Monthly Archives: December 2017

Dec 22 2017

BitCoin Crash


Armstrong Economics Blog/Cryptocurrency

Re-Posted Dec 22, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong; I am very impressed. Socrates called the high in BitCoin and Thursday it wrote: “As of the close of Thu. Dec. 21, 2017: Our immediate trend model is bearish as are our momentum models so we should still expect a retest of support. Projected technical Resistance stands tomorrow at 1626085, 1626085, 1626085 and 1626085. Opening above this area will cause it to become support. ”

Even Socrates could correctly forecast this crash. Absolutely impressive!

PJK

REPLY: Yes. It caught the high rather nicely. Even the Global Market Watch calling for a temp high on the monthly level. This is monitoring thousands of markets. There is absolutely no human being who can do this and it would take an army of analysts just to write so many reports.

Dec 22 2017

Oh Dear – Trail of Russian Dossier Origination Now Directly Leads to The Obama White House….


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on December 21, 2017 by

Several new developments happening today center around the FBI’s use of the Christopher Steele Dossier in gaining FISA warrants to wiretap and monitor the 2016 campaign of Donald Trump; ie. “The Trump Project”. Doug Ross continues to update the ongoing conspiracy Timeline – SEE HERE. And that timeline just gained a big addition from a recently discovered visitor to the White House.

Before going to the White House visitor angle, it’s important to express appreciation for Tablet Mag who did a deep dive into the Fusion-GPS connection to the creation of the Steele Dossier, and more specifically how Fusion-GPS head Glenn Simpson and his wife Mary Jacoby were instrumental in getting the dossier assembled and into the hands of the White House prior to the DOJ and FBI applying for the FISA warrant – SEE HERE.

Tablet Mag outlines how Mary Jacoby even bragged about getting the “Russiagate” narrative started:

A Tablet investigation using public sources to trace the evolution of the now-famous dossier suggests that central elements of the Russiagate scandal emerged not from the British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s top-secret “sources” in the Russian government—which are unlikely to exist separate from Russian government control—but from a series of stories that Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson and his wife Mary Jacoby co-wrote for TheWall Street Journal well before Fusion GPS existed, and Donald Trump was simply another loud-mouthed Manhattan real estate millionaire.

Understanding the origins of the “Steele dossier” is especially important because of what it tells us about the nature and the workings of what its supporters would hopefully describe as an ongoing campaign to remove the elected president of the United States.

[…] In a Facebook post from June 24, 2017, that Tablet has seen in screenshots, Jacoby claimed that her husband deserves the lion’s share of credit for Russiagate. (She has not replied to repeated requests for comment.) “It’s come to my attention that some people still don’t realize what Glenn’s role was in exposing Putin’s control of Donald Trump,” Jacoby wrote. “Let’s be clear. Glenn conducted the investigation. Glenn hired Chris Steele. Chris Steele worked for Glenn.”

This assertion is hardly a simple assertion of family pride; it goes directly to the nature of what became known as the “Steele dossier,” on which the Russiagate narrative is founded. (read more)

The Tablet-Mag outline shows the distinct trail of the finished Steele Dossier entering into the White House and how President Obama likely saw and reviewed the content.  However, missing from the this report is an origination angle even more nefarious.

Remember, previous media reporting -in conjunction with Clinton campaign admissions- have confirmed the DNC and Clinton Campaign financed Fusion-GPS through their lawyers within Perkins Coie.   Fusion then sub-contracted with retired British MI6 agent Christopher Steele to write the dossier.

The dates here are important because they tell a story.

The origin of the Clinton effort with Fusion-GPS was April 2016.  That’s the same month Fusion hired Nellie Ohr, wife of DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr, to gather opposition research on candidate Trump.  It would be most likely that Nellie Ohr was in contact with Christopher Steele.  DOJ Deputy Attorney Bruce Ohr was later demoted for his unreported contacts with Christopher Steele and Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson.

However, there was another event in this April 2016 timeline which enhances the trail of the Dossier origination. [Hat Tip Katica]  Check this out:

In April 2016 Mary Jacoby shows up on White House visitor logs meeting with President Obama officials. In April 2016 the Clinton Campaign and DNC hired Fusion-GPS to organize the Russia research, that later became known as the “Steele Dossier”.

