Today Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Economic Director Gary Cohn held a briefing to outline the tax proposal of President Trump.  The overall plan is essentially the same as the plan he proposed in the campaign with some slight modifications on rates etc.

The biggest structural change is political and regional in the current proposal because the rates are lowered, but deductions are removed – including deductions for state and local taxes.  People who live in states/municipalities with income taxes, and who earn enough to carry a tax liability, would see their ability to deduct those state taxes removed.

Because of the UniParty nature of congress; and specifically because special interest lobbyists will write the final tax plan (if one ever surfaces) CTH is not going to spend much time in the analytics of this.  Personally I highly doubt there will EVER be a comprehensive tax reform package even created; the UniParty [lobbyists/Big Club] will not allow their control over taxation to be diminished.

Tax reform is a noisy issue sure to fill lots of media stories, but the end result will be no action.  If a legislative bill is ever created we’ll discuss then.  More than likely we will see small, individual tax bills targeting specific aspects of current tax policy.

Here’s two articles explaining the possibilities against the backdrop of this proposal:

Zerohedge analysis and CNN Money analysis.

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Earlier today President Trump signed an executive order directing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to consult with local governments and tribes in order to review national monuments created by the Antiquities Act since January 1, 1996 – that are greater than 100,000 acres in footprint – and report back to the President on suggested legislative or executive action, if applicable, within 120 days.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the president to declare federal lands of historic or scientific value to be national monuments by designating the “smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”

Since the 1900s, when the Act was first used, the average size of national monuments exploded from an average of 422 acres per monument. Now it’s not uncommon for a monument to be more than a million acres.

The designations of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996 and the Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 are considered the book-ends of modern Antiquities Act overreach. Each monument is more than 1.3 million acres.

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This is more than a little funny.  Senator Ted Cruz must not be having much success fundraising for his re-election campaign, as his latest publicity stunt outlines:

In essence, the architect of Obama’s Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority bill is using the border wall, which he is paid to oppose, as a tool to “gruber” his sheeple followers.  Judging by the number of people responding to the tweet, he’s found a goldmine.

As many people are aware, Senator Cruz is part of the ‘controlled opposition’ ploy.  As a dedicated UniParty benefactor of the U.S. CoC lobbying expenditures Ted’s role is to plow through the political field giving a crony-constitutional impression of one thing while loyally working to deliver the end result of the thing he optically rails against, like TPP or TPA.

The El Chapo/wall angle as a narrative and fundraising mechanism, is similar to the dead-end ploy previously exhibited by Senator Rand Paul in last month’s ObamaCare repeal narrative used as his fundraising tool.   Both are fallacies of false choice.  Both have no foundation in actual goal or intention.  Both are ruses.

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San Francisco based Federal Judge, William Orrick, issued a preliminary injunction today blocking any attempt by the Trump administration to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials.

Judge Orrick said president Trump has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.

(Via AP) […] U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the preliminary injunction in two lawsuits — one brought by the city of San Francisco, the other by Santa Clara County — against an executive order targeting communities that protect immigrants from deportation. The injunction will stay in place while the lawsuits work their way through court. (read more)

Judge Orrick is a campaign bundler to former President Obama for over $200,000, and is married to a pro-abortion activist.  You might remember Judge Orrick from 2015 when he blocked the release of videos made by the Center for Medical Progress, the group that unveiled Planned Parenthood’s participation in the sale of organs harvested from aborted children.

Having spent over 30 years deep in the weeds on the actuarial side of trade and economics, I can guarantee you there’s a generational need to completely reset all frames of reference when it comes to imports, exports, and U.S. trade principles in general.

It is no longer worthwhile even beginning a conversation around the arcane concept of “free trade”, especially when discussing commodities and agricultural trade.  The “free market” was structurally disassembled years ago when multinational corporations began using the business end of agriculture to create investment and global profit via Wall Street.

