Following the defeat of Hillary Clinton democrat operative David Axelrod was the first to say the democrat party needed to create an opposition group as effective as the Tea Party. Within days Paul Begala, David Brock and Bernie Sanders were drum-beating a similar talking point.
Within the various regional meetings to select a DNC Chairperson an identical discussion has been repeated.
The larger progressive movement is trying to create a 2017 political oppositional force similar in scope and effectiveness as the 2009/2010 Tea Party movement.
That political goal has driven the constructed caterwauling and protestations for the past week.  However, there is one key difference which dooms any such effort: (more…)

…”There are trillions of dollars at stake”…

In addition to the content, pay close attention to the timing of policy delivery and the sequencing within the policy delivery.   With the outline of the visa suspension as lead-in toward a security policy, President Trump is also now entering economic policy phase 2.
It is all connected.
Within the larger economic construct of “America First”, the underlying supportive policy is easily seen as “Buy American, and Hire American”.  For the Phase One  “Buy American”, President Trump rolled out an aggressive push to leverage corporations and manufacturers to reinvest in U.S. manufacturing and U.S. production facilities.
While President Trump continues to push the economic benefits of domestic production, distribution and manufacturing. Phase Two is directed at the “Hire American” half of this equation. However, President Trump’s expressed security policy on immigration and refugee status suspensions overlaps on the employment aspect within “Hire American”.
Now President Trump fights the “BIG CLUB”:

Watch closely and you’ll note how many significant corporations come out in opposition to the Visa restrictions.  Their opposition is not about security; their opposition is, in no small part, because their strategic business models necessarily include the import of foreign workers.
The corporations who will be most vocal against the security visa executive action, will be those business interests who rely upon non-U.S. workers.  The America electorate is about to discover just how many foreign workers are inside the U.S. economic system. (more…)

President Trump Chief of Staff Reince Preibus engages discussions with guards at the entrance to the DC swamp.
Important yet subtle note:  Further evidence of this entire controversy being a trap by Trump is brutally evident within much of the one-on-one discussions.  Notice how the media are not as aggressive on the XO details… in this rare instance they are beginning to lean back from their skis.  It’s subtle, but it’s there.
NBC Chuck Todd is the first jibber weasel:

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Today is really quite humorous.  MSM broadcasts are full of segments of falsity, fake news, and gobsmacking hypocrisy.  Temp Visa restrictions and Temp Refugee ban are two entirely separate issues.  Additionally:
♦ President Obama puts six month ban on Iraqi refugees in 2011 and media…. crickets.
♦ President Trump puts 120 day suspension on Syrian refugees 2017… media explodes.
♦ Obama selects 7 countries for enhanced visa security policy and media… crickets.
♦ Trump uses Obama law, same Obama DHS policy, and same 7 countries; for a 90-day visa suspension and media explodes.

For some reason it just doesn’t appear accidental. This parallel policy of Trump, which is almost identical to Obama policy, is too well constructed to be coincidence. This looks like a strategy and the MSM, along with all Trump opposition, are falling into a trap.
Here’s the DHS response:

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce all of President Trump’s Executive Orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people. President Trump’s Executive Orders remain in place—prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety. President Trump’s Executive Order affects a minor portion of international travelers, and is a first step towards reestablishing control over America’s borders and national security.

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Why would the text of President Trump’s Executive Order suspending travel visas be readily available on CNN (HERE), New York Times (HERE), Wall Street Journal (HERE),  but not on White House page (HERE)?
I don’t think it’s accidental.  The limiting Visa program was President Obama’s action, not President Trump.

If you review the actual text of the executive order (copied below in full) what you will immediately notice is the order doesn’t specify ANY countries to be included in the Visa suspension (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen).
President Trump is not suspending visas from countries his team selected, they are simply suspending visa approval from countries President Obama selected.  Additionally, Trump is suspending ALL visa applications from those countries – nothing to do with Muslim applications.
• In 2013 President Obama suspended refugees from Iraq for six months.  • In 2015 Congress passed, and Obama signed, a law restricting visas from states of concern; • and in 2016 Obama’s DHS, Jeh Johnson, expanded those restrictions.  …. all President Trump is doing is taking the same action as Obama 2013, and applying Visa restrictions to the nation states Obama selected in 2015 and 2016.
From the Executive order:
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Many people are wondering why suspend visas relating to travel from: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.  Why those countries specifically?  What’s this all about.
The answer to that question and many other questions surrounding the recent executive actions of President Trump can be answered deliberately by looking forward, not backward.

