This afternoon President Trump is holding a roundtable with governors on the reopening of America’s small businesses. The anticipated start time is 3:00pm ET.
UPDATE: Video Added
President Donald Trump calls-in to the Sean Hannity television show to discuss current events including police reform, the coronavirus pandemic, and his re-election campaign.
Apparently excerpts from former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s dossier have been released to the media. The Bolton dossier makes some of the most outlandish claims imaginable; and only the most incredibly silly media would ever believe them. So yeah, that’s exactly what’s happening.
One example within the Bolton Dossier comes from John Bolton himself as he wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal. Before citing the Bolton article it’s worth remembering CTH was following every detail of the Osaka G20 meeting closely. We took notes on every background and foreground contact and meeting, because the U.S-China Osaka meeting was at a very critical juncture. [My favorite picture from Osaka, Japan]
Bolton puts this goofball framework to the Osaka, Japan, G20:
(Wall Street Journal) […] In their meeting in Osaka on June 29, Xi told Trump that the U.S.-China relationship was the most important in the world. He said that some (unnamed) American political figures were making erroneous judgments by calling for a new cold war with China.
Whether Xi meant to finger the Democrats or some of us sitting on the U.S. side of the table, I don’t know, but Trump immediately assumed that Xi meant the Democrats.
This hearing might be a little too wonky for some, but not too many other policy issues touch 100% of American lives. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will be delivering testimony today outlining the 2020 trade policy agenda.
The testimony is before the House Ways and Means Committee, and will be livestreamed on the committee website [SEE HERE] and below at 10:00am ET from the Longworth House Office Building. USTR Lighthizer is the sole witness.
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Lighthizer will also be testifying to the Senate Finance Committee at 3:00pm. [LINK]
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is testifying tomorrow at 10:00am to the House Ways and Means committee; later in the afternoon Ambassador Lighthizer will testify before the Senate Finance Committee.
The New York Times has received an advance copy of USTR Lighthizer’s opening statement, and the liberal publication is apoplectic the Trump administration plans to outline an even more aggressive stance toward the World Trade Organization (WTO).
According to the pearl-clutching Wall St. class, Lighthizer is going to inform congress of Trump/USTR plans to demand tariff reciprocity; and Lighthizer will indeed raise tariffs against any nation that continues to attempt one-sided benefit. [EU will go bananas]
One method to approach tariff inequality would be for the U.S. to lower the import value threshold for non-tariff exemptions. Currently the U.S. does not apply import duties to any product valued under $800. This is a great benefit to China, southeast Asia, and U.S. on-line retailers such as ebay and Amazon; however, the zero tariff threshold hurts U.S. manufacturers because China and other nations do not reciprocate.
It is anticipated that USTR Lighthizer will inform congress the U.S. will lower that import threshold to match the same value level applied by other nations. Obviously the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Wall Street multinationals will not like this approach.
Data released by the Commerce Dept [pdf here] shows U.S. shoppers increased spending by a record 17.7% from April to May. The jump in spending was double the amount most economists and forecasters were predicting.
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(Reuters) Retail sales jumped 17.7% last month, the biggest advance since the government started tracking the series in 1992. Sales dropped a record 14.7% in April. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales would rise 8% in May. (link)
New coronavirus reports from Beijing are very sketchy. According to Chinese authorities they have identified a new strain of coronavirus at a massive wholesale food market in Beijing called the Xinfadi Market. They are blaming “European Salmon”…
Beijing officials have reported 79 cases over the past four days, the biggest concentration of infections since February. The spate of new cases prompted officials in many parts of the city to swiftly bring back tough counter-epidemic measures, with at least three districts entering “war-time mode.”
Measures imposed included erecting round-the-clock security checkpoints, closing schools and sports venues, and reinstating temperature checks at malls, supermarkets and office buildings. CNBC REPORT:
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There have been several economic reports that China’s manufacturing economy is contracting. Considering a desperate dragon…. It would not be out of place to consider that Beijing would react to losing an economic war, or even economic position, by trying to unleash a globally mitigating virus intended to target their geopolitical adversaries [Hong Kong, Taiwan and the U.S.]
This zero-sum outlook is EXACTLY how the Chinese red dragon thinks!
We have been engaged in an undeclared economic war. Perhaps it’s time we made an official and public declaration; and strategically, openly, aligned all U.S. interests toward economic combat.
Comrade Lightfoot explains why the Chicago Ministry of COVID Compliance needed to cancel the days-off for all police officers, and extend all shifts to 12 hrs per day.
According to the Chicago Mayor, the city will be deploying “Social Distancing Ambassadors” to help citizens accept their social responsibility. The monitors will assist the public remaining disengaged from human contact as the Ministry begins permitting citizens to exit the confines of their homes. Drone enforcement could likely assist.
No word on the specifics, but Chicago scientists have apparently identified a hybrid form of the virus that will attack outdoor residents who enter a six foot danger-zone in proximity to another person. The ministry has determined Blue state residents are safe at distances exceeding 6 feet. However, inside that zone, at 4 or 5 feet or less, the virus creates a rapid death spiral and attacks with increased ferocity. It is currently unknown why the proximity strain of the virus responds differently in Red states.
Blue State proximity infection is dangerous. Unless, of course, the proximity variable is influenced by the third factor of vegetables or groceries; which have been identified as generating a safe zone as outlined in local supermarkets. As a consequence, jogging without groceries requires the proximity police, aka “Social Distancing Ambassadors.”
According to city officials, these new exterior compliance officers should help reduce the influx of residents currently jogging in grocery stores. Remember, we are all in this together; and to prove how critical this is to the fabric of our society, we must all stay apart.
Comrade Cuomo is threatening to take enforcement action on behalf of the New York state Ministry of Coronavirus Compliance.
Today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is threatening “state enforcement action” against the citizens of New York for engaging in economic activity, violating his social distancing rules, not wearing masks and having “parties” against his COVID compliance dictates….
Which is more than a little ironic considering the same Andrew Cuomo previously ruled out “state enforcement action” against riots, violence, looters and arsonists.
Rioting and looting don’t warrant state enforcement, but forget to wear a mask or stand too close to your cousin and there will be hell to pay. Good luck trying to square that circle of stupidity.
A contrast in interviews between the obtuse Jake Tapper and Maria Bartiromo discussing the Trump administration efforts to reopen the economy. While Bartiromo still leans toward policy initiatives to bail out her Wall Street allies, the doomsayers who never focus on solutions. The previous economic package is working and delivering positive results.
As White House economist Kevin Hassett noted yesterday, any phase-4 relief package would be very specifically targeted -as tax incentives, not spending- toward only those companies and industries that are negatively impacted during earnest efforts to reestablish their footing.