Critical Update – Critical Update – Critical Update

Those who are watching the NAFTA negotiations must pay close attention to the activity in the past 36 hours.  There is a key video at the bottom.  First the backdrop:

As most are aware the NAFTA fatal flaw, the “loophole”, surrounds Mexico and Canada structuring their economic manufacturing policy -and trade deals- through the exploitation of a back-door into the U.S. Market. Understanding this key issue is paramount to understanding President Trump’s approach therein.

Remove the NAFTA “loophole” and there is no longer an incentive for U.S. manufacturers to locate their operations in Mexico or Canada. However, the removal of this loophole also means China, ASEAN nations and the EU lose the same incentive.

There have been hundreds of billions of previous investment by multinational corporations in Mexico and Canada.  Every dollar spent was intended to continue this exploitation.

Then came Trump.

In terms of investment size and scale of manufacturing, the auto-sector is perhaps the primary industry attempting to position themselves to avoid any reversal of the NAFTA scheme; and it is a self-interested economic scheme. In the short term there are billions at stake; in the longer term there are trillions within the equation.

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Senior administration officials are preparing to brief the media on a congressional “recission request” notification:

“Today, senior administration officials will hold a background briefing to preview the Presidents historic rescission request to Congress. The special message to Congress will be delivered Tuesday, May 8, 2018. The briefing will be conducted via conference call at 6:00PM EDT tonight. The information will be embargoed until 9:00PM EDT this evening.” (LINK)

In essence the administration is preparing to enter into a spending discussion with congress. The White House is actually trying to eliminate unnecessary federal spending. FULLSTOP. Yes, that’s what happens when a businessman, committed to financial stewardship, takes over as executive and reviews spending.

The basic point of “recission” is simple. The Omnibus spending bill contained too much unneeded spending on non-essential budgetary items. A Very Stable Genius President approved the Omnibus to gain the needed financing for the military.

With the military shored-up, the sketchy pork hidden inside the Omnibus needs to be addressed while deconstructing the deep state apparatus.  So,…. the White House is talking with congress about NOT spending the appropriations.

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Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the ongoing issues with the special counsel appointed by Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Mr. Mukasey’s largest point of concern is how the Special Counsel was initiated, and the lack of public knowledge of the investigative intent.

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Earlier today President Trump traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to deliver remarks at a business and community tax reform roundtable event.  President Trump begins his remarks by noting the importance of shifting focus within the trade discussion to bring a greater balance to the U.S. economy via America-First principles.

Three decades of economic policies benefiting Wall Street are now shifted to begin a new era where economic policies benefit Main Street.  That’s MAGAnomics in shorthand.

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The New York Times is now reporting  former FBI Chief Legal Counsel James Baker has resigned from the FBI.  This follows a similar announcement for Lisa Page.

James Baker and Lisa Page were part of the “fab five” (Baker, Page, Strzok, Ohr, Priestap) previously suspected as cooperating with IG and FBI INSD investigators in exchange for some form of process leniency.  James Baker was removed from his position as FBI Chief Legal Counsel on December 21st, 2017.  He has been holding down some previously unknown position inside the FBI until today.

WASHINGTON — Two top F.B.I. aides who worked alongside the former director James B. Comey as he navigated one of the most politically tumultuous periods in the bureau’s history resigned on Friday.

One of them, James A. Baker, served as the F.B.I.’s top lawyer until December when he was reassigned as the new director, Christopher A. Wray, began installing his own advisers. Mr. Baker had been investigated by the Justice Department on suspicion of sharing classified information with reporters. He has not been charged.

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In broad measure the DOJ-OIG investigation into the politicization and weaponization of the DOJ and FBI has three basic frames of reference:

♦The internal investigation of intelligence leaks to media by FBI and DOJ officials.
♦The internal investigation into the politicization of the Clinton email investigation, and the results therein. This is the central investigation.
♦The internal investigation of politically motivated abuse/fraud upon the FISA court.

