There are only a handful of people throughout history who I admire and wish I could have shaken their hand. Thomas Jefferson was one of them. The Fourth of July is all about the signing of the Declaration of Independence which Jefferson authored.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
The actual Independence Day was expected to be July 2, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution declaring the United States independent from Great Britain’s rule. After voting for independence, Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration which took two days to complete on July 4th. Jefferson had been writing it, draft after draft. He was one of the Committee of Five the Continental Congress set up to draft a declaration, with the other four being Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. John Adams had written to his wife, Abigail, stating that July 2nd would be the day of Independence.
It wasn’t until July 8 when the city of Philadelphia actually held a parade firing off guns to mark the moment. Then it wasn’t until July 9th when the Continental Army, under General George Washington, received the news. Washington then ordered soldiers who were in New York City to defend it from the British. Washington read a letter dated July 6th that he received from John Hancock, who was the president of the Continental Congress. As far as the British were concerned, they did not learn of the Declaration of Independence until August.
Thomas Jefferson wrote his own epitaph. He was proud to have done the Declaration of Independence. He made no mention of being the President of the United States.
In truth, nobody signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th. John Trumbull’s painting of the signing hanging in the grand Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol was simply a work of imagination. The actual signing took place on August 2nd. That’s when the assistant to the secretary of Congress, Timothy Matlack, produced a clean copy. John Hancock signed first, right in the middle of the signature area. The last delegate to sign, according to the National Archives, is believed to be Thomas McKean of Delaware, who signed sometime in 1777.
According to the National Archives, there are 26 copies of what is known as “the Dunlap broadside” (21 owned by American institutions, two by British institutions, and three by individuals). These were printed on paper on the night of July 4th by printer John Dunlap from a document sent by the Continental Congress. The original was written on parchment. There is one line of text along the bottom edge on the back of the copies of the Declaration of Independence. It reads, “Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776,” This docket (identifying label) was visible when the document was rolled up for storage.
Christine Lagarde will replace Mario Draghi come the end of his term. Of course, the IMF has not been entirely supportive of Draghi’s policies. But she is predominantly a lawyer and does not have the experience in how markets function (reliable internal sources). She has no idea of what she is walking into. The ECB cannot raise interest rates without blowing up the budgets in the EU and there is no way to stop Quantitative Easing as well. With the ECB owning about 40% of the debt right now of member states, it has to keep rolling that or the free market will extract its pound of flesh with higher rates.
Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen was chosen for the commission presidency. Also based upon reliable inside sources, she is very anti-Russia and believes that war is justified. She seems to be a puppet for the neocons and is reported to be not a dynamic or independent thinker.
QUESTION: You said the “crash is in the debt markets”. Can you please explain how that will evolve?
Liz M.
ANSWER: Once upon a time before 1971, there used to be a difference between debt and cash. Government bonds were not acceptable for collateral. You could not borrow against them. You had to liquidate them. This is why they once believed that it was LESS INFLATIONARY to borrow than print. Today, you can buy TBills and post them as collateral to trade futures contracts.
When paper money was beginning during the American Civil War, the government issued compound interest currency. In reality, this was merely currency that paid interest. Therefore, they were a hybrid where they were actually bonds that circulated as if they were a currency. We have returned to that whereby TBills are a street name and are good collateral so they have become the equivalent of bearer bonds that merely serve the purpose of currency.
After DOJ lawyers representing the Commerce Department informed the court and all parties the 2020 Census was being printed yesterday without the citizenship question, President Trump sent out a tweet today seeming to contradict the announcement by DOJ lawyers:
After reviewing the tweet from President Trump, the Maryland District court called an emergency telephonic hearing. Here is the transcript [Cloud pdf – Scribd pdf]:
On June 22nd, 2019, President Trump agreed to postpone any deportation enforcement after a call with Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
Two weeks from June 22nd, would be July 8th, 2019.
However, a review of Nancy Pelosi’s congressional calendar reflects Pelosi’s House has been out of session since June 28th, and does not return until July 9th.
This schedule and deadline is exactly why House Democrats are pulling border stunts and urgently pushing media narratives in the headlines. Pelosi had no intention of fixing the legislative issues; instead, she used the time-delay to create maximum political position for herself, democrats in congress and their media allies.
WHITE HOUSE – Yesterday, a single, unelected district judge in Seattle issued an injunction that prevents the government from ensuring the detention of those aliens who cross the border unlawfully until the completion of their immigration court proceedings.
The decision ignores an express statutory prohibition on granting class-wide injunctive relief against enforcement of the immigration laws and also holds unconstitutional a statute passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress during the Clinton administration that specifically prohibits the release of certain immigrants on bond.