(link to White House Logs)

The wife of Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS), Mary B. Jacoby, with years of Russia-angled reporting –including Donald Trump– visits the White House in April 2016, at the same time as the DNC and Clinton hire Fusion GPS to conduct the opposition research on Donald Trump, surrounding Russia?

This timeline is entirely too obvious to be coincidental.

Expand slightly and consider:

April: Mary Jacoby, wife of Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson, visits the White House.  The Clinton Campaign and DNC then hire Fusion GPS to conduct ‘Opposition Research’, with a Russian emphasis.  Fusion GPS then hires Nellie Ohr who specializes in Russian-centric counterintelligence.  Nellie Ohr then contacts MI6 agent Christopher Steele to write a Russian Dossier.  A month later, May 2016: Nellie Ohr’s husband inside the DOJ, Bruce Ohr, is then working with FBI counterintelligence head Peter Strzok.  By June 2016: Peter Strzok, Bruce Ohr and DOJ Attorney Lisa Page then apply for a FISA warrant.

June 24th, 2017, Mary Jacoby appears on Facebook taking credit for the origination of the Russiagate narrative.

This timeline is so transparent it’s deafening.

[More from the Tablet] Simpson and Jacoby had ID’d Manafort as a world-class sleazeball and they were right. A slick Georgetown Law grad running in GOP circles since the Reagan campaign, Manafort used his talents and connections to get paid by some very bad people. I would only add here that, in my personal experience, journalists are not in the habit of forgetting major stories they’ve written, especially stories with a character like Manafort at the center.

So when the Trump campaign named Paul Manafort as its campaign convention manager on March 28, 2016, you can bet that Simpson and Jacoby’s eyes lit up. And as it happened, at the exact same time that Trump hired Manafort, Fusion GPS was in negotiations with Perkins Coie, the law firm representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, to see if there was interest in the firm continuing the opposition research on the Trump campaign they had started for the Washington Free Beacon. (more)

Mary Jacoby and Glenn Simpson – Fusion GPS

If the counterintelligence FISA warrant was obtained through deception, misleading/manipulated information, or fraud; and that warrant is what led to the wiretapping and surveillance of candidate Donald Trump and General Flynn; and that warrant was authorized by FISA Court Judge Contreras –who was the judge in Flynn’s case, and is now recused– the entire tenuous FBI and DOJ operation begins to collapse and the outline of a “conspiracy” becomes clearly evident.

The back-story to the FISA warrant is the cornerstone. The back-story contains both the FBI and the DOJ scheme. Expose it, remove it, and the entire ‘muh Russia’ conspiracy fraud collapses under the weight of sunlight. WATCH:

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RESOURCES:

IG Stimulated Releases of Information:

♦Release #1 was the FBI Agent Strzok and Attorney Lisa Page story; and the repercussions from discovering their politically motivated bias in the 2015/2016 Clinton email investigation and 2016/2017 Russian Election investigation.

♦Release #2 outlined the depth of FBI Agent Strzok and FBI Attorney Page’s specific history in the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton to include the changing of the wording [“grossly negligent” to “extremely careless”] of the probe outcome delivered by FBI Director James Comey.

♦Release #3 was the information about DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr being in contact with Fusion GPS at the same time as the FISA application was submitted and granted by the FISA court; which authorized surveillance and wiretapping of candidate Donald Trump; that release also attached Bruce Ohr and Agent Strzok directly to the Steele Dossier.

♦Release #4 was information that Deputy Bruce Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr, was an actual contract employee of Fusion GPS, and was hired by F-GPS specifically to work on opposition research against candidate Donald Trump. Both Bruce Ohr and Nellie Ohr are attached to the origin of the Christopher Steele Russian Dossier.

♦Release #5 was the specific communication between FBI Agent Strzok and FBI Attorney Page. The 10,000 text messages that included evidence of them both meeting with Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe to discuss the “insurance policy” against candidate Donald Trump in August of 2016.

Dec 22 2017

Are Democrats/Left-Wing Parties Really Marxists?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Dec 22, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Why do you paint the left/Democrats as really being Marxist?

OP

ANSWER: Marx is the one that started the entire focus on the class warfare. Keep in mind that Marx began his position with socialism – not communism. It was the Commune Movement in Paris that persuaded Marx to adopt communism, which was the surrender of all property.

