U.S. Officials are now confirming the North Korean missile test was an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The ICBM, which is believed to be “two-stage,” officials said, would have a range of at least 3,500 miles, and thus be capable of reaching Alaska. (NBC link)

This launch represents another escalation by Kim Jung-Un in his ongoing quest for long-range intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles.  The ICBM test is another in a series of violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the launches, and is simultaneously a slap in the face to Chinese President Xi Jinping who is presumably trying to get North Korea to back down.

China’s support of North Korea will become even more of an issue with the increased escalations.  Understanding the perspective of President Donald Trump toward these events, we would/should anticipate a series of economic actions by the U.S. administration against China.

The U.S. cannot focus exclusively on North Korea, their enablers must be targeted for corrective leverage. Economic sanctions can increase internal regional pressure.

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It’s challenging to see the sunlight at the end of this complex tunnel, but it’s there. More visible today than a week ago.

White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss the ongoing efforts to reform ObamaCare.  In a very positive shift amid the overall discussion, for the first time the point of the cost on the individual insurance market is brought to the forefront.

CTH readers will note our continuing frustration that 99% of the entire healthcare discussion has centered around medicaid spending, or the state funded subsidy of low-income healthcare coverage.

The vast majority of the most severely impacted people within the discussion, middle-class workers/taxpayers who do not qualify for medicaid, have been essentially locked out of the legislative consideration. It is refreshing to see middle America finally being part of the equation.  Within the Senate bill, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have finally advanced something of value.

The “Consumer Choice Amendment” would allow insurance companies to sell plans that do not follow regulations created under Obamacare, with the caveat that those insurers have to sell at least one plan that adheres to Obamacare’s mandates. The proposal would allow insurers to sell plans with tailored benefits.

(Video Below)

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Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price interviewed by Chuck Toad on NBC’s Meet The Prose.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered some rather strongly worded remarks in advance of the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg Germany.  Reuters frames the Merkel statements as a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump.

(Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised to fight for free trade and press on with multilateral efforts to combat climate change at the G20 summit next week, challenging the “America First” policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

In a defiant speech to parliament a week before she will host a summit of the world’s top economic powers in Hamburg, the northern port city where she was born, Merkel did not mention Trump by name but said global problems could not be solved with protectionism and isolation. (read more)

However, seeking control is a reaction to fear.  Ms. Merkel, the EU, and the larger multinational global interests therein, fear Trump… and for good reason, he’s winning.

President Trump has put a jaw-dropping U.S. energy platform solidly into place.  You can learn more about them HERE and HERE.  The announcements last week are tectonic in consequence though seemingly lost amid the chafe of media reporting over twitter spats.

Everything President Trump’s team does is connected to a bigger, much bigger, picture than most people are paying attention to.  However, those who control the levers of multinational power are paying very close attention.

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Utilizing some Bloomerberg and Zerohedge reporting – treeper SeekerofTruth provides a nice recap of Illinois financial self-flagellation.  Charging head-first into the abyss:

SeekerOfTruth – June 30 came and went and the Illinois legislature did nothing. So the courts have stepped in now.  Bloodbath coming. Fun to watch if any news outlets would report on the story. The bloodbath of decades of liberal policies and corruption.

“From Horrific To Catastrophic”: Court Ruling Sends Illinois Into Financial Abyss.

By the end of Friday – the last day of the fiscal year – Illinois legislators failed to enact a budget, and while negotiations continued amid some glimmers of hope and lawmakers planned to meet over the weekend, the failure marked a continuation of the historic impasse that’s left Illinois without a full-year budget since mid-2015, and which, recall, S&P warned one month ago will likely result in a humiliating and unprecedented downgrade of the 5th most populous US state to junk status.

Then came the begging. (more…)

President Donald Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohen discuss U.S. trade policies with South Korean President Moon and his accompanying economic and trade team.