The district court’s injunction is at war with the rule of law. The decision only incentivizes smugglers and traffickers, which will lead to the further overwhelming of our immigration system by illegal aliens.
No single district judge has legitimate authority to impose his or her open borders views on the country. We must restore our democracy and ensure Americans have the voice to which they are entitled under our Constitution. (link)
Excellent news from White House manufacturing policy advisor Peter Navarro as he discusses the re-engagement in U.S. and China trade discussions. Great INFO.
You won’t see this interview highlighted by MSM. As we anticipated the prior 150 page agreement negotiated by USTR Robert Lighthizer and Vice-Premier Liu He, previously dismissed by Beijing after three months of intense discussions, is now the starting point for new talks. This means the Chinese have acquiesced to the prior terms they rebuked.
The seven chapters, each assigned to a specific trade sector, are the baseline for Lighthizer and Liu He to re-engage. Excellent news from the position of the U.S. team.
.
The CNBC knucklehead injecting about a Hauwei compromise was quickly corrected by Navarro. The Commerce Department restrictions and process for 90-day licenses to do business with Hauwei remains unchanged.
On May 20th, 2019, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, would be issuing Temporary General License (TGL) permits for U.S. business interests who wish to engage in commercial exchanges with Huawei.
The Commerce Department reviews each request, outlines what products can be exchanged, and restricts the company to a transaction of product approved by the license. Each license lasts 90-days.
“The Temporary General License grants operators time to make other arrangements and the Department space to determine the appropriate long term measures for Americans and foreign telecommunications providers that currently rely on Huawei equipment for critical services,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “In short, this license will allow operations to continue for existing Huawei mobile phone users and rural broadband networks.” (link)
Additionally, with the exception of the transactions explicitly authorized by the Temporary General License, any exports, reexports, or in country transfers of items subject to the Export Administration Regulation (EAR) will continue to require a special license granted after a review by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under a presumption of denial.
Under the new regulations any company wishing to engage in a commercial transaction with Huawei has to apply and gain pre-approval from the U.S. Commerce Department. Hence, the issuance of a 90-day license. Any product or service not approved by the license is not allowed to be exchanged.
This process began on May 20th and still exists today. This process is what President Trump was referencing when he announced the U.S. and China would restart trade negotiations as it related to Huawei. Specifically when the president said: “Ross will evaluate each request”.
Nothing can be purchased from, or sold to, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd and/or its sixty-eight non-U.S. affiliates, without getting permission from the U.S. commerce department. Nothing in the agreement between President Trump and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping changes that process.
Navarro is now confirming Beijing has accepted the closed chapters of the prior negotiation as a starting point between the Chinese and U.S. teams. The agreements between all parties, prior to the collapse, is now the agreed starting point.
This indicates the hawks in Beijing, those who formerly balked, have now retreated from their antagonistic position toward the agreement negotiated by Liu He.
It is likely they saw growing ramifications and consequences over the past 30+ days. In essence, after getting a taste of what was coming, Beijing saw a cycle of continual collapse as their future; they had no option but to try and stop the downward spiral.
This internal outlook, overlaying their historic zero-sum perspective, would make sense given the latest developments; partly because the reality of an increasingly losing position was their new baseline. A cessation of further damage was their best scenario.
Summary: Trump forced Beijing to see less-loss as the better loss.
However, as noted in the attitude of President Trump, he retains the larger tariff level despite China’s re-engagement. Trump has allowed the restart itself to be the face-saving Xi needed, yet he retains the prior tariff gains. Team Trump yielded nothing back.
Do not take this dynamic lightly. China has never negotiated for, nor accepted, less-lossbefore. Understanding this is new ground for them we can only imagine the anxiety within internal discussions. Vice-Premier Liu He cannot turn to the Beijing Hawks and say: ‘I told you so’. He can only start again and hope the same outcome does not repeat.
Both teams know the prior closed chapters were negotiated in good faith by Liu He, Robert Lightizer and Mnuchin. It wasn’t the U.S. who walked away from prior commitments. Therefore it makes additional sense for Chairman Xi to offer the Ag purchases as a show of good faith; and, in turn, President Trump gives the optics of compromise on high-tech.
Returning to the original point of collapse, the stickler point was/is the enforcement mechanism if China cheats. This is where Lighthizer had built sector-by-sector, product-by-product, escalating and countervailing tariffs into the compliance chapters.
Unlike traditional trade agreements with one enforcement chapter that encompasses all of the sectors within the aggregate agreement, Bob Lighthizer built specific enforcement mechanisms into each sector. Essentially, each product had it’s own compliance requirements unique to the sector of trade.
