According to almost every media report, President-elect Donald Trump has selected Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as the nominee for Secretary of State.  The announcement is anticipated to take place this morning.  Here’s our previous outline anticipating T-Rex:
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Call it “the revenge of John Galt“, call it “the revenge of main street“, call it “the rebuke of the compliance department”, or call it something else…. but what’s brutally missing amid all the pearl-clutching punditry is an acceptance that President Trump is ushering back an era of The Titans of Capitalism.

A succinct comment by thesavyinvester cuts to the brutal heart of the matter:

How ironic… The last 8 yrs ( and frankly much longer ) the non producing bureaucratic state only focused on growing it’s own organisms ( like something Ripley fought against ) rather than fostering yours, will now be run by those that for eons that had to dot their I’s and cross their T’s for all these pencil pushers. Yikes, they will be more uncomfortable than Rodney Dangerfield constantly adjusting his collar and tie during his comedy routine?. No I am not tired of winning, grab the popcorn this will be fun.

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During a routine traffic stop a San Antonio police officer was ambushed, shot twice in the head, and killed near police HQ.  Suspect described as a 5’7″ black male, baggy pants, hoodie and a beard.  Suspect Vehicle:
Update:  The police officer has been identified as 50-year-old Benjamin Marconi a veteran police officer.  Twitter Feed Here.  It will tear at your heart to read his twitter feed…. sorry, I just can’t even write about it yet {{tears}}.

RIP – Officer Benjamin Marconi

San Antonio –  A San Antonio police officer was shot and killed while writing a traffic ticket, according to Police Chief William McManus.
The chief said that while the officer was writing a ticket, someone pulled up behind the squad car, stepped out of his vehicle and shot the officer twice, once in the head. The shooter then drove off. (more…)

President-Elect Donald Trump thinks bigger than any politician in modern American history…

♦ James ‘I-responded-in-the-least-untruthful-manner‘ Clapper’s resignation as Director of National Intelligence is a no-brainer and a nothingburger, being spun as a media narrative (talking point):

[Clapper’s ] formal letter of resignation was issued in response to a White House request that all Obama administration political appointees submit resignations effective at noon on Jan. 20, a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said. (link)

♦ Ted Cruz meeting with Donald Trump is also quite predictable. BIG PICTURE = Trump’s immigration policy -as it is carried out- will clearly push “birthright citizenship” (aka “anchor babies”, aka 14th amendment definition) into the federal courts and will be fast-tracked, ultimately ending up in SCOTUS.
While we do not have any ‘insider’ information, it is more likely Cruz is viewed as a Scalia replacement candidate, not Attorney General.  Ted Cruz’s specific argumentative skill-set more apt to a long-term SCOTUS benefit.  When combined with the Trump policy toward immigration, ie. law and order, the importance of determination/interpretation of the 14th Amendment is key to enforcement.  This is unsettled law.  This is a legacy issue.
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We have been trying to warn everyone what will happen when a particular inflection point is reached. There are trillions of dollars at stake. Trillions.
Every internet platform will be utilized, manipulated, controlled by the oppositional forces -massive multi-billion corporate entities and financial conglomerates- who have a vested self-interest (financial and ideological) in the outcome of the U.S. election.

When the existential threat called Donald Trump says: “the system is rigged”, he, nor we, are simply talking about the political constructs – we’re describing every institution from Hollywood and Silicon Valley, to Madison Avenue and Park Row, to Wall Street and K-Street, to every single institutional construct inside and outside of DC that gains benefit from the cancerous lesion that infects politics.
The scope of the corruption is massive.
The scope of the “rigged system” is almost beyond definition.
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There is a talking point about Obamacare failing as the cost shifts are too extreme upon the participating (paying) electorate, etc.

[…]  State insurance regulators across the country have approved health care premium increases higher than those requested by insurers, despite a national effort to keep rates for policies sold on Affordable Care Act exchanges from skyrocketing, a USA TODAY analysis shows. (read article)

The underlying argument is a fundamentally flawed premise.  ObamaCare was never designed *not* to overwhelm you with the shifting of massive costs.  ObamaCare was designed to crush you in costs.

ObamaCare architects (ex. J Gruber) had three key political special interest groups from K-street involved.  The primary two were Labor Unions and Corporations (Wall Street); the secondary (useful politically only) group was social progressives.
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Forgive me, but personally I’m getting a big kick out of many people who are seeing for the first time just how corrupt the GOPe is.

The GOPe/Bush wing of the UniParty is just as nasty and vitriolic as the DEMe/Clinton UniParty wing.  However, for more than a decade each time we pointed this out, people argued such an equivalence was incorrect.
It is not a flawed perspective,  It is entirely accurate; and today we are all seeing it play out in public.
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A message from the Rebel Alliance follows article.

The Weaponization of the U.S. government against non-compliant citizens continues today with the U.S. Department of Labor now targeting Peter Thiel:

(Via CNN Money) The U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit Monday against Palantir, a data software startup said to be valued at more than $20 billion, for allegedly being biased against hiring Asian candidates.

The secretive startup was cofounded by Peter Thiel, an investor and Facebook board member who has emerged as perhaps the most prominent Donald Trump supporter in the tech industry. Thiel is also known for backing lawsuits against Gawker Media, which forced the company to sell itself.

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This is an evolving story #BestSummerEver – Due to the revelations within the WikiLeaks DNC emails, Debbie Wasserman-Shultz has been barred from speaking at the Democrat Convention.

In an effort to diffuse the growing controversy, and trying to split the baby, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has just resigned her position as head of the DNC effective AFTER the Philadelphia convention…..  NOT GOOD ENOUGH says the majority of convention attendees so… stay tuned!    UPDATE:  Donna Brazille to fill in?

PHILADELPHIA – […] A Hillary Clinton source expects Wasserman Schultz to be gone by the end of the day, while another Democratic source said President Barack Obama or a proxy for him may need to get involved and call Wasserman Schultz because her posture is that she was appointed by the president.

Wasserman Schultz is holding on, believing “she can weather this,” a source told CNN
Short of her resigning, both critics and supporters within the DNC are demanding she issue a statement to deal with the many issues raised by the release of a trove of DNC emails by Wikileaks that appeared to show the party favoring Clinton over Bernie Sanders during the primary process. (more…)

Today President Obama signed the PROMESA (Puerto Rico Bailout) bill created by representative Paul Ryan, and with it the immediate suspension of the Fifth Amendment which was supported by a Senate vote yesterday.

The Fifth Amendment protects U.S. Citizens from federal seizure of property without compensation.

It applies in this instance to Puerto Rico via the general obligation bonds (property) purchased by municipal bond holders (investing citizens), which were supposed to be repaid, and which congress has now determined can be frozen.

In addition, PROMESA suspends legal redress, by blocking bond holders (property owners) from suing the debtor (PR) to recover their property.   In essence the Fifth Amendment is suspended, and the rights of those whose property has been confiscated to use the courts has been preemptively denied.

FIFTH AMENDMENT – No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

An unelected, entirely appointed, bureaucratic panel of DC political agents/appointees is now in control of the entire process. (more…)