Due mostly to the action of Russia, Islamic extremism is currently in retreating position from Syria.  In the weeks and months to come, radical Islamic extremists of various factions will be facing even more defeats as their strongholds  are recaptured.  In addition to their current geographic locations, where will the extremist elements go in retreat? Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Do not forget that between the November 8th, 2016 election and the January 27th, 2017 signing of these executive actions, President Trump and the incoming security/intelligence apparatus have been in contact with mid-east envoys who historically understand the predictable fall-back plans of the violent extremists within the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood is the political face of the various extremist factions. International partners for the U.S. including King Abdullah (Jordan), Fattah Abdel el-Sisi (Egypt), and Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel), hold a time-tested understanding of where the extremist elements within Islam exist and where their moves can be predicted.
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Kevin Appleby is a well known pro-refugee advocate from The Center for Migration Studies; essentially an advocate and lobbying group for the business end of refugee resettlement.
Most CTH readers are familiar with Baptist Child and Family Services (BCFS) and/or Catholic Charities, both groups gain hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds for their various refugee programs. “Hundreds of millions”. This is big business.
Tucker challenges Appleby on his expressed narrative, and by doing the well designed questioning approach – well, Appleby’s argument just collapsed. Watch:

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This (also see below for data), is one of those areas where Rex Tillerson can have a massive common sense impact as *Secretary of State.

*NOTE* CTH is prudently deferring any additional research and discussion threads on the U.S. Department of State until after the Tillerson confirmation vote.

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Almost a year ago we outlined a predictable approach President Trump would take toward domestic economic policy if he were to win the 2016 election.  Almost three months after his victory we clearly see the economic approach is indeed exactly what he campaigned on.
Perhaps it is valuable to pause, look at where are today, and consider current progress against the prior prediction for where President Trump was heading …the economics.

For the first time in many decades the chief executive of the United States walked into office concerned about the fiscal stability of the average American, without a single IOU on his Oval Office desk. For the first time ever, a titan of American Main Street is in the oval office.
Do not downplay the significance of this aspect. Money makes the world go ’round.
While they may not state so openly, every single global leader and politician is reviewing the U.S. election through their own domestic financial prisms.  It doesn’t matter which country, the key prism is financial. Enter, the land of trade conversation, Samsung, Kia,  etc, and national financial interests: The EU, The U.K., Mexico, Canada, China etc.
Immediately after the election, we stated: the U.S. media will attempt to frame international conversation through the prism of defense issues: South Korea feeling vulnerable to North Korea hostilities, Europe worried about NATO, Russia gaining influence in the Mid-East etc.
However, this view is an entirely false narrative. The reason for this intentional deflection is a necessary need for western media to marginalize President Trump.  President Trump is an existential threat to years of globalist economic advancement.
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President Donald Trump holds so much leverage in any negotiations with trade partners, especially Mexico, it is quite staggering to contemplate.

♦ TRADE – An awakening electorate and economic voters throughout the United States  are quickly recognizing a simple truth:

The scope of U.S. leverage is exponentially stronger in bi-lateral trade deals.

The United States is the largest economic market in the world.  Multilateral trade deals with bundles of nations benefit the smaller fish within the deal.  However, direct one-on-one “bilateral trade deals” always benefit the biggest fish, because the biggest fish holds all the leverage.
Donald Trump has been talking about this for decades.  Our massive market provides all the leverage needed for trade terms favorable to Americans. “Take it or leave it”, a phrase only for the entity holding the strongest hand.  However, frustratingly our national leadership has approached historic trade as if we hold a responsibility to lessen our own national value to the benefit of other nations.
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Crowd sizes, Russians and Torture… Oh my. {{*snicker*}} Flares. Triggers. Shiny things.
Meanwhile it takes days before anyone in the swamp, and that specifically means those who report on swamp activity, fully grasp the scope of what is actually being done. There’s a good reason President Trump put a portrait of TJ in the Oval Office:
[…] When Trump promised that as president — on “day one” — he would begin to dismantle ObamaCare, some Republicans, many members of the press and most Democrats laughed at him. They are laughing no longer because the first executive order he signed on Jan. 20 directed those in the federal government who enforce ObamaCare to do so expecting that it will soon not exist.

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(Seven Days Ago) […] Sec. 2. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) and the heads of all other executive departments and agencies (agencies) with authorities and responsibilities under the Act shall exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act that would impose a fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications. (XO #1 Text)

Wait, what?… hang on.. huh?
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