The reason I call the left Marxist is that this is where the class warfare begins. This philosophy did far more than simply invoke class warfare. It instigated the entire belief that government could manage the economy and eliminate the business cycle. John Maynard Keynes also followed that segment of Marx taking the position that government could control the business cycle. Therefore, both Marx and Keynes shared a common belief that the government could eliminate the business cycle. Towards the end of Keynes’ life, he relented that he had fought against the business cycle and Smith’s Invisible Hand, and came to realize he was wrong.

 

Here you have a video clip of Larry Summers being interviewed by Bloomberg. The question asked was simple. Why have economists been unable to ever predict a recession and manage the economy?

Then you have the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Arthur Burns, who was there for the end of Bretton Woods. He too stated bluntly that this entire philosophy that began with Marx advocating that government can manage the economy has failed.

The next Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, also maintained the same position that the business cycle always won (Rediscovery of the Business Cycle). This “New Economics” was the Keynesian position that government could manage the economy eliminating the business cycle, which has utterly failed.

Therefore, anyone who says that this is not Marxism is really ignorant of where this entire line of economic thought began in modern times.

Dec 22 2017

Tax Reform – Businesses Moving to Florida & Texas ASAP


Armstrong Economics Blog/The Hunt for Taxes

Re-Posted Dec 22, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

TAX-REF (3)

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; Did Donald Trump take your Tax Reform Proposal you submitted to Congress back in the nineties?

RK

ANSWER: I know a lot of people have been asking that since his original corporate tax rate was 15%. What I can say is that the notion to eliminate deductions for State income tax has been bantered around for a long time. I believe that was added to the reform and was not actually Trump’s plan initially out of the gate.

What you have to understand is that if California gets 13.5% and Alabama is 5%, the States have seen this as welfare for California and other high taxes States. Their residents get to deduct that money and it is really a welfare check for the State. To make it fair, there should be NO deduction for State income taxes. That will then force the local politicians to be respectful of other people’s money perhaps for the first time in history.

This is why I knew it would be time to move to Florida where there was no state income tax. I cannot tell you how many friends from New Jersey have already called and want to move their businesses to Florida asking how hard was it.

Dec 22 2017

Trump Tax Reform Causing Panic in Europe & Asia


Armstrong Economics Blog/The Hunt for Taxes

Re-Posted Dec 22, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

While the American press keeps pushing the class warfare along with the Democrats, outside the USA there is a major panic taking place on a grand scale. I have been called into meeting in Europe and even in Asia all deeply concerned about the loss of competition with the United States due to the Trump Tax Reform. Naturally, the American press would NEVER tell the truth how cutting the corporate tax rate will upset the powers that be around the globe.

A German study warns that its economy will be among the losers in the face of the Trump Tax Reform, which they warn will fuel the tax competition between America and Europe, but also the study leader, Christoph Spengel from the Economic Research Institute ZEW, came out and told Reuters:

“In addition, competition between EU members for US investment will increase; Germany is the loser.”

German Industry is already screaming. They want the Solidarity Surcharge terminated. That was put on for the unification and was never lifted, as is always the case. Without the surcharge, the German corporate rate would be 28.2%, still well above the EU average tax rate of 20.9%.

To finance the reunification of Germany a surcharge, the government taxed all taxpayers on their income tax withholding and corporation tax. The assessment basis was the income tax or corporation tax. This became known as the Solidarity Surcharge and is currently 5.5 % of the relevant assessment basis. Therefore, the effective corporate tax rate in Germany has been 33.7%. Of course, the Solidarity Surcharge is no longer is really needed to pay for the unification. But as always, once a tax is imposed, the government just can’t let it go.

The taxation levels in Germany were always much higher. When I was working on corporate restructuring helping companies select where to set up inside Europe for the birth of the Euro, I never placed any manufacture in Germany. I sent them to Britain for the net tax was 40% less. If they did not need skilled-manufacturing labor and just the best tax rate, I put those companies in Ireland. Never did I recommend anyone to move to Germany or France.

The advice I gave to those in a position to put the counter-reform in motion was straightforward. I advised them to ELIMINATE income tax completely. The political cover should be that they are adopting the original structure of the United States whereas only indirect taxation was permitted prior to 1913. A few mouths dropped. But they underst6ood the advice I was giving if they really wanted to compete.

Dec 21 2017

Passage of The Tax Bill Turns Trump’s ‘America-First’ Seeds into MAGAnomic Sprouts…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on December 21, 2017 by

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.

