President Donald Trump, First-Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron arrive back in Washington DC (Joint Base Andrews) following the Thanksgiving holiday in Florida.
While they were gone the White House was decorated for the Christmas season.  Tomorrow First Lady Melania will welcome the kids of military service members from Joint Base Andrews as guests for the first tour.  Meanwhile congress returns to session and President Trump will be working with congressional leadership on the Senate version of the tax reform proposal.  [Video prompted, just hit play]
https://youtu.be/VL65WkWZ74M?t=6m58s
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War is ugly.  Political war against the swamp, while accepting their one-sided rules of engagement, is exponential hell.  In order to gain victory, you have to be prepared to advance into the fire at all costs. Andrew Breitbart, Donald Trump and apparently Dinesh D’Souza understand this modern political truth.
In the final analysis this approach is the essential element of ‘Cold Anger’:

The Democrats and UniParty Republicans will cede no ground.  There is only one majority political ideology within Washington DC, and it is based on financial interest. Their rules of engagement are entirely self-serving.  They will fight against any entity, for any reason, on any issue, even reversing their own individual policy positions, if they view that entity as an existential risk to their power structure and decades-long financial constructs.
For those who live within the institutions, nothing is out-of-bounds; therefore, in order to defeat the systemic and institutional rot, we must fight as an insurgent opposition.
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CTH has been looking, unsuccessfully, for China SME’s who have insight on the DC lobbying angle by Chinese foreign nationals and the hidden story of how the Trump administration might be confronting that aspect.
Gordon Chang briefly touches on that note during a discussion segment on the overall outcome of President Trump’s 12-day visit to Asia.
Apparently, if Chang’s sources are accurate (likely they are), the notification by POTUS Trump toward Chairman Xi Jinping, of the lobbyist warning did take place [Video 02:25].

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The foreign influence lobbying is a critical element for us domestically in the larger geopolitical strategy.  Chinese nationals pay our congressional representatives millions of dollars to purchase U.S. foreign policy.  CTH is cautiously optimistic this is a key element of Robert Mueller.
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Chinese elementary school math quiz.  Can you figure it out?

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TWO HINTS:

• 1) Each element has an individual value.
• 2) Chinese are sneaky.

ANSWER BELOW.
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It is being reported by ‘some’ media outlets that Democrat John Conyers has stepped down from the House Judiciary Committee, that is false.  Conyers is staying on the committee and just removing himself from the seniority position of “ranking member”.
As CTH shared when the sexual harassment charges and financial settlements surrounding John Conyers were first revealed, the institution of the Democrat apparatus will never stop supporting Conyers.  It is a cornerstone of the institutions created by progressives (Democrats) to operate their leadership hierarchy from positions of seniority.  Cue the audio visual demonstration by Nancy Pelosi:

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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 †

This is a pecan pie.  This is Mrs. Sarah Huckabee Sanders pecan pie. There is no other pecan pie quite like it.  But it is only a pecan pie.

What follows next is a peanut brain. This is Mrs. April Ryan’s peanut brain.  There is no other peanut brain quite like it.  But it is only a narrative engineer’s peanut brain:
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There’s an extensive back story to this issue: Part I, and Part II, and Part III

(President Trump Tweet Link)

The Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, has resigned. Senator Elizabeth Warren does not want President Trump to appoint an interim replacement.  President Trump has announced OMB Director Mick Mulvaney will be the “acting” head of the agency until he nominates a permanent replacement for senate confirmation. Senator Warren wants to take President Trump to court to stop him filling the interim position.
The U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), has provided legal guidance (full pdf outline of opinion below), and decided that President Trump clearly has the authority to appoint the acting Director.  Senator Elizabeth Warren is going bananas.
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Oh boy,  there’s a particular joy when all the lead-up economic data, that naysayer’s claim is simply outliers, leads to predictions that become reality.  Remember when we shared:

…”Hold on to your economic britches peeps – throw dem ju-ju bones out the windows – grab hold of the young-un’s, squeeze em tight and introduce them to their first opportunity to see capitalism unchained; we are in uncharted MAGA territory now. Q4 will be well beyond 3.2% 3.8%… Well Beyond.”…

Allow me the indulgence of setting the stage.  Last week the New York Fed increased the fourth quarter GDP growth estimates to 3.8%. This followed a prior week when they raised that same estimate to 3.2%.   Obviously, much to their chagrin, the underlying economic data was far surpassing the earlier forecasts of the doom club.  {{{CTH snickered}}}
Now, wait for it,… as we review the preliminary results it is important to remember that Consumer Spending represents two-thirds of U.S. GDP.
OK, you ready?….  You sure?….  Well:
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