There are many people taking notice of modern politics for the first time in their lives. There is also some confusion noticed between two groups who talk above and around each other. Two groups communicating from two entirely different sets of understanding.  Perhaps it is valuable to reset the larger frames of reference and provide clarity.
Many, heck, most people think when they vote for a federal politician -a representative- they are voting for a person who will go to Washington DC and write or enact legislation. This is the old-fashioned “schoolhouse rock” perspective based on decades past.
There is not a single congress person who writes legislation or laws.
In 2017 not a single member of the House of Representatives or Senator writes a law, or puts pen to paper to write out a legislative construct. This simply doesn’t happen.
Over the past several decades a system of constructing legislation has taken over Washington DC that more resembles a business operation than a legislative body. Here’s how it works right now.
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President Trump has announced his nominee for Federal Reserve Chairman.  Moments ago President tapped Fed Governor Jerome Powell to become head of the U.S. central bank to replace Janet Yellen when her term expires in February 2018.
Mr. Powell was appointed to the Fed board in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama and  emerged as the preferred choice from group of five possible nominees that included current Chair Janet Yellen – as well as others who would have represented a sharp change in monetary policy. During a Rose Garden announcement, President Trump called Powell a strong, committed and smart leader:

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Earlier today President Donald Trump held a meeting with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and all participants in the tax reform proposal.
Interestingly, and in a typically Trump power play dynamic, POTUS Trump invited U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue to the meeting and after finishing his prepared remarks put Donohue directly in the spotlight (Video 04:00).  The U.S. CoC is the biggest lobbyist for globalist economics. Donohue is essentially MAGA enemy #1.
You might remember Tom Donohue specifically targeting President Trump for personal criticism in the last round of NAFTA negotiations.  POTUS Trump positioned Donohue physically directly across from him at the table and it was obvious President Trump was planning to put Donohue on the spot.  The look on Gary Cohn’s face is priceless.

[Transcript] 11:41 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for being here, for the incredible work you’re doing to help us pass the really historic tax cuts. There’s never been anything like this in the history of our country. It’s cuts and it’s relief and it’s also reform. And frankly, it’s also simplification. So we’re covering everything.
There has never been anything like it, and it’s so important. The economy is doing very well but it can do much better. A lot of jobs are going to come from this and a lot of companies are going to start pouring back into the United States. In fact, we’re going to be announcing one big one sometime very shortly — a very big one coming back into the United States.
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The U.S. Conference Board is an economic think tank in partnership with Nielsen surveys which provides predictive economic analysis based on consumer and economic surveys within the larger U.S. economy.  The latest monthly report from the board shows a stratospheric level of consumer confidence, 125.9 the highest level since 2000.
Accordingly, “consumers were even more optimistic in October than economists polled by Reuters expected.”  The media and economic teams who thrill at the possibility of being able to talk-down the U.S. economy are apoplectic…

(Reuters) U.S. consumer confidence jumped to a near 17-year high in October, with households upbeat about the labor market and business conditions, which could underpin consumer spending and boost the economy in the final three months of the year.
The economy’s prospects were further bolstered by other reports on Tuesday showing an acceleration in wage growth in the third quarter and sustained increases in house prices in August.  (read more)

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If you thought paying for four simultaneous committee investigations into the vast 2016 ‘muh Russia’ conspiracy was enough effort for your money; well hold on… they’re not done…
Not only did DC throw in a special counsel investigation, just because your worth it; but they’re not done yet…  For a limited time, if you act fast, you too can own another brand new set of joint committee investigations tailored only for this special Flak and Countermeasures offer. Act know, because this offering will surely last forever.
That’s right, House Republicans have opened a joint investigation into the Justice Department’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, the lawmakers announced Tuesday. Brilliant. Congress, via the House, will now be investigating the investigators; and if we’re lucky, and if Bob Corker can double the value prior to departure, the Senate will soon follow and investigate the investigation of the investigators.