Previously the larger multinational corporate community used the tax rates of lesser industrialized nations as a strategic gateway to offset costs held within the largest market in the world, the United States.  With the U.S. changing the entire dynamic behind the tax rates, the same companies now enter a phase of recalculating the production costs.

In direct realignment with the tax rates, the Trump policy cuts the costs further by eliminating regulation and unleashing energy development, which again lowers costs.  Energy costs third in line of importance behind labor and raw materials in most manufacturing cost considerations.

The combination of manufacturing automation, decreased U.S. regulations, and now lower tax rate provisions entirely changes the cost dynamic.  Add in the transportation costs inherent with bringing foreign products to the U.S. market and, well, you can quickly see how the multidimensional strategy makes the best financial sense to manufacturer right here in the U.S.A.

As a noted left-leaning Canadian outlet notes:

(Via National Post) […] “Foreign companies that operate in North America are now going to look at, ‘Do I invest in Canada, with a small population, small market, to serve the North American market, or do I go to the United States?”‘ said Mintz, of the University of Calgary.

“When they look at Canada they now see … similar tax rates and similar burdens (to the U.S.),” he added. “Then they look at regulations in Canada, which are increasing as the U.S. is reducing theirs.”

The U.S. trade czar leading the NAFTA negotiations, Robert Lighthizer, toasted the bill’s adoption, calling it a monumental win that will make American business more competitive, and reduce the U.S. trade deficit. (read more)

There is no incentive for the U.S. to remain inside NAFTA.  We are the market everyone want’s and needs access to.  We are the consumer.  President Trump has signaled his intention to leverage access to our markets as part of the larger trade initiatives.  USTR Robert Lighthizer is now holding a much stronger hand than just a few months ago thanks to the Tax bill.

Additionally, even European nations are beginning to realize their manufacturing access to U.S. markets will now be much weaker.  Cue Germany:

Handelsblatt – […] “The tax competition will have a new dimension,” said Christoph Spengel, chairman of the corporate tax department at the University of Mannheim. Mr. Spengel, who is also a research associate at the Center for European Economic Research, and a group of tax experts at the university have done a detailed comparison of the two countries’ tax systems and published a report under the heading, “Germany loses out in US tax reform.”

Clemens Fuest, who heads the Ifo economic think tank, also said he believed German business would suffer. “Investments and jobs will migrate to the US,” he said. (read more)

German companies that already do the manufacturing inside the U.S. will not be impacted.  However, German companies that rely on exports into the U.S. are now in a very tenuous position.  Their best hand becomes actually moving operations into the U.S., hiring U.S. workers, and producing the end product right here.

See how that works.

Now, sticking with the Canadian and German examples cited, it becomes transparently obvious how GDP growth rates explode.  Remember, the U.S. GDP is the combined value of everything produced and serviced in the U.S. “minus” the value of our imports.

If we drop $1 billion in imports and instead manufacture the $1 billion in products here in the U.S. the GDP growth rate is measured in terms of $2 billion in growth.  The GDP growth rate as a percentage increases two-fold.

This is why five, six, and even higher percentage increases in GDP growth are possible.  It is our MARKET size that dominates the leverage in the equation.

In addition to leveraging economic power for national security, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Ross are working on long term economic benefits: Trade renegotiation, exports, and investment along with capital/credit availability. Simultaneously EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is working on short-term economic benefits: energy development, deregulation, etc.

Lowering energy costs has an exponential benefit to the overall economy. Not only does it drive down the cost of domestic highly consumable products, but it also binds the building blocks of the manufacturing and production sector. Lower energy costs offset higher wages on products manufactured for export and helps keep the U.S. competitive.

President Trump is uniquely qualified as a successful businessman (non-politician) to have developed actual life-skills on Main Street that help him see the bigger value in policy shifts. Politicians usually speak in esoteric terms about economic “costs”; but President Trump has direct experience in how shifts in costs can directly contribute to the Main Street economy.

Domestic manufacturing and industry sectors have three top-tier costs as they transfer to Main Street: 1) Raw materials (or finished goods depending on sector); 2) Labor costs; and 3) energy costs. If you lower any of the three drivers you lower the cost of business operations.

President Trump is actually the only President in modern history who is working to lower both material costs and energy costs simultaneously. In doing so, the short term benefit to the middle-class worker is a lower consumable good prices and subsequently a higher level of disposable income.