•The first outcome ended with an OIG report and criminal referral of Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for his leaks to media. •The next outcome will be the long-awaited IG report on the Clinton investigation. •The last IG release in this series will encompass the DOJ-OIG internal review of applications to the FISA court.

Today, there is some new information: the congressional testimony of Inspector General Horowitz has been postponed due to new discoveries in relationship to the Clinton investigation. It is our suspicion the ‘new investigative review‘ specifically pertains to the how DOJ and FBI officials handled the issues stemming from the Huma Abedin/Anthony Weiner laptop; and how Andrew McCabe took specific action to hide the content therein between September 28th, 2016 and the eventual re-opening of the investigation on October 28th, 2016.  In essence the background of the “non-investigation”.

Those new IG discoveries would most certainly encompass FBI and U.S. Attorney contacts from New York to Main Justice and FBI HQ in Washington DC; and include what actions each of the participants took therein.

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Yesterday Texas and six other states filed a lawsuit against the the Trump administration over the Presidents’ failure to terminate DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals); an Obama-era program created through ‘executive action’ that allowed work permits and legal status for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens brought to the U.S. as children.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Brownsville on Tuesday; asking the court to rule on whether President Obama’s 2012 decision to grant deportation protections and two-year work authorizations to young undocumented immigrants — without congressional approval — was lawful.

A similar program in 2014 known as DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) was ruled unconstitutional in 2016.   However, the first executive action, ‘the DACA policy’, has never been challenged in court.

Today, a judge was assigned by random draw for the DACA case, and universal karma has come full circle with the outcome.  Federal Judge Andrew Hanen was drawn as the presiding judge for the DACA challenge.

It cannot be overstated how significantly damaging that judicial draw is to the activist groups who are trying to support the Obama Executive Action.  Judge Andrew Hanen was the original judge on the 2015 DAPA challenge.

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Ambassador Lighthizer comments on NAFTA prior to departing for China.  In the auto sector, Mexico and Canada are still arguing for more Asian/Chinese parts for U.S. automobiles.  The U.S. position is for higher North American content. Loggerheads.

I still find it stunning how many people cannot see the ridiculous side of the Mexican and Canadian position; and how that showcases the insanity of NAFTA. Can/Mex are not arguing for more Canada and Mexico content, they are holding out for more Asian content.  Their economic models are nothing more than brokering the assembly of cheap Asian goods through their NAFTA access to the U.S. market.  Ridiculous.

WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Tuesday that if a deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement cannot be reached with Canada and Mexico in about three weeks, its approval by the U.S. Congress could be in jeopardy.

Lighthizer said at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event that a deal to update NAFTA was needed quickly because of the lengthy notification process for congressional approval of trade deals.

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In an interesting survey of over 16,000 millennial respondents (graphic here) via  Reuters-IPSOS the narrative of a midterm ‘blue wave” evaporates.

According to the large-sample polling, support for Democrats has dropped from 55% in 2016 to 46% now.  That’s a significant decline over 9% from prior surveys, and could be a strong indication the current favored narrative amid DNC media is entirely false.

(Reuters) MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) – Enthusiasm for the Democratic Party is waning among millennials as its candidates head into the crucial midterm congressional elections, according to the Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll.

The online survey of more than 16,000 registered voters ages 18 to 34 shows their support for Democrats over Republicans for Congress slipped by about 9 percentage points over the past two years, to 46 percent overall. And they increasingly say the Republican Party is a better steward of the economy.

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There are those times when Senator Lindsey Graham carefully weighs the politics of the moment and seems to align with the policies of President Trump and the MAGA movement.  This is one of those times.

The tender senator hits the quadruple-lindy… Agreeing with President Trump on: North Korea, Iran, China and FBI Director James Comey’s insufferable nonsense.  As winged pigs seemingly aviate in our blind spot, here’s a full 17 minutes of the tender senator praising President Donald J Trump:

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