It is worth noting and emphasizing the Paris Climate treaty specifically exempted China, India and SEAN (South East Asia Nations) from compliance with standards within the treaty.  This was by design of the multinational interests who constructed their economic global control mechanism under the auspices of ‘climate change’.  The climate was never the driver of the Paris treaty, it was always about multinational economic control.

With the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Treaty, the economic trade architecture for the underlying market is now equal amid S.E.A.N (including South Korea) and the United States.  Those countries who remain within the Paris Treaty, particularly those EU entities who are attached the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), are at a strategic disadvantage.  More on that later.

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[Transcript] 10:50 A.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay, thank you very much. We have many of our great members, our Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense. We have several of our really wonderful leaders here. And you have your leaders with you and your representatives.

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We outlined the significance of this yesterday.  Today President Trump delivers a speech (video and transcript below) outlining the entire energy initiative, and what is currently underway to fundamentally change the way the entire energy sector is actualized within the U.S. economy and beyond.

President Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, together with EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, are doing something with energy independence that was long discussed but never acted upon.  Forget the Paris Climate Treaty, this Trump action on energy development is in a stratosphere thought almost unimaginable.

Together the entire cabinet has studied, formulated and instituted an executive American energy policy platform to go beyond mere energy independence, and actually start using energy resources as an export commodity for economic growth.

Pause for a moment and consider just how monumental that approach actually is; and also overlay the independent national security ramifications therein.  Oddly enough, we predicted this possibility two years ago.

The intensely consequential outcome is a visible representation of ‘America-First’ principles applied to deliver MAGA level shifts in the future of our nation.  Massive possibilities for wealth creation at local and state levels; and simultaneous national security interests. Win – Win – Win… And yet stunningly this result is only in one sector of national security and national economics. (more…)

The House of Representatives passed Kate’s Law a bill that increases penalties against deported illegal aliens who reenter the country illegally.  The bill is named for Kate Steinle who was murdered in San Francisco in 2015 by an illegal alien who was previously deported five times and convicted of seven felonies.

The passing of Kate’s Law followed passage of another bill that allows the federal government to strip so-called “sanctuary cities” of federal funding if they refuse to cooperate with federal officials on immigration enforcement. San Francisco, where Steinle was killed, is a self-proclaimed sanctuary city.

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President Trump is scheduled to visit Poland on July 6th prior to the upcoming G20 Summit in Germany.   According to a new Reuters report several top-level EU politicians are concerned Polish leadership and President Trump might just get along swimmingly.

2016: “I pledge to you a Trump Administration will be a true friend to Poland and to all Polish Americans.”  ~ Donald Trump

Poland is one of the few EU countries that actually spends the agreed upon amount of 2% GDP for NATO defense.  One of the concerns amid the non-compliant EU nations, is that the visit will present another opportunity for vulgarian President Trump to embarrass the superior EU intellectuals over their ongoing lack of financial support; while simultaneously engaging in fellowship with like-minded vulgarian poles.

(Reuters) […] Brussels diplomats view the July 6 gathering, dubbed the Three Seas summit because the countries involved border the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas, as a Polish bid to carve out influence outside the European Union with which the nationalist government has repeatedly clashed.

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Tomorrow, the House will vote on the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, which will cut federal grant money to cities that shield dangerous criminal aliens from being turned over to federal law enforcement. The House will also vote on Kate’s Law – named for Kate Steinle, who was killed by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times. This law will enhance criminal penalties for those who repeatedly re-enter the country illegally.

Today, ahead of tomorrow”s vote, President Trump met again with families of victims impacted by the crimes committed by illegal aliens, thanked them for their courage and presented their stories for all to hear.    The passage these laws, and the enforcement of America’s border security, represents well-known campaign promises.

[Transcript] – 3:07 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Good to have you all. Hello, Chairman. Great man, right here. Might be another one right there. We have some good ones. We had a wonderful meeting on healthcare, yesterday, you probably know about, and so we’re moving along. Hello, Thomas.

Thank you very much for being here to discuss two crucial votes taking place in Congress tomorrow on vital safety and national security legislation.

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