In essence by lowering material and energy costs the internal economic action actually gives a raise to the middle-class faster than waiting for full economic expansion/growth to drive wage rates higher.

See how that works?

In the longer term, as the economy expands, there will be a natural pressure on wage rates to rise – as competition for labor drives up labor value.

Dec 21 2017

A Year of MAGAnomics Outlined…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on December 21, 2017 by
WHITE HOUSE – AMERICA’S ECONOMY IS FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS: President Donald J. Trump has unleashed America’s economic growth engine and ushered in a new era of economic optimism.

  • Under President Trump, nearly 1.7 million new jobs have been created.
    • 159,000 jobs have been created in the manufacturing industry.
    • 57,000 jobs have been created in the mining and logging industries.
  • The unemployment rate has fallen to 4.1 percent, the lowest in nearly 17 years.
    • Thirteen States have reached record low unemployment rates.
  • Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United States has grown by more than 3 percent in the last two quarters.
    • The GDP growth rate was 3.3 percent in the third quarter of this year.
    • The GDP growth rate was 3.1 percent in the second quarter of this year.
  • Productivity in the United States economy grew to 3 percent last quarter.

  • Americans’ confidence in the economy has soared to record highs under President Trump.
    • The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index reached a 17-year high in November.
    • The National Association of Manufacturers’ Outlook Index had the highest annual average it has ever recorded.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit record highs 70 times in 2017—the most ever recorded in one year.
    • For the first time in its history, the Dow closed higher than 24,000 points.
    • Since President Trump was elected, more than $5 trillion in wealth has been added to the United States economy.

HARD AT WORK: The Department of Labor has implemented pro-growth programs, rolled back overreaching regulations, and taken action to support American workers.

  • The Department of Labor has convened a Task Force on Expanding Apprenticeships, which will work to create more opportunities for American job seekers and job creators.
    • The 20-person task force brings together leaders from business, labor unions, educational institutions, and trade groups to advise the Administration on how to expand the number and breadth of apprenticeships.
  • Following President Trump’s Executive Orders on regulatory reform, the Department of Labor is working to identify regulations that place an undue burden on employers with minimal impact on worker protections.
  • The Department of Labor is actively involved in the process of renegotiating and improving the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement.
  • Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta has directed the Department to aggressively confront visa fraud and abuse.

Dec 21 2017

A Great Reckoning is Visible – U.N. Vote Against America Begins End of U.N. in New York…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on December 21, 2017 by

Go ahead and mark the date on the calendar, you’ll remember this day. Earlier today the United Nations voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution declaring President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “null and void.”

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley delivered remarks noting the likely consequence prior to the vote taking place.  [Full transcript and video below] Believe me, this will not end well for the U.N:

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The entire enterprise of the U.N. is supported by slightly less than half of all Americans. The modern irrelevance of (and general antagonism within) the U.N. has been a less visible but decades-long discussion throughout most political circles.

It is doubtful the U.N. realizes the consequential difference of this moment with President Donald Trump at the helm of commonsense U.S. foreign policy.

In our lifetime few figures represent the level of righteous American swagger as seen carried by President Donald Trump. He is not beholden to traditional diplomatic circular triple-speak; and he carries the desire to eliminate anything he views as against American interests. This is a critical point most often overlooked.

President Trump does not want to correct policy that is against U.S. interests. President Trump desires to DESTROY policy that is against U.S. interests. There is a profound difference. Put your national interests on the other side of the “U.S. best interest” equation; and there is no limit to the pain President Trump is willing to inflict upon your decision. FACT.

From President Trump’s stewardship viewpoint: America will give respect and America deserves respect.

Violate that simple principle, without permission from his administration to do so, and POTUS Trump will methodically, strategically, heck, often personally, crush that opponent with severe and extreme economic prejudice.

[Transcript] Thank you, Mr. President.

To its shame, the United Nations has long been a hostile place for the state of Israel. Both the current and the previous Secretary-Generals have objected to the UN’s disproportionate focus on Israel. It’s a wrong that undermines the credibility of this institution, and that in turn is harmful for the entire world.

I’ve often wondered why, in the face of such hostility, Israel has chosen to remain a member of this body. And then I remember that Israel has chosen to remain in this institution because it’s important to stand up for yourself. Israel must stand up for its own survival as a nation; but it also stands up for the ideals of freedom and human dignity that the United Nations is supposed to be about.

