Our friends at the U.S. Dept of Commerce (DoC) took the weekend off prior to uploading the content from last week’s SelectUSA conference on economics and trade. Unfortunately that delayed our ability to discuss.

However, that said, CTH is often asked how we are able to predict economic and financial events with accuracy. The answer is quite simple, we listen to the raw information. We don’t listen to the media’s interpretation of events, we seek out the actual events and analyze the raw information. Assemble enough of those disparate (but connected) raw information data points and logical predictive conclusions follow.

During the U.S. DoC SelectUSA trade and economic conference last week both Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross provided some great insight into the policies that will structurally impact everyone. Three videos are available below:

Secretary Wilbur Ross armchair discussion and Q&A:

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Too funny.  President Trump is relentless.  Under attack from every direction; he’s seemingly just one person, yet he has his opposition surrounded.

Yup, tomorrow is just another Tuesday…

Well before most were discussing the possibility of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retiring from the court we anticipated he would.  In January we discussed the ramifications for Senator Schumer filibustering the nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the court, and how politics was a land-mine if Schumer took that route.

The reasoning was simple.  Justice Anthony Kennedy wants to retire, and Justice Kennedy holds institutional and traditional reverence for the court far beyond politics.  Kennedy has previously showcased his disdain for politics and how it corrupts the court. Kennedy’s actual outlook is so steeped in judicial tradition he will defer, modify and delay his own personal interests if he senses a need to guard or protect the integrity of traditions within the court from the toxic infiltration of politics.

In all significant ways that matter, Justice Neil Gorsuch was/is more of an ideological replacement (high brow) for Kennedy than he was for Scalia, at least from the perspective of Kennedy.  We anticipated, somewhat based on how Senator Schumer acquitted himself, that Kennedy would retire with a successful Gorsuch appointment.

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So much winning. The Supreme Court is letting a version of the Trump administration ban on travel from six mostly Muslim countries to take effect, a victory for President Donald Trump. In the decision to lift the stay the court outlined temporary limits to the ban based on status.

The court said Monday the ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen could be enforced as long as they lack a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” The justices will hear arguments in the case in October. President Trump said last week the immigration and travel restrictions would take effect 72 hours after being cleared by courts.

#1: Agree to hear case:

[W]e grant both of the Government’s petitions for certiorari and consolidate the cases for argument.

#2: Agree to allow ban to continue:

We grant the Government’s applications to stay the injunctions, to the extent the injunctions prevent enforcement of §2(c) with respect to foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.

Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch said they would have let the complete bans take effect without any limits. (more…)

White House Senior Adviser to the President Kellyanne Conway is interviewed by former Clinton White House aide ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos about the current healthcare bills on Capitol Hill.

ABC’s Stephanopoulos is one of the most ardent Democrat party ideologues/operatives within media and this interview is a representative example of how he argues exclusively from a position of ideological advocacy against the Trump administration.

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(VIA STATE DEPT) Qatar has begun its careful review and consideration of a series of requests presented by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

While some of the elements will be very difficult for Qatar to meet, there are significant areas which provide a basis for ongoing dialogue leading to resolution.

A productive next step would be for each of the countries to sit together and continue this conversation. We believe our allies and partners are stronger when they are working together towards one goal which we all agree is stopping terrorism and countering extremism.

Each country involved has something to contribute to that effort. A lowering of rhetoric would also help ease the tension. The United States will continue to stay in close contact with all parties and will continue to support the mediation efforts of the Emir of Kuwait.

~ U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

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For many years a point of agreement amid the common-sense-conservative crowd has centered around how weak and ineffective the historic messaging has been from the GOP.

Traditional values, which bind Americans in common purpose, have been under assault by progressives (more aptly Fabian Socialists) for decades, and little to no push-back was ever mounted by professional political voices.

Hollywood and Madison Avenue, under the control of professional left drove anti-American exceptional messaging, and the various GOP elements seemingly conceded the liberty landscape.  The American brand was diminished as a consequence.

Part of President Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ message is about re-instituting a patriotic value message; and also returning a sense of self-discipline and pride in success.

WATCH:

Last week @POTUS & @FLOTUS hosted members of Congress and their families for the annual Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn. pic.twitter.com/NCjdnvWMgU

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 25, 2017

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This type of effective messaging is what the top tier of the professional progressive movement, those who control the strings of the puppets, fear most.

The imagery of joy, fellowship, commonality and decency, is perceived as an ideological threat to decades of societal manipulation by the Fabian-Socialist movement.

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In an interview with Fox News’ Howard Kurtz (MediaBuzz), White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer pushed back against the accusations of CNN’s most delicate whaaambulance passenger Jim Acosta, who complains about the lack of press briefings aired on television.

“It’s sad that he believes if it doesn’t occur on TV — I think some of these reporters are more interested in their YouTube clips than they are in getting factual news. You look at the number of questions asked over and over again just so the reporter can get a clip of themselves saying something or yelling at someone.”

Spicer rightly said the Press Corps posturing gets “repetitive” and tiresome. “To suggest that if it’s not on television is somewhat nonsensical. We engage with the press corps very robustly from early in the morning to late at night. The briefing is one small part of what this staff does.”

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HHS Secretary Dr. Tom Price appears on CNN State of The Union to discuss the legislative repair efforts for an ObamaCare overhaul, and overall healthcare reform efforts.

Notice how the various “concerns”, amid all of the politically charged discussion, are always centered around medicaid – or the state run, taxpayer-funded, low income, healthcare coverage. Not a single oppositional argument is ever made about negative impacts for those who actually pay for their own healthcare coverage. The opposition arguments are entirely framed around benefits toward those who pay little to nothing.

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There is a parallel, comparative and representative example of what President Trump’s smart policy team is trying to do with healthcare.  the comparison actually lies within another set of economic policy objectives. However, it takes elevation in thinking to understand the approach and see the similarity.

The comparative reform example is within the banking and finance industry.

For those who have read all the statements, watched the hearings, listened intently to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, you might have already noted their approach to working around the ridiculously burdensome Dodd Frank regulations within the banking and finance sector. – OUTLINED HERE –

Essentially, instead of trying to untangle all the complexities of decades long DC constructs enmeshing and enlarging the bureaucracy around banking, Trump’s team is constructing a parallel system. Cliff Noted for Brevity: (more…)

The drop in ratings for corporate Fox News is unfamiliar territory for them.  It takes a while for corporate suites to react to losses in position.  In the era of Roger Ailes, losing was unfamiliar.  Broadcast perspectives modify based on finances. President Trump is bigger than the media who report on him.

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