For those who follow the deep weeds of politics, this is brutally transparent.  For the remaining 97% of the voting electorate, they still don’t understand how the UniParty works. Decepticon leader McConnell doesn’t want the American electorate to see purchased senate republicans voting NO on border security.
Mitch McConnell refuses to call up an appropriations vote on the bill that passed the House of Representatives (includes border funding); nor will Mitch McConnell bring up an independent bill that could then be reconciled with the House bill.  The motives here are brutally transparent.

(link)

Think carefully about what Mitch McConnell is doing here.  It’s not President Trump’s job to write legislation.  McConnell is desperately trying to retain a UniParty ruse, by passing the buck to the White House.   McConnell doesn’t want the American people to see republican senators supporting a bill against voter interests.
Wall Street, corporate and special interest lobbyists own the legislative process. Lobbyists actually write the laws.  Lobbyists pay congress to sell laws they write. Lobbyists funding both left and right wings of the UniParty do not want border security. This is ultimately what McConnell is trying to hide.
Look at what he’s doing.  Senate Leader McConnell is telling the executive branch (President Trump) if they want an appropriations bill, the President must write the legislation with his democrat colleagues.   Please – Think About This.
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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

One more week to make preparations! It is time to get our grocery shopping done. If you are like me, you try to get things done ahead of time, prep what things you can, maybe even do some of the cooking a day or two before Christmas.
I meant to do an earlier treat for appetizers, party foods, and treats but I forgot, so this is it. It would be great if some of you would share special treats you take to parties or make for gifts, as well as the best of the best dishes saved just for Christmas.  (more…)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Jobs, jobs, jobs.  Stunning jobs data provided today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [see here] all 50 states had significant job gains through November 2018.  Not a single state had a negative job growth number.
Total 2018 growth in U.S. jobs through November is:  2,617,000 new jobs.
Eighteen states had significant jobless rate decreases from a year earlier; and with the national unemployment rate at 3.7 percent 32 states (and DC) had little or no change.

(Data Link)

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Brilliant.

Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the DC Decepticons are concerned about the Kurdish groups in Syria as the President Trump withdraws U.S. forces.  The concern stems from a possibility of Turkey taking hostile action toward our Kurdish allies.  However, a new report from the region highlights Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is sending his forces to replace the U.S. troops.

SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sent military forces to areas controlled by the Kurdish YPG group in north-east Syria, Turkey’s Yenisafak newspaper reported.

The paper said the forces will be stationed with US-led coalition troops and will support its tasks with huge military enforcements as well as heavy and light weapons.

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The FBI has responded to a request for declassification review of witness transcripts from the Joint House Committee headed by Chairman Bob Goodlatte.   The FBI is refusing to comply with the declassification review; and, entirely as expected, outlines the decision-maker for releasing any testimony is ultimately Robert Mueller.

(Link to letter)

…proving, yet again, the purpose of the special counsel probe is to control and mitigate the risks from any investigative inquiry.  This is how Robert Mueller protects the corrupt officials and corrupt institutions within government.
Despite their claims, don’t be tricked into thinking it’s about timing, and/or a workload, and/or the holidays.  How do we know this? Well, remember, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chaired by Devin Nunes, made a similar request for release of their transcripts on September 26th, 2018.  The ODNI, DOJ, FBI and Special Counsel have refused to comply for three months.
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President Trump delivers remarks during the First Step Act Bill Signing.  The president talks about border security, the border wall and the likelihood of a government shutdown.
The FIRST STEP Act was championed by Jared Kushner, and passed through Congress with bipartisan support. President Trump saluted his allies in the White House and in Congress who fought for the bill, and added a personal thanks to the Senate and House Minority Leaders. “I want to thank Nancy and Chuck, as I say affectionately. I do. I want to thank everybody.”

Somehow, despite 85-year-old Justice Ginsburg being incapacitated by surgery and intensive care recovery, the supreme court voted 5-4 to allow a lower court block on President Trump’s asylum restrictions to remain in place.  Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the three resistance activists and the unknown puppeteer for Ginsburg.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court won’t let the Trump administration begin enforcing a ban on asylum for any immigrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined his four more liberal colleagues Friday in ruling against the administration in the very case in which President Donald Trump had derided the “Obama judge” who first blocked the asylum policy.
New Justice Brett Kavanaugh and three other conservative justices sided with the administration.  There were no opinions explaining either side’s votes.  (read more)

President Trump has been executing a foreign policy, a clear doctrine of sorts, where national security is achieved by leveraging U.S. economic power. It is a fundamental shift in approaching both allies and adversaries; summarized within the oft repeated phrase: “economic security is national security.”
Initially, given the nature of multiple military entanglements, a traditional military approach could not easily be reversed or dispatched.  Defense Secretary James Mattis was the bridge to a path forward. President Trump removed military constraints, allowed rules of engagement that were much stronger, and let Mattis work on confronting and stamping out terror threats. In essence, an aggressive “let’s get this over with” approach.
However, that strong-arm military approach cannot continue indefinitely because it will never end. James Mattis was/is one voice who doesn’t want it to end. Hammers are useless without nails. War and intervention have a long history of unnecessarily expanding if not constrained. The war machine turns into a military business.
Candidate Trump, now President Trump, campaigned on a desire to bring U.S. troops  home from all the “stupid wars”, in part because they are also “expensive wars.”  And as a direct consequence the time for Defense Secretary Mattis was sure to come to an end.

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