That multi-layered compliance is where China recoiled because they saw the U.S. as having ultimate decision-making about whether the rules were being followed. However, that construct was/is the unidirectional price Lighthizer was applying due to the history of Chinese duplicity and cheating.
Any U.S. company (or U.S. entity) harmed by Chinese trade practices (ie. ‘cheating‘, ‘theft’, ‘coercion’, etc.) would have a set of enforcement provisions to protect their interests specific to their unique sector inside the agreement. The scale of this approach is rather overwhelming to consider; however, as Lighthizer told congress this is the only way to insure compliance and protect very diverse U.S. trade interests.
You have to write the agreement while predicting the other party will attempt to lie, cheat and steal; and they will do so with the sanctioning of the communist government.
Lost in all of the discussions by western media is the fact that no-one has ever attempted to structure a comprehensive and enforceable trade agreement with China before. What the U.S. team is attempting will be the road-map for all other nations who will likely write similar agreements of their own.
Writing a trade agreement between a free-market (USA) and a controlled-market (China) is where the challenge lies. One of the inherent issues will always be how the free-market system can hold the controlled-market system accountable if they cheat.
Given the controlled-market’s governmental support for the cheaters, the accountability will naturally have to come from outside the system. It remains to be seen if it can be done.
Arguably President Trump has a disposition that he doesn’t see how a deal is possible. However, Trump is willing to allow Lighthizer, who really is brilliant (along with Secretary Mnuchin and Secretary Ross), plenty of space to approach this problem with unique solutions.
As President Trump just said: “The quality of the transaction is far more important to me than speed. I am in no hurry.”
The tariffs will continue until behavior improves.
Many Democrat presidential candidates will be traveling to Iowa for July 4th events as part of their campaign effort. Interestingly, according to the recent updates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Iowa has some of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation:
Iowa has three of the top five lowest unemployment regions in the nation:
(BLS DATA) In May, Ames, IA, and Burlington-South Burlington, VT, had the lowest unemployment rates, 1.5 percent each, followed by Midland, TX, 1.7 percent; Iowa City, IA, 1.8 percent; and Dubuque, IA, 1.9 percent.
While Democrats have falsely been saying the economy isn’t working for all Americans, the facts are that blue-collar middle-class Americans have been the largest beneficiaries.
The periods when GDP exceeds potential are typically when workers enjoy the greatest wage gains and members of historically sidelined communities find jobs. In recent years, those periods have not lasted long, a fact that Fed and other officials are wrestling with as they weigh possible interest rate cuts and assess just where the U.S. economy now stands. (link)
Cultural Marxism is advanced through a process of incremental control over customs and traditions within a free society. It’s the frog boil process. Small, violent and loud identity groups set the standard. The majority dismisses the Alinsky approach at their peril.
The U.S. confederate flag was targeted successfully. Now the same Marxists shift attention toward the U.S. Betsy Ross flag. Eventually the target will be the current U.S. flag. The collective process is to isolate, ridicule, marginalize and attack anyone who would point out what is happening. The collective goal is the complete removal of national identity.
In this segment MSNBC guest Michael Eric Dyson compares the Betsy Ross American flag to the Nazi swastika and burning Ku Klux Klan crosses. In Dyson’s worldview, to accomplish his objectives, all symbols of national unity and patriotism must be destroyed.
Last night President Trump sent a series of tweets that seems to be disconnected from most reporting on the 2020 Census. Originally, after the DOJ lawyers informed litigantsin the case about the census going to print, everyone believed the 2020 census questionnaire would not include the citizenship question. Then last night this:
It is possible the 2020 census printing could begin without the actual page that would carry the citizenship question. No-one seems to know what the actual status is.
What’s the significance of the recent Project Veritas undercover video featuring a Google executive, through the eyes of Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert? Have the social media giants become virtual monopolies that need to be broken up? And how do mere mentions of amnesty, DACA, or legalization, affect the crisis on the southern border? This is American Thought Leaders, and I’m Jan Jekielek. Today we sit down with Congressman Louie Gohmert, who is representing the 1st district of Texas, now in his eighth term. We explore tech giant bias and compromised border security, two key issues the congressman believes need to be addressed to preserve the American republic.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
The actual Independence Day was expected to be July 2, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution declaring the United States independent from Great Britain’s rule. After voting for independence, Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration which took two days to complete on July 4th. Jefferson had been writing it, draft after draft. He was one of the Committee of Five the Continental Congress set up to draft a declaration, with the other four being Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. John Adams had written to his wife, Abigail, stating that July 2nd would be the day of Independence.
Thomas Jefferson wrote his own epitaph. He was proud to have done the Declaration of Independence. He made no mention of being the President of the United States.
Centinel2012 