There was a widely read Chicago Tribune op-ed written a few days ago outlining an approach to dissolve the entire state and apportion the geography to Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa. –SEE HERE–  It was written tongue-in-cheek, but with an uncomfortable level of reality behind it.

Illinois has been struggling with its finances for a long, long time.

The Illinois long-term labor pension liabilities are ridiculous in the extreme.  However, things just went from bad to jaw-droppingly, gobsmackingly, unbelievably worse.

According to the latest financial media reports, Standard and Poors Global Ratings agency has positioned Illinois bonds to drop below “investment” grade; that would make Illinois the first state in the nation to achieve “junk bond” status.

(Via ABC) Illinois is on track to become the first U.S. state to have its credit rating downgraded to “junk” status, which would deepen its multibillion-dollar deficit and cost taxpayers more for years to come.

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USTR Robert Lighthizer delivered testimony to congress today including an outline of dates, objectives and policy initiatives the Trump administration trade team plan to act upon in the next several months.

Important Discussion.

The current U.S. “America First” economic and trade team is entirely deconstructing the globalist efforts formerly pushed by multinational interests, multinational corporations, multinational banks and Wall Street.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and USTR Robert Lighthizer are positioned to shred and reverse decades of trade manipulation that have punished the middle-class and manufacturing base.   The best part of the committee discussion begins at 10:00 of the video with Lighthizer’s opening statement (prompted).

https://youtu.be/98sgAnjJ-CQ?t=10m

Congress is apoplectic about being stuck between their Wall Street corporate benefactors and a Trump trade team that is only looking out for America’s best interests.  The level of lobbyist angst amid the Big Club is palpable.

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Before explaining I must state this is written with a servant’s heart.  It is not my intention to debate the arguments or merit of legislation, only to point out the logical pathway if people hang tough, support President Trump and stay out of the traps laid by special interests (and their special-interest paid troll army).

There’s a parallel, comparative and representative example of what President Trump’s smart policy team is trying to do with healthcare; it lies within another set of economic policy objectives.  However, it takes elevation in thinking to understand the approach.

The comparative example is within the banking and finance industry.

For those who have read all the statements, watched the hearings, listened intently to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, you might have already noted their approach to working around the ridiculously burdensome Dodd Frank regulations within the banking and finance sector. – OUTLINED HERE –

Essentially, instead of trying to untangle all the complexities of decades long DC constructs enmeshing and enlarging the bureaucracy around banking, Trump’s team is constructing a parallel system.  Cliff Noted for Brevity: (more…)

Before the Cedar Rapids MAGA rally, President Trump visited Kirkwood Community College for a speech on agricultural innovation with governor Terry Branstad and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

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Making America Great Again continues to run up against the reality of DC UniParty roadblocks.  Both Democrats and Republicans are procrastinating while hoping for any excuse not to participate in America-First policy advancement.

The election result in Georgia’s sixth district is yet another example of Trump supporters removing excuses the DC UniParty puts forth; yet the DC apparatus is so entrenched in their opposition to President Trump’s policy agenda, they sit idle spinning various congressional hearings-to-nowhere in an increasingly transparent effort to avoid action.

Anyone who believes Democrats own exclusive opposition to Donald Trump are completely ignoring the deliberate construct of the 2015/2016 republican primary. There are just as many -if not more- natural enemies within the Republican apparatus as there are within the Democrat group. “America-First” is antithetical to the UniParty.

Again, prior to Donald Trump there was one party in Washington DC, “The UniParty”. President Donald Trump represented a second party; an independent approach toward legislative and economic priority.  Trump was not a third party choice, Trump was the opportunity to finally get a second party in DC.

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Commerce Secretary Wilbur “Wilburine” Ross discusses the ongoing Trump economic growth strategy and the economic policy initiatives surrounding trade, tax reform, and more recently, investment in U.S.

Wilburine delivers a timeline of mid-July China trade meeting and also a mid-July outline to congress, put together by Ross and U.S. Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer, explaining the NAFTA trade renegotiation objectives which will begin mid-August.

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Secretary Wilburine also politely explains how the current valuation of the Mexican Peso and Canadian dollar appears to be weakened vs. the U.S. dollar as an outcome of markets predicting the NAFTA agreement will be far more beneficial to the U.S.  [sly smile]

Love how Wilburine explains @12:30: no distractions, we’re MAGA regardless of anyone paying attention.

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The business world is buzzing over Amazon’s $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods. CTH has received requests for opinion. Amazon stockholders may not like the perspective.

(Via CNN Money) The online retail giant announced Friday that is buying organic grocery chain Whole Foods (WFM) for $13.7 billion in cash. The deal values Whole Foods at $42 a share, 27% higher than where the stock was trading Thursday.

Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) said Whole Foods stores will continue operating under that name as a separate unit of the company. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey will stay on to lead Whole Foods, which will keep its headquarters in Austin, Texas. (link)

Here’s my review. Firstly, Whole Foods was available for purchase because Whole Foods business model was limited; and like the progressively minded organization they are – they allowed their Birkenstocks to travel beyond their limits, which always leads to failure.

In the PC corporate world ‘pending failures’ are called “challenges“, or “opportunities” if you don’t want to get kicked out of the boardroom.

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Intensely successful leaders, the ones of serious consequence, listen intently to the voices of people closest to the work before embarking on transformation. The expertise is always closest to the work. The most successful titans of industry have always kept themselves deeply connected to the actual work.

[VIA Mike Rowe] Barry Stout‎ writes… OMG did you have a chat with the President and Ivanka? I was just listening to the announcement and presser about 6 million open jobs in the country…Who knew?!

Ken Lucke writes… Did you write the comments for Sec. Acosta this morning? He sounded almost like you in his push for apprenticeship and vocational training. Your thoughts?

Sean Brink‎ writes… Thought I’d share this article with you, in case you hadn’t seen it. Sounds encouraging towards your pursuit. Ivanka Trump: CEOs can’t fill 6 million jobs, more skill-based training needed.

Gentlemen:

It’s been very gratifying, (and maybe a little vindicating,) to hear so much talk about the skills gap over the last 48 hours. To answer your question, Barry, yes – I did meet with some people from The White House a few weeks ago.

I happened to be in DC when I got an email inviting me to discuss mikeroweWORKS with the Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison. George Sifakis and his team were kind enough to meet me at my hotel in Georgetown, where I shared with them my belief that closing the skills gap will only happen if we reinvigorate the trades, and make a more persuasive case for the jobs themselves.

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Today President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing a program to create investment in private companies designing apprenticeship programs meant to fill some of the 6 million open jobs in the U.S.  Trump signed an executive order to roughly double to $200 million the taxpayer money spent on learn-to-earn programs. The money would come from existing job training programs within the Labor Department.

“We’re training people to have great jobs and high paying jobs,” Trump said at a White House ceremony. “We’re here today to celebrate the dignity of work and the greatness of the American worker.”

President Trump is directing the government to review and streamline some 43 workforce programs across 13 agencies.  Mr. Trump was reluctant to spend more federal funds on apprenticeships, so the financial boost is designed to come from existing money.

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Keeping the pressure on – During brief remarks at the airport today in Wisconsin President Trump again pointed out the need for congress to quickly address the current healthcare reform proposals.

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