The House Rules Committee previously released the text of proposed changes to FISA (full pdf).  The “deal” is intended to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions [Call Detail Records (CDR)], all parts of the Patriot Act.  However, key Senators and President Trump say not enough being done to change it.
The current FISA authorities expire on March 15th; it looks like they will lapse as Mitch McConnell tries to regroup for a possible vote next week.  McConnell was forced to delay consideration past the expiration date after Senators Mike Lee (R), Rand Paul (R) and  Ron Wyden  (D) said they would object.

WASHINGTON DC – President Trump told Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Thursday that he does not support a House-passed surveillance bill— raising fresh questions about the fate of the legislation.
A spokesman for Lee confirmed the conversation and that the president told the Utah Republican that he does not support the House legislation. Officials speaking for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi is attempting to exploit the coronavirus issue to pass a litany of permanent laws inside what was supposed to be a temporary legislative bill to assist those economically impacted by the coronavirus mitigation efforts.

Two issues are stark: (1) permanent and mandatory paid sick leave; and (2) a massive and permanent increase in medicare spending to benefit health insurance companies.

(Via The Hill) […] “There’s a couple major problems with it. Here’s one glaring problem: Under [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi’s bill, the Social Security Administration will be set up to administer the paid sick leave program. Now this will take more than six months, so it won’t work in time. It will also hamper the administration from putting out Social Security for those who need it right now that are in harm’s way,” he added.

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The stock market is not the U.S. economy.  The stock market is an investment instrument.
Yes, the downstream consequences from coronavirus mitigation efforts means there is likely going to be temporary, very specific, fluxes within the Main Street economy.  Entertainment, hospitality and leisure are likely to see the strongest initial impacts. However, as noted by the release of weekly jobless claims the U.S. economy is very strong.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week as employers continued to hold on to their workers.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 211,000 for the week ended March 7, the Labor Department said. Jobless claims are the most timely labor market indicator. They have declined for two straight weeks.

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The level of media opposition and snark against President Trump is simply so ridiculous at this point there’s a desperation to it.  So let us consider…
From the outset of Donald Trump’s entry into the world of politics he espoused a series of key tenets around what he called his “America-First” objectives:

1. The U.S. needed to have control over our borders, and a greater ability to control who was migrating to the United States.  A shift toward stopping ‘illegal’ migration.
2. The U.S. needed to stop the manufacture of goods overseas and return critical manufacturing back to the United States.  A return to economic independence.
3. The U.S. needed to decouple from an over-reliance on Chinese industrial and consumer products.  China viewed as a geopolitical and economic risk.

Donald Trump was alone on these issues.  No-one else was raising them; no-one else was so urgently pushing that discussion. In 2015, 2016 and even 2017, no-one other than Trump was talking about how close we were to the dependence point of no return.
Given the status of very consequential issues stemming from the Chinese Coronavirus threat; and the myriad of serious issues with critical supply chain dependencies; wasn’t President Trump correct in his warnings and proposals?
In early 2017 President Trump and his administration coined the phrase: “economic security is national security”, and the economic team set about starting a very complex process to ensure the past three decades of trade policy was reversed.
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Bernie Sanders came into mini-Tuesday hoping for Michigan and Washington State to help him stay within closing distance of DNC favorite Joe Biden.  However, Bernie was crushed in Mississippi, Missouri and Michigan by the machine – not by Joe Biden.
Bernie was left with a possible 50/50 split in Washington State where over 125,000 voters mailed-in ballots for Elizabeth Warren (mailed prior to withdrawal), not accidental, all by Club design.  The Club is in control now, full control; and Biden is the malleable vessel the administrative state hopes to utilize to take control of all government function.

