Government Accountability Office just announced more than 40% of all federal credit card spending during a 15-month investigation period was unauthorized of fraudulent. Your hard-earned tax dollars were spent on things like custom suits, massages (no comments Mr. Spitzer), and even lingerie.

In all, it adds up to $14 billion of our money flushed down a golden toilet.

This figure tells us that nearly 40% of our tax dollars are being wasted. How many houses would not be in foreclosure, or how many people would be able to pay their health insurance bills, or how many kids could go to college if that money stayed in the hands of the folks that earned it?

If we want the American economy to rebound and be successful, we cannot raise more trade barriers. We need to eliminate them and let natural economic laws work. Even more importantly, we need to limit the size of our government and keep the nation’s money in the hands that earned it.

So Ms. Pelosi, I hope you kept the receipts for that lingerie. We want our money back.