The Canadian government shocked the professional financial and economic media with their latest fourth quarter GDP release showing the economy has essentially come to a grinding halt at 0.1% growth.  [Compare to U.S. GDP growth of 3%]
The Canadian Q4 GDP growth isn’t one percent, it’s one-tenth of one percent: 0.1%, essentially halted; but everyone discussing this is missing something very important.
First, The Financial Post headline:

[FP] Canada’s economy practically came to a halt in the final three months of 2018, in a much deeper-than-expected slowdown that brings the underlying strength of the expansion into doubt.
The country’s economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, for an annualized pace of 0.4 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday from Ottawa. That’s the worst quarterly performance in two and a half years, down from annualized 2 per cent in the third quarter and well below economist expectations for a 1 per cent annualized increase.

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Well, we cannot say we have not seen this Decepticon maneuver before.  The open-border, pro-amnesty, globalist Koch Brothers have announced, yet again, they will take action in the 2020 primary races to remove any/all nationalist-minded blue-collar populist (MAGA) candidates…. in an effort, once again, to install their Wall Street globalist crew.

This is where the Koch Brothers join in common cause with Tom Donohue and Mitch McConnell. The Big Club is nothing if not entirely predictable:

OXON HILL, Md. — The Koch political network for the first time plans to intervene in GOP primaries as part of a deliberate 2020 strategy to reverse years of essentially rubber-stamping the Republican Party in general elections.

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On Wednesday House Democrats organized a voted for legislation to increase federal background checks for gun purchases.  House minority republicans offered a ‘motion to recommit‘ adding a minority amendment provision requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be notified if an illegal alien attempted to purchase a firearm.
Twenty-six moderate House Democrats voted in favor of the common sense minority amendment and added it to the bill which passed the house.
In response to the ICE amendment success, Speaker Nancy Pelosi angrily announced she would invoke a nuclear option and change the House rules removing the ‘motion to recommit’ process that allows the voice of the minority to be heard.

Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was righteously angered by the threat of Speaker Pelosi to destroy a decades old institutional process that protects the voice and opinion of the minority. “Rather than reconcile the differences within their party that are driving this division, Democrats want to rig the rules and suppress the minority party’s speech on the House floor”, McCarthy said.
However, newly elected New York Democrat, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has another solution… Not accidentally similar to the ideology of the ultimate solution… Target the non-compliant representatives, provide violent activists a list of their names, and unleash the jackboots:
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Okay, now USTR Robert Lighthizer’s cautiously worded enforcement testimony starts to take on a fuller context.  When Ambassador Lighthizer was testifying before the mostly decepticon House Ways and Means Committee, he started to outline his newly designed trade enforcement mechanism… but he stopped; he didn’t want to reveal too much.
Now listen to Larry Kudlow describe “enforcement”.  WATCH:

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If you watched the USTR testimony you would have seen how the “enforcement” mechanism within the U.S-China trade negotiations was the priority for Lighthizer’s focus; and he specifically mentioned “layered” enforcement triggers, specific to each sector, and issue.
CTH has never seen a U.S. Trade Representative so structurally willing to clear-cut the entire bamboo forest if needed. Lighthizer is intensely focused on enforcement.
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Splitting the field with media-platform specificity. With the senators and congressional peeps out of the way now its time to start getting serious toward the 2020 platform, utilizing those with actual progressive executive experience; ie. the ‘Governors’.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee announces his presidential bid and outlines his appointed assignment, climate change. Just like the RNC club, the institution of the DNC club is far too predictable. Governor Inslee’s role is to moderate the GND issue, control the risk, and push the high-minded progressive climate change initiatives into the platform. He has ZERO chance of actually winning the nomination; he knows that; he knows his role.

WASHINGTON – […] Inslee acknowledged that, of the crowded field, he is an underdog, but underscored his stance on climate change saying he expects it to set him apart, arguing that no presidential candidate has launched a campaign as focused on climate change and environmental policy as he will. (read more)

The unofficial ‘chosen one‘, the intended party donor candidate, will not likely surface until April or May 2019. The DNC is predictable; it’s a club. It’s still too early for the anointed candidate to surface. Governor Inslee has a narrowly focused responsibility to highlight an important platform item, climate change for 2020.
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A Warrior Missed, Never Forgotten…

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The appearance of long-time Trump confidante Lynne Patton at the congressional testimony of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen created a considerable stir amid Washington DC.   However, the context of her appearance takes on even more drama when considered against Patton’s Facebook post from January 18th of this year:

Lynne Patton: […] 3) Many of you may already know that I considered Michael Cohen to be one of my very best friends. Countless people can confirm that we were virtually inseparable during my employment at Trump – and that he is, single-handedly – responsible for introducing me to the Trump family and effectively changing my entire life. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that my heart still breaks for him and for his family, with whom I had grown extremely close.
4) What many of you may not be aware of is the fact that I can personally confirm that the ONLY reason Michael Cohen “turned on” the President of the United States is because Mueller threatened to throw his wife in jail for up to 30 years. Period. She is the co-guarantor of a $20M personal loan that Mueller discovered Michael secured back in 2015 by falsely inflating the value of his taxi medallions – effectively making her part & parcel to the federal charge of “Making False Statements to a Financial Institution,” to which Cohen ultimately plead guilty. This is also the reason why Cohen’s longtime taxi medallion partner, Evgeny “Gene” Freidman, was granted immunity. (read more)

This is a rather stunning statement.  However, it holds the elements of truth and explanation as to why the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller/Andrew Weissmann, would pass off their assembled Cohen prosecution to the Southern District of New York.
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President Trump draws attention to the Tucker Carlson opening segment:
Here is the segment:

Following the transparently predictable, pre-planned and organized schedule toward Pelosi’s insufferable impeachment scheme, Chairmen Adam Schiff (HPSCI) and Elijah Cummings (WH Oversight) announce they will be calling additional Trump officials and family members for testimony.

Remember, the testimony of Michael Cohen is the cornerstone of the effort.  Cohen’s  testimony was organized immediately following the 2018 mid-term election.  This nonsense is all sequenced by design:

(The Hill) The House Intelligence Committee plans to question Felix Sater, the longtime business associate of President Trump involved in efforts to build a Trump property in Moscow, in a public hearing in March, committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told reporters Thursday.
Schiff said the open hearing with Sater is scheduled for March 14 and would focus on the Trump Moscow discussions. (read more)

Additionally:
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White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Kevin Hassett discusses the U.S. economy’s 2.6 percent growth in the fourth quarter, and the outlook for the U.S. economy through the rest of 2019.

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Notice how most of the financial pundits are focusing on what the “global economy” needs; specifically what the EU and China need to do to gain economic growth.  From that position, the U.S. trade reset is adverse to their financial interest; those financial interests are driven by Wall Street not Main Street.
Economic nationalists who understand the concept of ‘America First’ focus on what the USA economy needs, and do not accept a position that the U.S. should acquiesce our position to benefit the economic needs of other nations.  That’s the primary difference.
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