“SCIF” – Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. To understand the larger Devin Nunes briefing issues it is important to focus on the word “compartmented”.
Intelligence information is housed by compartments. Each intelligence unit holds intelligence unique to that compartment. The FBI Counter-Intelligence Unit would hold the intel information specific to their task or assignment. The CIA would hold their own compartmented intel; again, specific to their task and objectives. So too would the NSA or Pentagon.

This compartmented structure is what led to the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI. The 911 commission recommended the position to serve as a hub able to ensure intelligence sharing; that is – to ensure intelligence was not intentionally withheld from other compartments when needed.
It is doubtful the 911 commission ever gave thought to what might happen when intelligence is weaponized as a political tool. The DNI is a political appointment, a cabinet member, of the President.
Thoughtful exposition – If the executive branch, the President, wanted to weaponize intelligence as a political tool, he/she would have control over such weaponization as an outcome of their political appointees within the: CIA (Brennan), NSA (Rogers), FBI (Comey), DNI (Clapper), DoD (Ash Carter), etc.
However, understandably the key figure would be the DNI hub – James Clapper.
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In the final hours prior to the healthcare debacle, the billionaire Koch Brothers sent a warning to the House Freedom Caucus that they’d better hold the line and kill the ObamaCare repeal or replacement bill, or else.

…”The advocacy groups helmed by Charles and David Koch have unveiled a new pool of money for advertisements, field programs and mailings that would exclude those who vote for the health care bill they oppose on Thursday. The effort, which they described as worth millions of dollars, is an explicit warning to on-the-fence Republicans from one of the most influential players in electoral politics not to cross them”… (more).

Weeks earlier the Billionaire authors (special interests) behind the ObamaCare repeal and replacement, Tom Donohue U.S. CoC et al., warned Speaker Ryan they expected the boundaries established years earlier to be retained.
Two sets of billionaire interests representing: ‘who-pays-the-insurance-premium‘ within the Healthcare issue.
It’s Paul Ryan’s fault, “remove him” some say.  No, it’s the House Freedom Caucus. “Grab the tar and feathers”, others say….
Odd, no?
Odd, because in the aftermath of the fiasco all of the blame-centric attention is focused on Speaker Paul Ryan and/or the House Freedom Caucus – meanwhile the billionaires garner nary a critical side-eye?
Perhaps it’s just too disconcerting of a paradigm shift for the average voter to ask?

Why are two billionaires Charles and David Koch allowed to threaten standing members of congress who are collectively at least supposed to represent the interests of approximately 28 million voters?

Why is Tom Donohue (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President) allowed to threaten the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and author legislation affecting 300+ million?

No-one seems to ask those questions.
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Perfect.

President Trump, through OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, has demanded the House of Representatives vote tomorrow on the current bill for ObamaCare Repeal and Replacement.
This directly calls out the UniParty structure of Washington DC.
The time for endless political talk in circles is over.  Time for action.  The Koch Brothers wing (House Freedom Caucus), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wing (Ryan/GOPe), will have to vote to support the Health and Human Services construct of Tom Price, or kill it by voting against it.

Either way they vote President Trump has delivered on his promise: an opportunity to vote for the repeal of ObamaCare.

All those who vote “NO” on the bill will own the outcome. Meaning, they support the continuance of ObamaCare and all of the subsequent outcomes therein.  Get them all on record. (more…)

The modern fight for fiscal responsibility has been going on for over two decades.  However, after George W. Bush began spending us into oblivion the urgency increased rapidly; culminating in the uprising in 2008/2009 known as the Tea Party.
The past decade brought us: Bank-Bailouts(TARP,) Auto-Bailouts, Stimulus (ARRA) spending, Omnibus spending, Porkulous bills, Debt Ceiling increases, Continuing Resolutions, the FED buying debt (QE1, QE2), and beyond.

Finally, frustratingly, exhaustively… we arrive in 2017 and for the first time in modern presidential history we have a president proposing to curb the size, scope, scale and cost of government.
The Washington DC UniParty will fight back hard against any curtailment, so here’s some perspective for the upcoming battle:

• The last federal budget was signed into law in September 2007, for fiscal year 2008, by George W. Bush.
• It has been over a decade since the Federal Government operated with a budgetary law guiding spending.
• Because of the two previous points – Over two-thirds of Republican representatives, and over 50% of all reps in the House and Senate, have never held office during a year with a federal budget.
• Let that sink in.

Here’s the top-line overview of President Trump’s budget proposal by department: (more…)

Earlier today President Trump met with his cabinet members and outlined the administrations’ expectation they immediately conduct a wholesale review of each department in order to lower costs, shrink the size of their departments and utilize their leadership and executive skills to remove cost redundancy with extreme urgency.

