Earlier today President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela and first lady to the White House for a bilateral meeting.
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[Transcript] 11:39 A.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s our great honor to have President and Mrs. Varela from Panama. And we have many things to discuss. We’re going to spend quite a bit of time today — the Panama Canal is doing quite well. I think we did a good job building it, right?
PRESIDENT VARELA: One hundred years ago.
Tonight the members of Congress take part in this year’s Congressional Baseball Game for charity at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. This years game takes on an added dimension following the hate-filled shooting of the Republican players during practice yesterday morning by a rabid left-wing Bernie Sanders campaign worker.
The game is being broadcast on CSPAN1 and there’s a few livestream’s available:
PBS Livestream Link – Alternate Livestream Link #1 – Alternate Livestream #2 – FOX10 Livestream Link – Alternate Livestream (With Audio)
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.
While the MSM continues selling the various pitches and talking points of their DC-based deep state operations, the Trump administration continues driving forward on the primary issues that matter to ordinary Americans.
(Via Secretary Tom Price) Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, M.D., hosted a listening session with Seema Verma, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and medical and healthcare professionals to discuss the challenges that patients and providers face under our current healthcare system.
Secretary Price began the meeting by voicing his thoughts and prayers for Majority Whip Steve Scalise and other victims of the attack yesterday morning. He expressed his gratitude to the U.S. Capitol Police and to those who protect us every day for their bravery and willingness to serve. Administrator Verma and Doctors Raymond DeCorte and Joe Uddo, two constituents of Majority Whip Scalise, echoed these thoughts.
Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apologizes for his campaign worker James T Hodgkison and the attempted mass murder of republicans in congress.
Bernie’s campaign worker James T Hodgkison (66) [pictured left] shot five people:
♦ House GOP Whip Steve Scalise
♦ Zak Barth (congressional aide)
♦ Matt Mika (lobbyist)
♦ David Bailey (capitol hill police)
♦ Krystal Griner (capitol hill police)
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It will be interesting to see if the Democrats on Capitol Hill continue supporting political violence against President Trump and Republicans now that their supporters have started shooting people.
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.
During a senate hearing today Democrat Senator Chris Coons complained to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the U.S. State Department is: a.) not spending enough money, and b.) not spending fast enough; on foreign aid to third world countries.
Coons was citing the previous Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joe Biden who said: “show me your budget and I’ll show you your priorities“. Secretary of State Tillerson took exception and explained how he looks at this differently. The Trump administration is not spending oriented, they are results oriented.
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Tillerson: “The statement ‘show me your funding and I’ll show you your level of commitment,’ I do not agree with. Funding does not equal results. Show me your results, and I’ll tell you your commitment. What are the results, and then I’ll tell you what I need to deliver on those results. Giving me a pot of money and suggesting that confirms our success and commitment is just simply—I have to take exception to that, I’ve never had that experience.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified yesterday to the House Appropriations Committee discussing the FY 2018 budget, the current state of federal finance and the need to increase the budget ceiling.
Most of Mnuchin’s testimony focused on the bigger and more broad economic issues including: the federal budget, tax reform, spending, the debt ceiling, and the need to focus on GDP growth.
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Secretary Mnuchin also describes the current state of the trade team’s conversations with multiple international partners and how they are responding positively to the engagements of Mnuchin, Secretary Ross (Commerce) and U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer.
On February 3rd 2017 President Trump signed Executive Order #13772 calling for a system of reviews, first due in 120 days, of the U.S. financial, investment and banking system for possible reform. Today Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin released the first in a series of reports (full pdf below) outlining the U.S. Financial System.
Given the breadth of the financial system and the unique regulatory regime governing each segment, Treasury will divide its review of the financial system into a series of reports:
• The depository system, covering banks, savings associations, and credit unions of all sizes, types and regulatory charters;
• Capital markets: debt, equity, commodities and derivatives markets, central clearing and other operational functions;
• The asset management and insurance industries, and retail and institutional investment products and vehicles; and
• Non-bank financial institutions, financial technology, and financial innovation.
Today’s report covers the depository system.
The full report is below and it is rather extensive. Here’s my initial review of the content with the report embedded at the bottom.
Back in July 2010 when Dodd-Frank banking regulation was passed into law, there were approximately 12 to 17 banks who fell under the definition of “too big to fail”.
There has been much written about the downside consequences from Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to call for a snap election and lose conservative seats. However, in an unexpected twist of fate, the coalition outcome is even more conservative than before.
The Tory party (traditional conservatives), with 218 seats, have struck a deal with the Democrat Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland, 10 seats and considered the British version of “far-right”, resulting in an even more conservative coalition governing body than before the election.
The resulting alignment is now sending the British liberal social justice crowd into fits of LGBTQ(fill in the necessary missing constants) collective apoplectic rage. Cue the audio/visual snowflake demonstration:
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Obviously, all political policies of consequence will not be social, they will be economic; as the challenge will be to construct the financial BREXIT escape from the clutches of the collective EU.