Tag Archives: Political Correctness

Jan 7 2019

U.S. Preliminary Trade Delegation Arrives in China For Initial Discussions of “Technical Details”…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on January 6, 2019 by 

The official, albeit preliminary, U.S.T.R. delegation from the United States is on the ground in China to begin initial discussions of “technical details” surrounding the ongoing trade dispute.  The preliminary talks are today (Jan 7th) through Wed (Jan 9th).

The prior notice from USTR announced the delegation: •Ambassador Jeffrey Gerrish, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (pictured above – center); •Ambassador Gregg Doud, USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator; •Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, U.S. Department of Agriculture; •Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Gilbert B. Kaplan, U.S. Department of Commerce; •Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg, U.S. Department of Energy; and •Under Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The delegation will be accompanied by senior officials from the White House, USTR, and the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, State, and Treasury. (link)

Tu Xinquan, director of the China Institute for World Trade Organization Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing is quoted as saying Beijing’s first phase will be focused on technical details before more important voices “make hard political decisions.”

The Trump administration should be able to sense if Beijing is just playing Panda games to delay and outlast the administration.  It is widely anticipated China will deploy their historic strategy, giving the illusion of progress in order to avoid tariffs that are scheduled to trigger on March 1st, 2019.  However, the problem for China is their adversary, President Trump, is well aware of their traditional approach.

The Chinese government will also be relying on support from lobbyists throughout Washington DC, specifically the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, hired by Chinese interests to undermine the position of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and President Donald Trump.

Despite several threats, so far U.S. CoC President Tom Donohue has not been able to influence Trump, but he does control Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and roughly 15 United States Senators, known collectively as “The Decepticons.”  The Chinese communist government and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce currently have a joint financial enemy in the White House.

The Chinese economy is under a great deal of pressure from the aggregate approach being deployed by President Trump well beyond the issue of tariffs.  The Chinese have recently admitted they underestimated the resolve of President Trump.

Each time China takes aggressive action (red dragon) China projects a panda face through silence and non-response to opinion of that action;…. and the action continues. The red dragon has a tendency to say one necessary thing publicly, while manipulating another necessary thing privately.  The Art of War.

President Trump is the first U.S. President to understand how the red dragon hides behind the panda mask.

It is specifically because he understands that Panda is a mask that President Trump messages warmth toward the Chinese people, and pours vociferous praise upon Chairman Xi Jinping, while simultaneously confronting the geopolitical doctrine of the Xi regime.

In essence Trump is mirroring the behavior of China while confronting their economic duplicity.

President Trump is putting on a MASSIVE economic squeeze.

♦Squeeze #1. President Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin sanctioned Venezuelaand cut off their access to expanded state owned oil revenue. Venezuela needs more money. China and Russia are already leveraged to the gills in Venezuela and hold 49% of Citgo as collateral for loans outstanding.  China and Russia now need to loan more, directly.

However, China cannot engage in economic commerce with Venezuela or they risk losing access to the U.S. banking system.  Therefore all current Chinese aid to Maduro comes in the form of IOUs.  These ongoing loans are likely impossible to be repaid.

♦Squeeze #2. China’s geopolitical ally, Russia, is already squeezed with losses in energy revenue because of President Trump’s approach toward oil, LNG and coal. Trump, through allies including Saudi Arabia, EU, France (North Africa energy), and domestic production has influenced global energy prices.  Additionally, President Trump is demanding NATO countries, specifically Germany, stop supporting financial dependence on Russia.

Meanwhile, and directly connected, Russia is bleeding out financially in Syria. Iran is the financial reserve, but they too are energy price dependent and President Trump is now putting pressure on Iran vis-a-vis new sanctions and new demands on allies.

♦Squeeze #3. In 2017 Trump and Secretary Tillerson, now Secretary Pompeo, put Pakistan on notice they need to get involved in bringing their enabled tribal “extremists” (Taliban) to the table in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s primary investor and economic partner is China. The U.S. removed $900 million in financial support to pressure Pakistan toward a political solution in Afghanistan, China has to fill void.  [NOTE: Last month the World Bank began discussions about a financial bailout for Pakistan.]  Again, more one-way bleed for China.

