There’s no escaping the reality that today’s Omnibus spending bill is a significant slap in the face to Trump voters and supporters. The $1.3 trillion UniParty spending scheme is a bitter rebuke from the legislative branch. A twitter comment outlines an understandable, albeit emotionally charged, reaction:

“You did have a choice. There’s always a choice. You betrayed us with what you did. We have fought for you. We have lost friends/family for you. We have become targets for you. Yes, you did have a choice. Fix this.”

Despite the valid and understandable reaction, ‘betrayal’ is harsh. From POTUS Trump perspective the lack of “choice” stems from a cornerstone that Making America Great Again is dependent on a strong U.S. military.  Protecting Americans writ large is contingent upon ensuring our military is solid. Unfortunately, the only way to ensure the #1 objective was to acquiesce/concede to the blackmail of the UniParty in DC.  –  FUBAR.

~ “Leadership is often painful” ~

There ain’t a single part of this that seems ok, regardless of necessity. Worse still, is having to accept the republican side of the UniParty would enjoy nothing more than losing their majority position so they can go back to being comfortable enablers of the unholy DC alliance, and expel the annoying disruption known as President Trump.

Yes, this self-preserving UniParty approach is by design; it is a feature of the swamp – not an anomaly. Our only current solace is a historic reference; generally speaking when President Trump retreats from a fight, he tends to re-advance his force with greater severity. But on this singular day, if there’s a larger push-back yet to unfold, the commander-in-chief is conceding to the opposition a great deal of valuable ground.

FUBAR….. Cue the Wolfmoon:

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In 2010 the GOP said give us the House and we’ll put budgets and spending back into regular order. We did, they didn’t.  In 2014 the GOP said give us the Senate and then we’ll put budgets and spending back into regular order.  We did, they didn’t.  In 2016 the GOP said give us the White House and we’ll put budgets and spending back into regular order.  We did, and again, they did not.

The White House is scheduled to brief media on the latest insufferable congressional Omnibus spending bill.  Anticipated start time 12:15pm EST

UPDATE: Video Added

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If the U.S. were to exit NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the price you pay for most foodstuff at the grocery store would drop 10% in the first quarter and likely drop 20% or more by the end of the first year. Here’s why:

Approximately a decade ago the U.S. Dept of Agriculture stopped using U.S. consumer food prices within the reported measures of inflation. The food sector joined the ranks of fuel and energy prices in no longer being measured to track core inflation and backdrop Fed monetary policy. Not coincidentally this was simultaneous to U.S. consumers seeing massive inflation in the same highly consumable sector.

There are massive international corporate and financial interests who are inherently at risk from President Trump’s “America-First” economic and trade platform. Believe it or not, President Trump is up against an entire world economic establishment.

When you understand how trade works in the modern era you will understand why the agents within the system are so adamantly opposed to U.S. President Trump.

The biggest lie in modern economics, willingly spread and maintained by corporate media, is that a system of global markets still exists.

It doesn’t.

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One of the more interesting CPAC discussion segments between one of the top experts within the cabinet, Office of Management and Budgets (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney.

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Currently Director Mulvaney is wearing two hats; he spends 3 days a week as OMB Director, and 3 days a week as interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

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NAFTA is as precarious as a slow-spinning plate on a stick. Mexico and Canada are both  taking half-hearted turns recharging the momentum – while simultaneously looking for trade options due to, well,.. the inevitable.

The basic issue is a simple one; for the U.S. NAFTA has a fatal flaw. Canada and Mexico are used by China and Asian nations as a way to work-around direct trade with the U.S. and use NAFTA as a backdoor into the U.S. market.  It works out great for Canada and Mexico, but terrible for the U.S.  It’s a structural issue and no amount of negotiation is going to remove the fatal flaw unless Canada and Mexico agree to terms that are directly against their current financial interests.

Ergo POTUS Trump is positioned to withdraw.

Trying to keep the U.S. in NAFTA, but understanding the likelihood of exit, Justin from Canada originally approached China for a big trade deal.  Justin didn’t find Happy Panda in his discussions; instead he found The Red Dragon behind the Panda mask.  China was willing to talk trade, but China tiered their approach because Canada is only valuable to China as long as the NAFTA door is open.  Without NAFTA China has no use for Canada.

Justin left China with dragon burns and immediately realized his trade cards were getting weaker by the day…. so he had to sign-up for the Trans-Pacific-Partnership.  Unfortunately for Justin, though some think he didn’t realize the consequence, signing TPP guaranteed POTUS Trump would exit NAFTA.

Why?  Because if the U.S. stayed in NAFTA the TPP nations would now have a collective backdoor into the valuable U.S. market through Canada.  The NAFTA fundamental flaw just became more flawed.

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U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is attending Round Six of the NAFTA talks in Canada while President Trump, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin attend the Davos World Economic Forum and sit down for an interview with Maria Bartiromo. (Three Video Segments).

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss the ongoing government shutdown with swamp gatekeeper Chris Wallace.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and White House Legislative Affairs Director, Marc Short, hold a press conference to discuss the issues surrounding the Democrat led initiative to shut down government until the November mid-term elections.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney holds a press briefing to discuss the upcoming government funding lapse – aka. ‘The Schumer Shutdown”, that well, doesn’t actually shut anything down…

MAGAnomics – The first round of economic results from 2017 holiday sales are coming in and the results are incredible. Total holiday sales from November and December increased 5.5% over the prior year, that’s a massive jump.
Keep in mind, two-thirds of GDP is attached to consumer spending.  The spending jump to $692 billion will increase fourth quarter GDP growth when calculated.

(Via CNBC) Holiday sales jumped 5.5 percent compared with last year, marking the largest jump seen since the end of the Great Recession, the National Retail Federation said Friday.
Total sales for November and December were $691.9 billion, exceeding the industry trade group’s forecast of between $678.75 billion and $682 billion, which would have been an increase of between 3.6 and 4 percent.

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