How lucky are we? Six, that’s right, SIX launched congressional investigations, with the possibility of two more coming soon. Allow yourself to relax and forget you don’t have healthcare coverage; forget “Repeal and Replace”. Enjoy the freedom from focusing on those pesky “budgety things”; sip slowly… ah yes, the joyful life of willful ambivalence where worries of tax reform simply melt away into the obsequity of the swamp.
The just announced probes will be conducted by two congressional panels responsible for overseeing the Justice Department and government operations in general. The investigators will review then-FBI Director James Comey’s various decisions pertaining to the Clinton investigation, such as his unusual announcement that she should not face indictment. But they will also review whether the Justice Department erred in its handling of investigations pertinent to President Trump’s campaign.
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Office of Managements and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney appears on Fox News Sunday to discuss the ongoing tax reform plan with princess Bush-Perino.

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OMB Director Mulvaney also appeared on CBS Face The Nation (see below).
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When the White House personnel report was released in June, Forbes reported 110 fewer employees under President Trump than President Obama; a projected four-year savings would be more than $22 million.
First-Lady Melania Trump is following a similar path with personnel reductions saving millions.
According to a report from Fox News using payroll data, First-Lady Melania Trump employs four assistants for a total payroll of $486,700 per year.
Michelle Obama employed 16 to 24 people for a total annual payroll of $1,240,000+ per year.  Mrs Trump has reduced the costs of First-Lady by over 60%.

WASHINGTON – Melania Trump is embracing a more active and public schedule as first lady – but she still runs one of the leanest East Wing operations in recent history.

According to a Fox News analysis of White House personnel reports, Melania Trump has significantly reduced the number of aides on the first lady’s office payroll in comparison to her predecessor, Michelle Obama.

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The stock market (Dow Jones Industrial Average) closed today at 23,157.  The highest ever in the history of the Stock Market.
On September 6th 2016 the Stock Market was at 18,510 when anti-Trump billionaire Mark Cuban appeared on television to announce that if Donald Trump won the election, the stock market would tank. WATCH (prompted, just hit play)

2016 – [05:40] MARK CUBAN: “I have my Trump-hedge on. In the event Donald wins I have no doubt in my mind the market tanks. And so I literally have put on a more than 100% hedge that I’ll put on stronger if it looks like there’s a better chance in the polling”
CAVUTO: “What does that mean? If Donald Trump wins in November, what is Mark Cuban doing?”
CUBAN: “If the polls look like there’s a decent chance Donald could win I’ll put a huge hedge on that’s over 100% of my equity position, and my bond position as well, that protects me just in case he wins.”

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NAFTA Round #4 negotiations have been ongoing and resulting in little progress on the serious issues surrounding the three nation trade pact.
Word from behind the scenes, and off-the-record, finds several insiders with the opinion that the decision by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbying group to conflict with President Trump and the U.S. trade team has backfired.
U.S. CoC President Tom Donohue made the decision to align in common cause with Canada and Mexico, against the interests of the U.S., and go public with his attacks against the U.S. negotiating team, the administration and President Trump personally.
Following the confrontational approach by the largest DC lobbying group, the U.S. team asked Canada to take their protectionist trade restrictions off the Dairy and Poultry sectors.  Canada was adamant they will never leave their agriculture unprotected, and rejected any consideration of open trade discussion toward those sectors.
The U.S. is standing firm on three elements that Mexico and Canada are dead-set against:
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This is a great interview from the perspective of seeing first hand how the disconnect between historic economic theory (Kudlow) runs into the reality of a person (Ross) who completely understands how Trade and Finance are enmeshed in a completely new economic paradigm. [The Myth of Modern Free Markets]
If you have read “The New Economic Dimension” you’ll note that Kudlow represents the economist sitting in the Atlantic, only able to see the Wall Street economy; while Wilbur Ross has a satellite perspective on both the Main Street and Wall Street economic engines.
Kudlow’s financial perspective runs into Ross’s reality about two-thirds of the way through the interview when Secretary Ross asks the question: “I bet you can’t give me an example of an economically sound investment that hasn’t found capital”.  It’s just a splendid thing to watch.

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Despite his financial-centric economic focus Kudlow is a good MAGA ally.  However, Wilbur Ross understands every single pixel of the larger economic picture, and how trade interacts with the larger U.S. economy within the Main Street -vs- Wall Street dynamic.
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