The Commerce Department has released the first advanced estimate of retail sales and consumer spending for June. Core retail sales increased 0.7 percent last month (very strong), and 3.8 percent year-over-year; very strong retail sales.
Retail sales is an important component to the U.S. economy as more than two-thirds of our GDP is based from retail sales. In essence, one of the unique attributes to the U.S. economy is that we buy lots of stuff. Actually, the U.S. consumer buys almost three-quarters of everything produced. We are -for the most part- self-sustaining; we do not necessarily need to depend on exports. When the U.S. consumer is buying stuff the internal economy is strong.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in June, pointing to strong consumer spending, which could help to blunt some of the drag on the economy from weak business investment.
[…] Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales edging up 0.1% in June. Compared to June last year, retail sales advanced 3.4%.

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Right there it is… Bill Hemmer and Sandra Smith question White House Senior Advisor Kellyanne Conway and encapsulate the squad comment controversy du jour thus: “it’s the controversy that is consuming Washington.”   Indeed it is.
Meanwhile everyone else is going about their daily lives without a flip of concern to the ridiculous debate consuming the media.  Trump said quit attacking America and be proud of this country… beyond all that, is the DC nothingburger.

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Peter Thiel has a rather alarming concern surrounding the possibility that Google Inc. is working with China, specifically to the intended detriment of the United States.
Given the political ideology of the ‘Big Club’; and their severe aversion to U.S. President Donald Trump…. well, it wouldn’t be surprising to discover a Google-China alignment.

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Earlier today China reported the Chinese economy grew at its lowest rate in 27 years. This report follows additional information of more companies exiting China while the U.S-China trade conflict continues.
National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow discusses the future of USMCA, and the vote decision of Speaker Nancy Pelosi; the ongoing renewed U.S. trade talks with China; President Trump’s Made in America Showcase and the overall state of the U.S. economy.

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Today President Donald Trump is hosting the 3rd Annual Made in America product showcase on the south lawn of the White House.  Anticipated start time 11:45am EST:
UPDATE: Video and Transcript Added

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[Transcript]  THE PRESIDENT: That sounds nice, doesn’t it? Beautiful. Thank you very much. And thank you very much. Terrific talent.  Please sit down. Please.
I want welcome everyone to the White House. We are very excited to be hosting our third annual Made in America Showcase. It’s all about “Made in America.” (Applause.) We just started this, and this is my third already. And I just went around and saw these incredible companies that make everything from the THAAD missiles to beautiful boats. And I said, “How would that boat do against the THAAD missile?” And it wasn’t a good answer. (Laughter.) The boat is going to have a little problem, but that’s okay.
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We had to wait a few weeks to see how the Beijing communists and Xi Jinping hardliners were positioned for new trade talks; and now things make sense.
Initially it seemed at odds with Beijing’s prior position to restart U.S-China trade negotiations with Vice-Premier Liu He.  The prior three months of negotiation came to a collapse when Beijing resoundingly rejected the trade terms organized by Liu He.  If the Red Dragon was so opposed to conciliatory terms, why would team Xi restart with the same negotiator?  Now it makes sense, they didn’t.

China’s Commerce Minister Zhong Shan has been assigned the role to harden the position of the communist regime and override any panda presentations by Liu He.  Vice-Premier Liu retains the panda mask, but Zhong is the ultimate control agent.  The message within Zhong’s placement tells the true nature of the Chinese position: Trade War !
Beijing attempts to downplay the position of their hard-line commerce addition, but the reality of the re-started trade discussions tells a more fulsome story.  Chairman Xi took the strategically presented bait and is going to engage in full confrontational trade war with President Trump and the U.S. team.

SCMP – The participation of China’s Commerce Minister in the latest trade discussion with the United States was “normal”, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday, playing down the eye-catching change in Beijing’s negotiating team.

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Earlier today President Trump drew attention to another uncomfortable truth.  Some of the most virulent anti-American progressive lawmakers entered the United States for the opportunity and freedom within our system.  However, those same politicians then decry the U.S. and demand changes to the system providing the benefit.
In essence, do not flee to the land of liberty, indulge in the benefits and then have the audacity to criticize the foundation of the nation providing the opportunity.

The media immediately went into apoplectic fits of outrage accusing President Trump of being a racist because he calls-out the anti-American messengers directly.
After a media cycle of outrage du jour, President Trump responds:
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Former National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is involved in two heavily connected legal cases that came from the special counsel appointment of Robert Mueller.  One direct case is in DC District Court, Judge Emmet Sullivan; and one indirect case in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), Judge Anthony Trenga.

The DC case is the direct case against Michael Flynn where Flynn took a plea deal and has been in a rather tentacled sentencing phase since November 2017.  The EDVA case is the FARA case against Flynn’s former business associate Bijan Rafiekian where Flynn was going to be a witness (now cancelled).
While the larger issues connecting both cases are somewhat complex, some details released last week reveal a concerning bigger picture that originated long before Robert Mueller became special counsel in May 2017.  [Back story HERE and HERE and HERE]
I’m going to make the assumption the reader is familiar with the backstory noted above; and additionally, in full disclosure for the reader, this is openly written for the research benefit of the Flynn defense team – with whom I’ve had no contact.
Of particular interest to me was the revelation that DOJ National Security Division head David Laufman engaged with Flynn in January 2017, and was the lead point of contact within the DOJ-NSD when Flynn was filing FARA compliance documents, as part of the transition into the Trump administration.
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U.S. President Donald Trump is attending an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, today to discuss the importance of a North American trade bloc and support the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal.
Anticipated start time approximately 2:25pm EST.
UPDATE: Video Added

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Some updates in the Michael Flynn case.  As requested the DOJ has filed a response to Judge Sullivan’s order.   The DC judge wanted to know what the status of the prosecution position was now that Michael Flynn is no longer a cooperating witness for the DOJ in the EDVA case, against his former business partner.
The prosecution responds:

(Source Link)

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