In 2010 the GOP said give us the House and we’ll put budgets and spending back into regular order. We did, they didn’t.  In 2014 the GOP said give us the Senate and then we’ll put budgets and spending back into regular order.  We did, they didn’t.  In 2016 the GOP said give us the White House and we’ll put budgets and spending back into regular order.  We did, and again, they did not.

The White House is scheduled to brief media on the latest insufferable congressional Omnibus spending bill.  Anticipated start time 12:15pm EST

UPDATE: Video Added

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If the U.S. were to exit NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the price you pay for most foodstuff at the grocery store would drop 10% in the first quarter and likely drop 20% or more by the end of the first year. Here’s why:

Approximately a decade ago the U.S. Dept of Agriculture stopped using U.S. consumer food prices within the reported measures of inflation. The food sector joined the ranks of fuel and energy prices in no longer being measured to track core inflation and backdrop Fed monetary policy. Not coincidentally this was simultaneous to U.S. consumers seeing massive inflation in the same highly consumable sector.

There are massive international corporate and financial interests who are inherently at risk from President Trump’s “America-First” economic and trade platform. Believe it or not, President Trump is up against an entire world economic establishment.

When you understand how trade works in the modern era you will understand why the agents within the system are so adamantly opposed to U.S. President Trump.

The biggest lie in modern economics, willingly spread and maintained by corporate media, is that a system of global markets still exists.

It doesn’t.

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One of the more interesting CPAC discussion segments between one of the top experts within the cabinet, Office of Management and Budgets (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney.

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Currently Director Mulvaney is wearing two hats; he spends 3 days a week as OMB Director, and 3 days a week as interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

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NAFTA is as precarious as a slow-spinning plate on a stick. Mexico and Canada are both  taking half-hearted turns recharging the momentum – while simultaneously looking for trade options due to, well,.. the inevitable.

The basic issue is a simple one; for the U.S. NAFTA has a fatal flaw. Canada and Mexico are used by China and Asian nations as a way to work-around direct trade with the U.S. and use NAFTA as a backdoor into the U.S. market.  It works out great for Canada and Mexico, but terrible for the U.S.  It’s a structural issue and no amount of negotiation is going to remove the fatal flaw unless Canada and Mexico agree to terms that are directly against their current financial interests.

Ergo POTUS Trump is positioned to withdraw.

Trying to keep the U.S. in NAFTA, but understanding the likelihood of exit, Justin from Canada originally approached China for a big trade deal.  Justin didn’t find Happy Panda in his discussions; instead he found The Red Dragon behind the Panda mask.  China was willing to talk trade, but China tiered their approach because Canada is only valuable to China as long as the NAFTA door is open.  Without NAFTA China has no use for Canada.

Justin left China with dragon burns and immediately realized his trade cards were getting weaker by the day…. so he had to sign-up for the Trans-Pacific-Partnership.  Unfortunately for Justin, though some think he didn’t realize the consequence, signing TPP guaranteed POTUS Trump would exit NAFTA.

Why?  Because if the U.S. stayed in NAFTA the TPP nations would now have a collective backdoor into the valuable U.S. market through Canada.  The NAFTA fundamental flaw just became more flawed.

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U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is attending Round Six of the NAFTA talks in Canada while President Trump, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin attend the Davos World Economic Forum and sit down for an interview with Maria Bartiromo. (Three Video Segments).

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss the ongoing government shutdown with swamp gatekeeper Chris Wallace.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and White House Legislative Affairs Director, Marc Short, hold a press conference to discuss the issues surrounding the Democrat led initiative to shut down government until the November mid-term elections.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney holds a press briefing to discuss the upcoming government funding lapse – aka. ‘The Schumer Shutdown”, that well, doesn’t actually shut anything down…

MAGAnomics – The first round of economic results from 2017 holiday sales are coming in and the results are incredible. Total holiday sales from November and December increased 5.5% over the prior year, that’s a massive jump.
Keep in mind, two-thirds of GDP is attached to consumer spending.  The spending jump to $692 billion will increase fourth quarter GDP growth when calculated.

(Via CNBC) Holiday sales jumped 5.5 percent compared with last year, marking the largest jump seen since the end of the Great Recession, the National Retail Federation said Friday.
Total sales for November and December were $691.9 billion, exceeding the industry trade group’s forecast of between $678.75 billion and $682 billion, which would have been an increase of between 3.6 and 4 percent.

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According to ADP payroll reports the U.S. economy added a whopping 250,000 jobs in December exceeding the earlier forecast of 190k. The DOW jumps over 25,000.

This jobs report bolsters confidence in the MAGAnomic prediction shared two years ago. So long as current economic trends continue, the explosion in private sector wage rates, middle-class wages, will begin around Q2 of this year (April – June). Once the eight year Obama-labor-lag is fully absorbed, a tighter job market will put upward pressure on real wages.

The Main Street economic engine, the “real economy”, is now positioned to overtake the Wall Street engine, the “paper economy”. Meaning actual profits and losses, real economic GDP growth, will drive company earnings and valuations in 2018.
There is an economic policy synergy now taking place.  The tax package that was passed shows how President Trump’s economic policy drivers (Ross, Cohen, Mnuchin) have structured Main Street businesses to willingly afford the wage rate increases.
The MAGAnomic dynamic is two-fold. The tax rates for the middle-class have dropped; simultaneous to this tax change increasing take home pay, the business sectors will have room to drive actual hourly wage rates higher. Lower rates and higher wages has a compounding impact on the amount of money in workers paychecks/pockets. See how that works?
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