Standing here today, being forced to defend sovereignty and the integrity of my country – the United States of America – many of the same thoughts have come to mind. The United States is by far the single largest contributor to the United Nations and its agencies. We do this, in part, in order to advance our values and our interests. When that happens, our participation in the UN produces great good for the world. Together we feed, clothe, and educate desperate people. We nurture and sustain fragile peace in conflict areas throughout the world. And we hold outlaw regimes accountable. We do this because it represents who we are. It is our American way.

But we’ll be honest with you. When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate expectation that our good will is recognized and respected. When a nation is singled out for attack in this organization, that nation is disrespected. What’s more, that nation is asked to pay for the “privilege” of being disrespected.

In the case of the United States, we are asked to pay more than anyone else for that dubious privilege. Unlike in some UN member countries, the United States government is answerable to its people. As such, we have an obligation to acknowledge when our political and financial capital is being poorly spent.

We have an obligation to demand more for our investment. And if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our resources in more productive ways. Those are the thoughts that come to mind when we consider the resolution before us today.

The arguments about the President’s decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem have already been made. They are by now well known. The decision was in accordance to U.S. law dating back to 1995, and it’s position has been repeatedly endorsed by the American people ever since. The decision does not prejudge any final status issues, including Jerusalem’s boundaries. The decision does not preclude a two-state solution, if the parties agree to that. The decision does nothing to harm peace efforts. Rather, the President’s decision reflects the will of the American people and our right as a nation to choose the location of our embassy. There is no need to describe it further.

Instead, there is a larger point to make. The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations. And we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.

America will put our embassy in Jerusalem. That is what the American people want us to do, and it is the right thing to do. No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that.

But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN. And this vote will be remembered.

Thank you.

(transcript link)

Dec 21 2017

“Andy” McCabe’s Transparent Motive For a Lost Dossier Memory….


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on December 20, 2017 by

In plain language the “Trump Project” was a joint 2016 FBI & DOJ counterintelligence operation to conduct wiretaps and surveillance upon the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Operatives within the FBI and DOJ who were politically aligned with the Hillary Clinton campaign, weaponized the DOJ and FBI to undermine her political opposition.

Those who have been walking the deep weeds have a pretty strong understanding of Deputy FBI Director Andrew “Andy” McCabe’s risk profile and his role in the 2016 “Trump Project”.  The Rosen report earlier today -based on investigators within the House Intelligence Committee- states McCabe has lost his memory around the timeline for the FBI’s FISA application and the Christoper Steele Russian Dossier as evidence therein.

If it can be shown the Steele Dossier was part of the underlying evidence within the FISA warrant (Sept./Oct. 2016), allowing wiretaps and surveillance of candidate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the foundation for a conspiracy becomes evident.  If McCabe was aware of the origin, financing and use of the Steele Dossier in obtaining a FISA warrant, his exposure to a criminal conspiracy increases exponentially.

Understanding how Deputy McCabe’s risk profile increases in direct proportion to his attachment to the Steele Dossier explains his memory lapses, obfuscations and testimony toward his knowledge therein.

That said, House Representative Jim Jordan is the key person keeping congressional inquiry on this important facet. However, amid those gaining an increased understanding of the scale and scope, we find Representative Peter King discussing today:

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Amid the increased discussions of congressional hearings, sunlight and closed door briefings, let us be very clear what is the motive for the strategy therein; and more importantly, what is at stake.

♦It is increasingly clear the entire purpose of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe was not to investigate some nefarious and innocuous Russian election interference; but rather with a Trump victory the same people who weaponized the FBI and DOJ to conduct the “Trump Project” needed to generate a shield or firewall to protect them from sunlight. The Mueller probe is that shield.

Those who are seeking answers to the most critical questions are now running into the officials within the scheme using the Mueller probe as a defensive shield so they do not have to answer questions. This is the primary purpose of the Mueller probe:

With hindsight it is now clear why the Democrats, the intelligence operatives, and their media allies were so adamant a Special Counsel probe be initiated.  They planned to use Mueller’s investigation as a shield all along.

♦Secondly, the same FBI and DOJ officials, along with career FBI and DOJ lawyers and administrators, who are at risk from exposure within the plot, do not want to answer questions in public hearings. They are using closed sessions under the auspices of everything therein being “classified”.  This venue and manner of testimony blocks congressional representatives from talking about the content publicly.

