Initial 2017 sales growth estimates exceed $33 billion (almost 6%), for a total of $598 billion, according to analysis by Customer Growth Partners.
Consumer spending represents two-thirds of total GDP; and with initial Q4 sales growth estimates coming in much higher than anticipated – this puts even more fuel into fourth quarter GDP growth estimates that have been hovering near 4%.
The stunning retail growth increases have been noted in both on-line and brick-and-mortar stores which reflects a more broad increase, driven by consumer confidence, likely to exceed these initial estimates.

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CBS – […] Total retail sales this holiday season added up to a record $598 billion dollars — up $33 billion from last year. “This is literally the best season since before the recession,” business owner Craig Johnson said.

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A quarter billion here, a quarter billion there, and pretty soon we’re talking about Bigly money.  LOL  While T-Rex is achieving State Department spending reductions of 30%, Nikki Haley joins the ‘walking in a winner wonderland” party…

(USUN) Today, the United Nations agreed on a budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. ‎Among a host of other successes, the United States negotiated a reduction of over $285 million off the 2016-2017 final budget. In addition to these significant cost savings, we reduced the UN’s bloated management and support functions, bolstered support for key U.S. priorities throughout the world, and instilled more discipline and accountability throughout the UN system.

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PART I – As the year winds down there will be lots of reviews of all things political. Lists of shifts and outlined accomplishments will be compiled to either show the advances or declines depending on tribal affiliation of the pundit.
However, not many people ever ask the questions behind the “why”.  Why is there so much opposition to President Trump?

In the larger analysis, Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) proposition is a daily reminder that citizen inspired government can eliminate the decades-long notion of politics as a profession.
There are hundreds-of-thousands of people within the institutional system known as politics. Each member carving out a specialty and selling their expertise as necessary within the opaque organization known as government. From city council, through state legislature and into federal representation, the primary selling point of each participating member is to declare their operational skill within the institution.
Heck, the professional political enterprise is so accepted as ordinary you can even go to college and earn a degree in how to be a politician. Why?
Boil down government to its most basic of institutional objectives and the entire premise is about operating common systems to the benefit of the aggregate assembly. The only thing that changes is the scale of the assembled constituency, local, state or federal.
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The economic strategy of President Trump is so consequential and encompassing, even the domestic effects are felt globally.

♦Removing the U.S. from the multinational TPP trade deal initially planted the seeds of doubt amid multinational trade forecasters because the shift positioned the U.S. with unique leverage. They saw Trump using access to the worlds largest market as a negotiating strategy.
♦A few months later, President Trump walked away from the ridiculous regulatory restrictions within the Paris Climate Treaty.  Instantaneously this put even more strategic manufacturing and economic advance on the U.S. ledger, and simultaneously made American energy independence a foregone conclusion.
♦And now that congress has codified President Trump’s lower domestic business taxes, in conjunction with opening up ANWR for energy development (a strategic economic goal for 20+ years), the size of the U.S. economic and manufacturing advantage has just increased U.S. trade leverage to almost unimaginable levels.

Economic Nationalism – President Trump’s strategy has created: •Lower and long-term predictable energy costs, not attached to OPEC or multinational influence; •Lower and long-term raw material costs due to slashed regulatory environment; •lower and long-term business manufacturing tax rates; and now Trump begins negotiating trade deals.

Add these advantages together within the largest economic market in the world and the U.S. is now the place where manufacturers will want to do business.  Additionally, the process of utilizing Canada and/or Mexico as a workaround into the U.S. market, via NAFTA, is on the cusp of removal.
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In an effort to meet the goal of signing the Tax Cut Bill before Christmas, and in order to initiate the tax reforms in FY 2018, President Trump signs the tax reform bill today in the oval office.
President Trump also delivered remarks to the media on a variety of topics.

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[Transcript] 10:45 A.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Thank you very much for being here, and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. Have great holidays.
We are going to sign some very important things today. One is a continuing resolution that very importantly gives us the right, and we are ordering $4 billion worth of missile defense equipment and missiles themselves. Very important. Top of the line. Best in the world. We make the best military product in the world, and nobody is even close.
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Oh, we have no idea yet how big and consequential the synergy between all of President Trump’s economic policies are toward an almost unfathomable MAGAnomic result; but we’ll find out really soon, BIGLY.
The international community is just now beginning to recognize how intensely sequential the domestic MAGAnomic tax policy is when combined with the international America-First trade policy therein.

2018 will be the year when every international trade partner reassess their best financial interests; and with the tax outline codified into law, POTUS Trump, Secretary Ross, Secretary Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer are about to initiate the biggest multinational trade shift in the history of international economics.
Yes folks, I’m actually talking about that phase when we discover we are living within the orbit of: “almost too much winning”.   This is where we begin to recognize that 5%, 6% and even 7% GDP growth is easily attainable. Here’s how it works.
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Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat party said the Trump Tax Reform bill was going to end up killing people.  Perhaps if she was counting all the people injuring themselves while jumping for joy, she might be accurate.
Immediately following the passage of the Tax Cut Bill, U.S. companies are announcing their plans to increase the pay, benefits and bonuses of U.S. workers.   This is almost too much winning…. but we can take it…. Super-MAGA-Winning:

(AT&T Story HERE)

Oh, but it doesn’t stop with AT&T.
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Congressional senators and House members from the republican party are traveling to the White House for a 3:00pm presidential speech following passage of their historic Tax Reform bill.   The celebratory remarks from the president are anticipated at 3:00pm EST
UPDATE: Video Added

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Last Friday the New York Federal Reserve raised its estimate of U.S. GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2017 to four percent.  That’s officially the unattainable, impossible magic-wand-level of GDP growth all the ‘experts’ said was impossible.  Why did they make that ‘unexpected upward’ re-re-re-revision?  Because the underlying economic activity represents facts that cannot be denied. The economy is on-the-move.

…”Hold on to your economic britches peeps – throw dem ju-ju bones out the windows – grab hold of the young-un’s, squeeze em tight and introduce them to ‘capitalism unchained’. We are in uncharted MAGA territory now. Q4 will be well beyond 3.2% 3.8%  3.9% 4.0%… Well Beyond.”…

The actual economic activity noted in virtually every region in the U.S. is so strong the polling measures of economic optimism are reaching new records.  Today, as an example, for the first time in their 11 year CNBC All-American Economic Survey  more than half of all Americans responding to the questions rate the economy as good or excellent.  Additionally, nearly 41 percent of Americans say they expect the economy to be better a year from now. These represent the most optimistic results CNBC has ever recorded.
We would be remiss if we didn’t note a specific choice of words used to describe the economic conditions being measured:

…”We’re not measuring a marginal change in the economy, we’re measuring a different economy.”…

Sound familiar?
It should….
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin departed Camp David last night and appears on Fox, CNN and CBS Sunday talk shows to discuss the pending historic vote on Tax Reform.
Fox News Sunday:

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CBS Face the Nation:
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