The BIG AGRICULTURE legislative lobbying groups are funded -much like the U.S. CoC- with multinational corporations and multinational investment banks.  Agricultural prices, formerly referenced on basic supply and demand principles have been bastardized through global purchases, and contracts therein, of U.S. farm products.

Simple question to understand the dynamic: “If there is such a U.S. glut of raw milk, then why has the 10-year price of milk skyrocketed”?  Within the answer to that question you realize the product is not domestic.  It is controlled by multinationals, exported under controlled contract, and the domestic price (you pay) driven by global trade not domestic production/consumption (supply and demand).

The inverse (import pricing) is also true.  We’ve been getting screwed by the multinational interests of global trade for decades.  This is NOT ‘free trade’.  The BIG CLUB owns the process (inputs and outcomes) and manipulates the market in their interests, not yours. There simply is no “free market”.

[TRANSCRIPT] – 3:14 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT:  Busy day.  They had a very busy day — had a good day.  We’re doing well, very well.  Things are turning around.  I know they’re turning around for you folks, so I just want to welcome you very much to the White House — special place — America’s farmers and ranchers.

I especially want to congratulate Secretary — now I can say, Secretary Sonny Perdue, who was just sworn in as the Secretary of Agriculture — (applause) — sworn in by Justice Thomas.  And it was a beautiful ceremony, and we’re going to celebrate a little bit later, and that’s great.  We’re very happy.  And you had a good vote too.

SECRETARY PERDUE:  Yes, sir.

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One of President Trump’s greatest strengths is his keen instincts for developing relationships as a strategic tools toward accomplishing consequential objectives. To wit, President Trump invites the entire U.N. Security Council delegation to lunch at the White House.

Now, most of us, myself included, do not think highly of the United Nations as an entity that has ever accomplished anything of worth – beyond pushing an incessant drum-beat of left-wing globalism and ridiculous pie-in-the-sky pontificating.

However, that said, the historic invitation to lunch is quite smartly full-throated use of regional political proximity.  President Trump inviting the U.N Security Council ambassadors to the White House is something Vladimir Putin, or any other leader of consequence, cannot recreate.  The Ambassadors themselves acted more like a group of valedictorian school kids on an outing to where the really important people live.

Important leverage is created through personality, nuance, outline of expectations, proximity and exposure to real power. This is far beyond the mere wordy pontificating power of the attendee’s familiarity, this is structurally deploying leverage of consequence to change paradigms.

[TRANSCRIPT] 11:50 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT:  This is a very, very important and powerful group of people, and it’s really wonderful to have you with us.  And I have to say, welcome to the White House.  It’s a privilege to have all of the ambassadors and their spouses.

You know, they were going to leave out the spouses, and I said, you must bring your spouses.  (Laughter.)  You know, I heard there were a lot of very angry spouses — (laughter) — and this is their first time to the White House.  So it’s a great honor to those of you that brought your wife or spouse.

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(Via Reuters) The United States on Monday blacklisted 271 employees of a Syrian government agency it said was responsible for developing chemical weapons, weeks after a poison gas attack killed scores of people in a rebel-held province in Syria.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 271 employees of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), an agency that Washington says develops chemical weapons for the government of Bashar al-Assad, the Treasury said in a statement.

Some of the people blacklisted had worked on Syria’s chemical weapons program for more than five years, the Treasury Department said. The sanction orders U.S. banks to freeze the assets of any employees named, and bans American companies from conducting business with them.

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A newly empowered Chris Wallace takes the big government Fox Media position and begins arguing with OMB Director Mick Mulvaney.   Interested observers will note Wallace defends the U.S. CoC lobbying position around the budget, health care, the border wall, the imminent risk of government shutdown, Trump’s “first 100 days”, necessary tax cuts, cuts to environmental protection etc.

It can be frustrating to watch because Chris Wallace is arguing the exact positions of Tom Donohue, the U.S. CoC and the K-Street swamp’s corporatist lobbyists.

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