National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow appeared on Fox Business today to discuss the current state of the economy.  Mr. Kudlow was questioned about several media reports surrounding discussions of new tax cuts, tax rate modifications and tax policy.
Additionally, Kudkow updates the latest position on the U.S-China trade discussion.

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God bless Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for having the diplomatic restraint to stand next to the absolute worst diplomat on the planet and retaining his cool.  Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland stands atop her proverbial high-horse and pontificates a diatribe that only a smug leftist can deliver.
If you are familiar with world events,… and you don’t want a blood pressure cuff to explode,… then don’t watch this joint press conference. [Transcript likely later today]  If you’ve ever watched two diplomats pretend to have any commonality, while simultaneously jabbing each-other in the eye, this is an audio-visual exhibition:

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To say the Trump administration and Trudeau administration are ideologically oil and water would be the understatement of the year. The U.S. and Canadian, political, cultural, geopolitical and economic outlooks are entirely divergent.
That reality is one of the reasons why an open U.S. Ambassador to Canada position is unlikely to be filled.  Seriously, who wants to talk to these smug and condescending jerks?
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According to the U.S. Department of Labor [data here] companies hiring American workers are not complying with the media “recession” narrative.   Yes, another day, and yet another data point reflecting the “unexpected” & continued strength of Main Street.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, suggesting the labor market was holding firm despite a manufacturing slowdown and concerns the economy is on a path toward recession.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ended Aug. 17, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
The decline was sharper than expected. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims would drop to 216,000 in the latest week.

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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

Stephanie Grisham Twitter @StephGrisham45

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 †

The needle on the CTH winnamometer momentarily pegs ‘too much‘…
[Backstory Here] After quite widespread discussion on the Energy Star Thermostat Report, and the ridiculous recommendations to set thermostat to 82° when sleeping, the U.S. Department of Energy (Secretary Rick Perry) issued the following statement:

…”It is the position of DOE that Americans should set their thermostats to whatever temperature they choose.”..  (link)

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We are approaching the never-before-reached strata of “too much winning”.
Today President Trump held the third press conference over thirty minutes in the past four days.  Sunday a chopper presser on the tarmac in New Jersey (36 minutes).  Tuesday a presser in the Oval Office (32 minutes).  Today a South Lawn chopper presser (35 minutes).  No questions filtered; direct responses from President Trump; all questions answered…. and the media can’t take it.

(Jenn Jacobs Tweet Link)

I’m absolutely not snarking at Jenn Jacobs, she’s actually one of the few that keeps her reporting generally between the lines… But the overall tone of press pool response to this level of POTUS availability is hilarious.  ‘Halp, he’s melting us‘.
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…Every minute spent outraged at what Muller did yesterday, is one minute less that Bill Barr is being held accountable for what he is not doing today…

Judicial Watch is fighting for one of the more critical buckets of “declassified documents” from within Spygate that has never made sense.  This goes to the heart of a two-year-long contention: Why were the Page/Strzok text messages redacted in the first place?  Why are their unredacted text messages being protected?  Who benefits from this roadblock?
The FBI wants to wait until AFTER the 2020 election to release the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages?  Whiskey – Tango – Foxtrot !   Enough.  This alone should be like a million warning flares shooting skyward simultaneously for those who demand justice.

(Judicial Watch Link)

These are critical questions.  Actually, long-standing and unresolved questions that we have carried for two years.  On December 1st, 2017, the day after Michael Flynn signed a coerced guilty plea, the first batch of text messages between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok became public.   Who the hell released them?  Why? …and ultimately what national security issue exists that would require them to be redacted?
These are open, non-encrypted, messages – using government phones – between a DOJ lawyer assigned to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok.  The content did not travel through protected and/or classified systems. So why were the text messages redacted when they were made public?
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Chopper pressers are the best pressers.  As President Trump departed the White House for a flight to Kentucky, the President stopped to answer questions from the media pool.  The president took questions for over 35 minutes.  [Video and Transcript below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: So, the economy is doing very, very well. We’ll see what happens with the Federal Reserve, whether or not they finally get smart and reduce interest rates, like many other places around the world that we have to compete with.
But our economy is the strongest in the world, by far. Nothing even close. And a lot of good things are happening. We had some very good retail numbers this morning, as you saw. And I guess the stock market is quite a bit up.
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President Trump has announced a policy directive to the U.S. Department of Education to immediately facilitate the discharge of federal student loan debt for any veteran permanently disabled as part of their military service.

WHITE HOUSE – Since our Founding, the United States has been blessed with men and women willing to serve in defense of our Nation and our ideals. Many of those answering the call to serve make the ultimate sacrifice for their country, and many others carry physical and emotional scars for the rest of their lives.
The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act in 2008 and other acts (Higher Education Act), honors veterans who are totally and permanently disabled as a result of their service to the Nation by providing for the discharge of their Federal student loan debt.
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