On the day the administration briefs congressional leadership about the details of the strike that killed Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani, President Trump warns Iran about consequences for any retaliatory strike against Americans:
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A good day for a MAGAnomic pause and reminder…
In 2015 we discussed candidate Trump’s economic positions and how they would impact the economy. CTH anticipated that MAGAnomics would be reversing three decades of federal reserve monetary policy. After about a year of analysis and discussion, in 2016 CTH presented a theory: “A new Dimension in Modern Economics“.
CTH shared a possibility of what could happen if Trump Economic Policy was shifted to favor Main St. over Wall St. One aspect we presented was how Federal Reserve monetary policy would be oddly disconnected from its ability to influence inflation… Today:
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve could find itself fighting too-low inflation for years to come, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said on Friday, and may need a new policy framework to lift inflation back up to the Fed’s 2% goal.
“We don’t have a really good understanding of why it’s been so difficult to get inflation back up,” Daly said at the annual American Economics Association meeting in San Diego.
Reports of new late-night U.S. airstrikes north of Baghdad are starting to be confirmed. According to developing reports a convoy of two or three vehicles carrying Iran-back Shia Militia leaders was targeted near Taji in Northern Baghdad. [Convoy pic below]
The strike is reported to have killed Qais Khazali, one of the people the US named as responsible for storming of US Embassy in Baghdad. Also Shibl al-Zaydi is now confirmed to have been killed. Shibl was the leader of Kata’ib al-Imam Ali or the Imam Ali Battalions.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Air strikes targeting Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces umbrella grouping of Iran-backed Shi’ite militias near camp Taji north of Baghdad have killed six people and critically wounded three, an Iraqi army source said late on Friday.
Two of the three vehicles making up a militia convoy were found burned, the source said, as well as six burned corpses. The strikes took place at 1:12 am local time, he said. (link)
It would appear the U.S. has ongoing excellent intelligence on the movements of key Iranian militia leadership operating in Iraq, and are now working through a list of those targets as they attempt to move around.
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This afternoon President Trump delivered a statement on Iran outlining the successful preemptive strike against Iranian terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani.
…“We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.”…
The 2020 Davos economic conference will be a little more important to watch this year (as it was in 2017) due to the completed U.S. Trade Agreements (S Korea, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and China) and the predicted focus for the Trump administration to pivot from Asia to the EU and U.K. for the next critical phase of the ‘America-First’ global trade reset.
As a result of the recent U.K. election, pending Brexit, a favorable $7.5 billion WTO ruling and USTR Lighthizer’s new $2.4 billion EU targeted tariff program, the administration has significant advantages going into a trade discussion with the EU in 2020.
Team USA has the world’s strongest economy, the largest market, legally bolstered tariff authority and a quiver full of powerful economic arrows.
Meanwhile Team EU has: (1) the UK leaving; (2) severe drops in German industrial manufacturing; (3) a shrinking French economy; (4) yellow-vests in the streets; and (5) demands for greater economic autonomy from many key member states.
Overlay Germany, France and Italy large economy challenges such as: their promise to meet NATO obligations – and their attachment to the strangling Paris Climate Treaty, and the EU’s collective economic position is precarious at best.
WHITE HOUSE – Today, President Donald J. Trump announced the Presidential Delegation that will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, from January 20 to January 24, 2020.
The Honorable Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, will lead the delegation.
Members of the Presidential Delegation:
At the time of a Tuesday evening Fox News interview Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was affirming his trip to Ukraine was still planned. However, by the time Pompeo woke up on Wednesday morning those plans were cancelled…. Perhaps someone told the secretary he needed to stay-attached to the crisis he helped inspire?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday postponed a trip to Ukraine so he could focus on the situation in Iraq after demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassy.
Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups stormed the U.S. embassy’s perimeter and hurled rocks in two days of protests. They withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops and threatened reprisals against Tehran.
Despite the initial reaction a stable-minded person would likely take away from the headline, it is a good thing that ABC News and other MSM have dropped their pretense and shallow-efforts to retain their open secrets.
In this example while lamenting the outcome of the recent U.K. election that saw the socialists and leftists crushed by conservative and pragmatic voters, ABC is concerned the American people may end up similarly interfering in media objectives for the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The problem they discover is this pesky concept called “freedom”.
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Consider this argument from the article: “One of the things that we’re always very cautious about is everyone looking at Russia. But actually, we should be looking at the party and political dynamics closer to home and how domestic actors are using the platforms and manipulating the systems to spread information or misinformation that’s favorable to their political stance.”
I mean seriously. Can you imagine a world where U.S. politicians easily spread information favorable to their political stance. Oh.My.God… The outcome is almost unimaginable…. People, allowed to think for themselves. Yikes, the horror of it.
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“Yesterday, President Vladimir Putin of Russia called President Donald J. Trump to thank him for information the United States provided that helped foil a potential holiday terrorist attack in Russia.
Both Presidents committed to continuing counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. The Presidents also discussed the state of relations between the United States and Russia and future efforts to support effective arms control.” (link)
White House Manufacturing and Trade Advisor Peter Navarro discusses the state of the U.S. economy heading into 2020. The Fox crew uses the strawman poll: “some people feel”, to create a narrative that cannot easily be countered; however, the reality in the economic stats cannot be refuted.
Main Street workers are confident; wages continue to increase; inflation is low – employment is high, consumer spending is strong and the future looks bright.
Ivanka Trump appears on Face the Nation to discuss the ongoing initiatives around paid family leave. Ms. Brennan exhibits serious envy as she attempts to position Ms. Trump on the defensive. However, Ivanka Trump is deeply informed on the nuances, details and challenges of the proposal and easily handles the narrative engineering effort of Brennan.
The family leave topic is a serious policy proposal that crosses into the larger America First economic need for a vibrant U.S. workforce. Additionally, the topic of balance between family and work is critically important for middle-class and main street workers. There are currently seven million jobs available and policies that help working families with children have long-term benefits beyond economics.