Bernie lost the heavily union influenced state of Michigan by over 200,000 votes (53/37); many of those union votes were against losing their Cadillac healthcare plans.  A stunning defeat for Senator Sanders in a state he narrowly carried in 2016. The losses in Mississippi (81 to 15) and Missouri (60 to 35) were by even wider proportions.
Michigan was a big loss because…. To make matters worse, Bernie Sanders now sees the Club has out maneuvered his last remaining hope.  Florida, Ohio, Illinois and Arizona all vote on March 17th.
Florida (219 delegates) is a lost cause.  ‘Fidel’ Sanders will likely see a similar outcome he received in Mississippi, no delegates.  Illinois (155 delegates), like Michigan, is under the full control of the Club – no viable hope.  Bernie’s road-map included Ohio (136 delegates), but the Club knee-capped him on that possibility; intentionally and smartly, by cancelling all indoor rallies under the auspices of Coronavirus.  That only leaves Arizona (67 delegates); but by then it’s likely too late, and the best possibility is another 50/50 split.
So Bernie Sanders campaign is done.
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The House Rules Committee is releasing text of proposed changes to FISA (full pdf below).  The “deal” is intended to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions [Call Detail Records (CDR)], all parts of the Patriot Act.
[scribd id=451141467 key=key-Jw0Ie6bFOBTwiIulOvCo mode=scroll]
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(House Rules Link pdf)

Earlier today President Trump and VP Mike Pence traveled to Capitol Hill to brief congress on the efforts of the Coronavirus task force and hold discussions on what legislative measures might be needed.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: So we just had a great meeting. Tremendous unity in the Republican Party. And we’re working on a lot of different things. We’ve also had some very good updates on the virus. That’s working out very smoothly. Tremendous people. It’s a tremendous task force. They have done a great job — not a good job, a great job.
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In November of 2019 buried deep in the congressional budget Continuing Resolution (CR) was a short-term extension to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions [Call Detail Records (CDR)], all parts of the Patriot Act.  As a result of the FISA CR inclusion the terminal deadline was pushed to March 15, 2020.

~ Something has to happen this week ~

AG Bill Barr traveled to Capitol Hill today for meetings with House and Senate leadership.  However, Tom Fitton is correct in this interview.  Nothing currently being called “reform” is going to address abuse when those who abused the system are not held accountable.

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One of the biggest fears I have is that in 2024 people will not understand just how bad Nikki Haley is.
Electing Haley after President Trump in 2024 is the equivalent of electing George Bush following Reagan in 1988.  This scheming, conniving, lying and corrupt politician is worse than John McCain, George Bush and Mitt Romney combined.
Nikki Haley is bad news.  Very bad news.
Today Romney in a skirt, aka Nikki Haley, endorsed Kelly Loeffler over Doug Collins for the Georgia senate seat.

[…] Haley, a Republican governor of South Carolina before serving as the Trump administration’s U.N. ambassador, headlined a campaign event in Marietta, Georgia, and officially endorsed Loeffler’s election bid. The rally, which was billed as Loeffler’s biggest since being appointed to the seat, was aimed at shoring up GOP support for her campaign. (read more)

Kelly Loeffler was appointed by Georgia Governor Kemp because Loeffler is married to Jeffrey Sprecher; a GOPe party insider, mega-donor, and multi-millionaire CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).  Jeffrey Sprecher is the founder and CEO of ICE, which now owns the New York Stock Exchange. Kelly Loeffler’s company, the financial platform Bakkt, is a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange.
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Never let a crisis go to waste… And right on cue the Democrats in Washington DC see an opportunity to use the Coronavirus as a tool to spend and expand dependency initiatives.
One of President Trump’s biggest and non-discussed success stories has been his economic policy initiatives allowing people to be financially secure, independent and non-reliant on government hand-outs.  However, the financial health and success of Americans is adverse to the political interests of Democrats who structure all of their policy objectives upon creating a dependent citizenry.
Weaponizing Coronavirus now becomes a tool for House Democrats to push-back against economic freedom; diminish the last several years of independence; and return to the era where more people become dependent on government.

It is not a question of “if legislation will happen”, it is simply a matter of “what” legislation will look like.  What elements will the Democrats attempt to exploit most?  The answer is very predictable when looking at their preferred approach.
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