The more important lead story of this article is buried within the outcome story of ICE agents using a private license plate database to capture illegal aliens. First the headline story:

WASHINGTON – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been using over the past year a vast license plate database to identify the location of vehicles associated with immigrants who do not have legal status, according to documents released Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
More than 9,000 ICE agents have been given access to the controversial database, which contains hundreds of millions of license plate scans from across the U.S., according to the documents obtained by the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act request. ICE employees are able to use the database to obtain information on where individuals have been and when they were there, with data going back as far as five years.

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Earlier today President Trump received a White House briefing on drug trafficking at the border including growing concerns about fentanyl shipments entering the U.S. Additionally, the president took the opportunity to invite the media for an impromptu presser. [The media Q&A begins at 14:50]:

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[No transcript yet, but one will follow shortly]
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Following two similar plane crashes in Indonesia (Oct ’18) and Ethiopia (March ’19) President Trump has issued an emergency order grounding a specific Boeing 737 airliner.  The “Max 8” and “Max 9” models are being grounded out of an abundance of caution while U.S. and international authorities await the findings from crash investigation.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is issuing an emergency order Wednesday grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft “effective immediately,” in the wake of the crash of an Ethiopian Airliner that killed 157 people, President Donald Trump said.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Jumpin’ ju-ju bones. I’ve seen people say that Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a hired actor without any cognitive intellect, and needs a script to avoid embarrassing herself…  I thought those claims were overstated, until now.
Ms. AOC uses a set of talking points during a Finance Committee hearing to question the CEO of Wells Fargo Bank.  The outcome is, well, rather stunning.  The whole segment is just goofy.  In the final question, reduced by poor research to framing a hypothetical, she asks: why the bank isn’t responsible for a pipeline clean-up they finance.  WATCH:

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Should the bank who holds your mortgage be responsible for cleaning your kitchen after a grease fire?
Should the lender of your auto-loan be responsible for rotating your car tires?
If an elephant walks through your front yard, how many pancakes does it take to fill a canoe?
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released some important data today surrounding the state of the U.S. economy. The first release shows the current CPI (consumer price index) or rate of inflation:

(BLS Release) […] The all items index increased 1.5 percent for the 12 months ending February, a smaller increase than the 1.6-percent rise for the 12-months ending January. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent over the last 12 months, a slightly smaller figure than the 2.2-percent increase for the period ending January. The food index rose 2.0 percent over the past year, its largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 2015. In contrast, the energy index declined 5.0 percent over the last 12 months. (read more)

As noted above, energy prices are 5.0% lower year-over-year; this is a significant reason for the current low inflationary rate.  Also energy prices (fuel, gas, oil) disproportionately impact the middle-class as an unavoidable cost.  Lower gas prices (currently down 9.1%) help middle-America, and also have a downstream impact of lowering product transportation costs.
An overall annual rate of inflation at 1.5 percent is exactly on target.  CTH has been predicting this energy-based outcome for more than three years:
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Against the backdrop of Speaker Pelosi tamping down expectations of a House impeachment, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders appears on Fox News to discuss the current state of DC politics.

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Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Schiff, Chairman Cummings and Chairman Nadler would not likely drop their deep investments in an impeachment narrative unless they held confidence something more valuable was on the horizon.
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Many wealthy people were arrested today for participating in a massive bribery scheme to gain college admission for their families. The Justice Department charged 50 people (Press Release Here) including two TV stars with being part of a long-running bribery scheme to get privileged children into big-name colleges and universities.

BOSTON DOJ – Dozens of individuals involved in a nationwide conspiracy that facilitated cheating on college entrance exams and the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits were arrested by federal agents in multiple states this morning and charged in federal court in Boston. Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, are implicated, as well as parents and exam administrators.

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Well, well, well; he did it again.  Representative Doug Collins has released the transcript of testimony from former FBI Lawyer Lisa Page. [SEE HERE] The transcript is from two days of congressional testimony July 13th and July 16th, 2018.  Each day is a separate transcript:  Day One Transcript
[scribd id=401713567 key=key-ytRBq0Zg3cK1WF13ttNl mode=scroll]
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Day Two Transcript (below)
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