House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the federal budget legislation, wall funding and the 2018 Mid Term elections.  The 2018 fiscal year ends September 30th, President Trump is pressuring lawmakers to pass fiscal year 2019 spending bills prior to the October 1st deadline.

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Segment #2 below
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The insufferable guardian of the swamp gates, Chris Wallace, was in his full uniparty glory this morning as he scolds Vice-President Mike Pence during a discussion of the current state of swamp affairs.
Topics include President Obama’s glorious return to the campaign trail; the magnanimous resistance (Wallace opinion) from an anonymous usurper within the administration; President Trump’s unnecessary frustration with the failure of DOJ and FBI to address internal corruption; Bob Woodward’s anti-Trump book etc.

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In case anyone was wondering, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is in Europe talking trade with the European Union.  Within the delegation of trade negotiation, the EU trade agreement is designated to Ross, while USTR Lighthizer covers Canada and Mexico and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is holding point on China.  Secretary Ross is getting the royalty treatment in Greece today.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer is still engaged with Chrystia from Canada as negotiations continue to see if a U.S-Canada trade deal is possible.  He must have the patience of Job. The 52,000 lost Canadian jobs announced today has shifted the landscape a little.  Canada appears slightly more likely to back-away from prior demands to carve out the Canadian Dairy industry and continue the process of protectionist tariffs.
Ms. Freeland is heading back to Canada tonight, leaving her negotiation team in DC to continue working.  However, Canada still demands to exempt their “cultural industries”, telecommunications and media sectors, from any trade agreement. The issues for Canada to join the U.S-Mexico agreement are/were:

• open their telecommunications and banking sector (eliminate non tariff barriers).
• eliminate soft-wood (lumber) and aeronautics federal subsidies.
• begin a process of lowering their assembly use of Chinese/Asian goods.
• accept the rules of origin for North American manufacturing.
• eliminate protectionist tariffs on dairy and farm products.
• accept the U.S-Mexico terms for arbitration and dispute resolution.

The Telecommunications/media sector is non-negotiable according to Justin from Canada. There may be flexibility within banking (not much information).  The lumber and aeronautics subsidies could be dropped.  Rules of origin are non-negotiable for President Trump.  Protectionist tariffs on dairy and farm products are the current issue being discussed.  Dispute resolution is an outstanding issue.
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President Trump is campaigning today in North and South Dakota.  Here is video of a very relaxed and confident President Trump delivering remarks at the Delta Hotel in Fargo, North Dakota.

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Today is likely to be a very busy news day.  President Trump will appear on Fox and Friends at the same time the Bureau of Labor and Statistics releases the August jobs report. RESULTS: Total employment increased by 201,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.9 percent (data here)
Additionally, there’s the congressional requests (legislative branch) for President Trump (executive branch) to declassify redacted portions of the DOJ/FBI FISA application.  So it is worthwhile discussing the “declassification conundrum” beginning with this interview:

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The congressional request is for President Trump to declassify and release the Carter Page FISA applications (including specifically pages 10-12 and 17-34 and relevant footnotes), all of the Bruce Ohr 302s and other relevant documents, including exculpatory evidence regarding Carter Page and others, that were presented to the Gang of Eight, but not presented to the FISA Court.
At first glance it appears to be a simple request right? However, it is anything but simple for a lot of reasons.
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Today presents yet another example of lunacy from the political left as Democrat Senator Corey Booker declares he is Spartacus; except he isn’t – not even a little bit.
Using his best dramatic voice Booker said he would “knowingly” violate Senate rules to release emails marked “committee confidential” showing that nominee Brett Kavanaugh discussed racial profiling as a White House lawyer in 2002.
Playing to the television audience Booker declared his bravery and referred to his actions as an act of “civil disobedience”.  Saying: “This is about the closest I’ll probably ever have in my life to an, ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.”  ::Dun-Dun-Duh:::

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Except, what dramatic Booker failed to mention was the super-secret Kavanaugh emails he was bravely releasing were, well,… already cleared for release.
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President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Speaker Paul Ryan have teamed up this summer to do something that hasn’t happened in two decades — write and pass department spending bills instead of lumping everything into a massive package. … [W]hile Congress has taken the votes, many on Capitol Hill are giving Trump and his team the credit for breaking the 20-year log jam. They cite his refusal to sign another massive “omnibus” spending bill that ignored his priorities, even if it means shutting down the government.
“This is all driven by the president,” said a key congressional insider. “It’s a win for the president. For 20 years this system has been busted.” (source)

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[Transcript] 3:35 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: So thank you very much. I want to thank members of the House and Senate leadership for joining us today to discuss the September legislative agenda, including how we can responsibly fund the government, protect American taxpayers, and defend American security.
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This is epic.  Must Watch.  Missouri Republican Representative Billy Long falls back on his prior job skills to shut down a disrupting protester.  Then comes the best part:

“I yield back”…

Some days ya just gotta laugh. Thank you Mr. Long, that moment will be long remembered.

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From a pure economic/financial perspective this Nike  branding campaign doesn’t make sense…. unless, you realize a much bigger picture. A hidden bigger picture.

On its face, it just seems absurd. Why would any major corporation intentionally stake out a branding position that is adverse to their financial interests?
I’ve spoken to some very excellent business actuaries on this late today; and one specific conversation finally helped to make it all make sense.  During that conversation a good ally shared: “a multinational corporation would never make a branding decision adverse to their financial interests. Unless there is a hidden risk unrelated to what is visible on the surface.” ….BINGO, there it is, the lightbulb went on.
A hidden risk that likely has nothing whatsoever to do with Colin Kaepernick.
The bigger risk to Nike has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter, U.S. Consumers, or Antifa-like political advocacy. The bigger financial risk to the Nike Corporation has everything to do with geopolitics and a reset of international trade agreements.
Here’s the hidden aspect with research to back it up.  Nike Inc. has hitched its massive corporate existence to a 10-year business plan that is dependent on the continuance of recently negotiated manufacturing contracts.
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During the senate confirmation hearing today the full antics of the Democrat political apparatus were on display.  One of their choreographed and manufactured moments happened when a man named Fred Guttenberg was staged to shake the hand of Judge Kavanaugh during one of the recess breaks.  SEE VIDEO:

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Fred Guttenberg is one of the parents from the February Parkland High School shooting, a Democrat and a gun control proponent.  Judge Brett Kavanaugh, like most of America, had no idea who the guy was who was trying to grab him.  It was an entirely staged event put on by Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Democrat party, and coordinated with prior notification to media to anticipate the moment.
Here’s how it was scripted.
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