Today President Trump has issued an executive order revoking a previous Executive Order #13688, put in place by President Obama, which blocked local and state law enforcement from purchasing military surplus gear.  Effective with today’s order local law enforcement will have access to U.S. military equipment.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited two studies which concluded that the use of military-style equipment can have positive effects, reducing citizen complaints and assaults on officers.

EXECUTIVE ORDER – By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Revocation of Executive Order 13688. Executive Order 13688 of January 16, 2015 (Federal Support for Local Law Enforcement Equipment Acquisition), is hereby revoked.

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Ongoing record rainfall from TS Harvey continues to bring record flooding to East Texas.  Almost 25 inches of rain has fallen on the region following Hurricane Harvey’s landfall last weekend.  As the rain continues, weather forecasters now anticipating peak water on Wednesday or Thursday as Harvey’s rain begins impacting Southwest Louisiana. [Reuters Picture Gallery Here]  Texas is only about half-way through the anticipated impact timeline.
Thousands of rescue missions have taken place, most by ordinary citizens using private boats and vessels to retrieve stranded residents in the area.  12,000 National Guard troops are working 24/7, and volunteers from several states have arrived to supplement local, state and federal search and rescue efforts.

TEXAS – A new record daily max rainfall of 16.07 inches was set at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Sunday, breaking the old record of 8.32 inches from 1945, according to National Weather Service (NWS) measurements. The airport was closed in the wake of Harvey.
In the last two days, 24.44 inches of rain has fallen in Houston, the NWS reported on Monday. The rainfall from Harvey has already made this August the wettest month on record for Houston.

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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

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 †

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 fiscal 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 Street over Wall Street.  One aspect we presented was how Federal Reserve monetary policy would be oddly disconnected from its ability to influence inflation.
Washington Times today:

(Article Link)

While the issues inherent within economic influences can be riddled with complexity, we remain optimistic that MAGAnomics will be very very successful.
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Just a note amid all the chatter to point out something inconsequential amid the grand scheme of things (Thursday, Friday, Yesterday) Today… but might, I would suggest will, present significance later.   Maybe consider this, well, just, ‘stuff CTH notes’.
Over the weekend President Trump traveled to Camp David. Video of Trump departing White House 8/25/17 here.  The President has kept in touch with, VP, cabinet officials and emergency response staff, numerous times throughout, and did two teleconference meetings with full cabinet. The President is totally engaged.  However, something about this picture yesterday seemed odd:

Do you notice it?
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President Trump’s Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert appears on CBS ‘Face the Nation’ to discuss the ongoing efforts to assist the people in the impact zone from Hurricane Harvey.

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Texas in one picture:

Volunteers helping people…  America

Nearly a quarter of Texas’ population lives in areas covered by a federal disaster declaration as a result of Tropical Storm Harvey.  Gov. Greg Abbott says 18 counties are now covered by the disaster declaration approved by President Donald Trump. There are nearly 7 million people in those counties, including the nation’s fourth-largest city of Houston.

Hypocrisy, thy name is….  German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing an election challenge.  In 2014 German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the world that German’s borders were open and welcoming to Islamic refugees from the Middle East.  Hundreds of thousands of Muslim males aged 18 to 34 took her up on her offer.
Terrorism necessarily skyrocketed throughout Germany and Western Europe in 2015, 2016 and 2017.  Today German Chancellor Angela Merkel is saying Germany’s borders must be protected.

(Via Irish Times) With a month to election day, German chancellor Angela Merkel has ramped up her refugee-critical rhetoric in a bid to pull back far-right voters, boost her Bavarian allies and win over a record number of undecideds.

The chancellor used weekend interviews and rallies to stand by her 2015 decision that saw almost one million asylum seekers arrive in the country. She said she would decide the same way again, but insisted that events of 2015 “must not be repeated”. Aware of huge public unease over the refugee crisis, and related terror attacks since, she signalled Germany would demand an extension of border checks on the border with Austria, a Schengen suspension requiring EU approval.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appears on Fox News Sunday with guardian and gate-keeper of the swamp Chris Wallace.

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[Transcript] QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, welcome back to Fox News Sunday.
SECRETARY TILLERSON: Pleased to be here, Chris.
QUESTION: Before we get to foreign affairs, I want to ask you as a native son of Texas and as the former chairman of and CEO of ExxonMobil your thoughts about Hurricane Harvey and especially the impact it’s having in the oil and gas sector there on the Gulf coast.
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