Everything is being structured to avoid public scrutiny.  In essence these career co-conspirators are using the familiar DC system to protect themselves from ramifications of their plot reaching the public.

♦Having said that, it certainly appears we have one person on the side of justice who predicted this was going to happen. By all external appearances DOJ Office of Inspector General Michael Horowitz has moved proactively to set up as much transparency as possible upon his years-long investigation into the politicization of the FBI and DOJ.

In the past several months, in coordination with the Trump administration requesting review of all public communication tools to increase transparency, IG Horowitz has set up an OIG website for public transparency and accountability.  Additionally, the OIG has a twitter account set up for quick dispatch of information – FOLLOW HERE.

IG Stimulated Releases of Information:

♦Release #1 was the FBI Agent Strzok and Attorney Lisa Page story; and the repercussions from discovering their politically motivated bias in the 2015/2016 Clinton email investigation and 2016/2017 Russian Election investigation.

♦Release #2 outlined the depth of FBI Agent Strzok and FBI Attorney Page’s specific history in the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton to include the changing of the wording [“grossly negligent” to “extremely careless”] of the probe outcome delivered by FBI Director James Comey.

♦Release #3 was the information about DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr being in contact with Fusion GPS at the same time as the FISA application was submitted and granted by the FISA court; which authorized surveillance and wiretapping of candidate Donald Trump; that release also attached Bruce Ohr and Agent Strzok directly to the Steele Dossier.

♦Release #4 was information that Deputy Bruce Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr, was an actual contract employee of Fusion GPS, and was hired by F-GPS specifically to work on opposition research against candidate Donald Trump. Both Bruce Ohr and Nellie Ohr are attached to the origin of the Christopher Steele Russian Dossier.

♦Release #5 was the specific communication between FBI Agent Strzok and FBI Attorney Page. The 10,000 text messages that included evidence of them both meeting with Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe to discuss the “insurance policy” against candidate Donald Trump in August of 2016.

Congressman Matt Gaetz discusses:

Dec 21 2017

66% of the Economy is Already Electronic & 99% of Money is Electronic


Armstrong Economics Blog/Cryptocurrency

Re-Posted Dec 21, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: I loved your mention of how our money is not “printed”. You are THE ONLY financial expert to mention this. And you can’t understand our economy without understanding Electronic Money. I researched this 3 or four years ago and came up with, .003 physical currency vs the rest as Electronic Money. I later stumbled across an article on the same subject by an economics professor who put the ratio at .0003 physical. SO, who/where/how much/ and by who’s authority is E money created? E money is how the economy is propped up, and the amount is in TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS.

ANSWER: That is about correct. However, it is actually much worse. About 40% of the value of the paper currency of the United States circulates outside the USA. In fact, about 40% of the debt is also held outside the USA.

Moreover, the bulk of the money is not just electronic already, but people failed to understand the change in the debt structure. Why do governments even borrow money when they have NO INTENTION of ever paying anything back? Once upon a time, before 1971 under Bretton Woods, it was illegal to borrow against government bonds. That was when the theory emerged that it was LESS INFLATIONARY to borrow than to print. The bonds were not part of the money supply. However, post-1971, you could borrow freely against government bonds. It no longer made any difference to print v borrow.

Today, on average, 50%+ of the national debts of most countries is accumulative interest payments. When Federal paper money began, it was really circulating bearer bonds in the United States. In fact, the reverse of the notes displayed the interest you would earn holding that currency.

When the government switched to DEMAND notes, dropping all interest payments, this is when the dollar was fondly referred to as a “Greenback” meaning there was nothing but green ink on the reverse side and no table of interest payments.

This is when the dollar became paper money and no longer was actually a circulating form of a bearer bond. The government paid interest to encourage people to accept the paper currency and it was introduced during the Civil War to pay for the costs.

All this hype about BitCoin and electronic money is a bit strange since most money is electronic. The only distinction that BitCoin actually has is its claim as an alternative form of money separate from legal tender, which means the government will accept that currency in payment of fines or taxes.

The bulk of all purchasing transactions are by plastic cards which are comprised of 66% of all in-person sales, with nearly half of them, or 31% are made with debit cards. Welcome to the electronic currency economy. It’s here already.