To accomplish this goal, President Trump signed an Executive Order initiating an immediate reorganization of the executive branch –SEE HERE–   Including the elimination of “unnecessary agencies” as identified in the review.

Section 1.  Purpose.  This order is intended to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the executive branch by directing the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Director) to propose a plan to reorganize governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies (as defined in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code), components of agencies, and agency programs.

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[Transcript] 3:07 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  I’m proud to welcome everyone to our first official Cabinet meeting. (more…)

Representative Jim Jordan lays out a forceful case to destroy the RyanCare healthcare proposal.  Jordan makes a lot of good points; however, the unnerving aspect is Jordan’s response to the long-term ramifications of blowing up the Senate process:  “I don’t care” if we lose elections and end up with single-payer healthcare.
Jim Jordan is scheduled to meet again with President Trump this coming Tuesday.

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Earlier on Fox Business News, House Majority Whip, Representative Steve Scalise, defended the current three-step proposal and extended the conversation into the budget ramifications and the Trump tax reform proposal.
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As more people begin seeing through the fog of political “talking points”, the next response from those suffering from battered conservative syndrome is to say: well, do nothing, and allow ObamaCare to simply self-destruct.
Unfortunately, this is not an option.  At least it’s not a reasonable option.  To understand how battered conservatives are being lead around, used and abused, it is very important to understand the abusers.  There are many.

Last week Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin informed congress it will soon be necessary to raise the debt ceiling.   Immediately, crony-constitutional conservative types, like many who assemble in the House Freedom Caucus, shouted “no way”; apparently, according to their pearl-clutching political position – it unnerves their fiscally conservative sensibilities.
Interesting.
On October 21st, 2015, the Freedom Caucus itself backed Paul Ryan for Speaker of the House of Representatives. (LINK)  A week later, October 28th, 2015, members of the same Freedom Caucus voted to approve a $2+ trillion dollar Omnibus spending bill, a massive continuing resolution, and removed the debt ceiling restrictions (link).  Two days later, October 30th, 2015, at 3:00am in the morning, the Omnibus CR bill passed the Senate (link).
This was yet another year without a federal budget, and a specific decision to fund all of Obama’s spending priorities for 2015 and 2016.  (more…)

In the largest measure, the basic problem is in 2009 Harry Reid passed the ObamaCare legislation in the Senate with 60 votes.  The House then passed the exact same bill, and the Democrats moved to immediate reconciliation to remove the House concerns (Gator-Aid, Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase etc.).
In 2017 the Republican congress are attempting to repeal and replace that ObamaCare legislation with only 52 Senate votes available, well, maybe.
Unfortunately for the GOP there are not even 52 votes for repeal.  Portman, Thune, Collins, Murkowski, Graham, McCain, Blunt, Cochran, Cornyn, Hatch, McConnell and others, are not necessarily on board; that’s 11. (Leaving only 41).
No amount of byzantine rule changes surrounding “reconciliation” are going to overcome that factual vote hurdle.  In 2009 Senator Reid started with 60 votes.  In 2017 Senator McConnell starts with 52.

So anything coming from the House of Representatives has to keep this reality in mind.  Even if support or opposition is based on ideological principle, it still has to pass – or it’s moot.
There’s no doubt the Paul Ryan proposal holds the worst U.S. CoC aspects demanded by Tom Donohue.  Heck, Donohue poured a lot of lobbying money into the entire architecture in ’09/’10 and he’s paid republicans in congress hundreds of millions to make sure his interests in keeping ObamaCare around are protected.  Ryan is big GOPe and he’s supported by the Big Club.
And, as much as Paul Ryan is beholden to Donohue to retain some form of ObamaCare, so too are the Rand Paul / Ted Cruz types paid by billionaires like Cary Katz (Conservative Review); who want an abject repeal without compromise. (more…)

It’s obvious the financial interests are pouring in money to the R.A.T groups right now in the fight over ObamaCare Repeal and/or Replace.   Boy howdy are they all fibbing as they fling their poo at each other.  Forget the Democrats in this discussion.  For the sake of this analysis we only look at the right side of the UniParty; the Republican side.

There are two financial special interest groups within the Republican fight on ObamaCare. Two groups within the BIG CLUB.  Essentially, two swamp R.A.T factions:
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Good news, they’re listening to you.  No other approach to repealing ObamaCare is possible.  It’s not ideological, it is simply reality.  The backstory on our prior explanations are HERE and expanded HERE.
After listening to conservative groups at a White House meeting yesterday, it became obvious to POTUS  those group leaders/members did not understand WHY no other approach to repeal is possible.   POTUS asked Speaker Ryan to put this together and deliver it today:

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Most of you already know this outline because you’ve understood the bigger picture.  Hopefully this message will reach the 99% who don’t understand that “reconciliation” doesn’t allow for substantive structural add-ons to ObamaCare, until step #3.  Again, HERE and HERE.

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