♦Squeeze #4. China’s primary economic threat (competition) is next door in India. President Trump has embraced India as leverage over China in trade and pledged ongoing favorable trade deals. The key play is MFN (Most Favored Nation) trade status might flip from China to India. That’s a big play.  It would have massive ramifications.

♦Squeeze #5. President Trump launched a USTR Section 301 Trade Investigation into China’s theft of intellectual property. This encompasses every U.S. entity that does manufacturing business with China, particularly aeronautics and technology, and also reaches into the financial services sector.

In March of 2018 U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer completed a section 301 review of China’s trade practices.  [SEE HERE] Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 authorizes the President to take all appropriate action, including retaliation, to obtain the removal of any act, policy, or practice of a foreign government that violates an international trade agreement or is unjustified, unreasonable, or discriminatory, and that burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.  However, as talks with China progressed, President Trump shelved the 301 action to see where negotiations would end-up. The May and June, 2018, negotiations between the U.S. and China provided no progress.  The 301 review of China was back off the shelf, and President Trump assembled his trade-war strategy.  After the December G20 dinner and the agreement to pause (90-days) the 301 tariffs/sanctions; they are currently being held by U.S.T.R Robert Lighthizer pending the outcome of the current talks.

♦Squeeze #6. President Trump, Secretary Ross, Secretary Mnuchin and USTR Robert Lighthizer dissolved NAFTA in favor of the USMCA. One of the primary objectives of team U.S.A. is to close the 3rd party loopholes, including the dumping and origination trickery that China uses to gain backdoor access to the U.S. market and avoid trade/tariff restrictions. [China sends parts to Mexico and Canada for assembly and then back-door entry into the U.S. via NAFTA.]

♦Squeeze #7. President Trump was open, visible and vocal about his intention to shift to bilateral trade renegotiation with China and Southeast Asia immediately after Team U.S.A. concluded with NAFTA. [Current discussions with Japan are ongoing]

♦Squeeze #8. President Trump positioned the U.S. relationship with the E.U. as a massive potential loss for Europe (via Steel, Aluminum, and Auto tariffs) if they did not: (A) shift their trade relationship toward greater reciprocity; and (B) reconsider the size of their trade relationship with China.  After initially trying to push-back, Europe acquiesced.

♦Squeeze #9. President Trump has positioned ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as trade benefactors for assistance with North Korea. Last year the KORUS (South Korea and U.S.) trade deal was renegotiated, and announced in March. The relationship between ASEAN nations and the Trump administration is very strong, and getting stronger. Which leads to…

♦Squeeze #10. President Trump has formed an economic and national security alliance with Shinzo Abe of Japan. It is not accidental that North Korea’s Kim Jong-un fired his last missile over the Northern part of Japan. Quite simply, Beijing told him to.  However…

♦Squeeze #11. President Trump cut-off the duplicitous Beijing influence over North Korea by engaging directly with Kim Jong-un.  The open exchange and ongoing dialogue has removed much of the ability of Beijing to leverage the DPRK nuclear threat for their own economic benefit.  This dialogue was as much, if not more, about dismantling the Beijing geopolitical influence as it was about denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.  However, no-one caught on to that part of the strategy.

Add all of this up and you can see the cumulative impact of President Trump’s geopolitical economic strategy toward China. The best part of all of it –as we previously stated– is the likelihood China never saw it, meaning the sum totality of “all of it”, coming…. at first.

(Via VoA) […] Beijing has tried in vain to recruit France, Germany, South Korea and other governments as allies against Trump. They criticize his tactics but echo U.S. complaints about Chinese industrial policy and market barriers.

The European Union filed its own challenge in the World Trade Organization in June against Chinese rules that the 28-nation trade bloc said hamper the ability of foreign companies to protect and profit from their own technology.

For their part, Chinese officials are unhappy with U.S. curbs on exports of “dual use” technology with possible military applications. They complain China’s companies are treated unfairly in national security reviews of proposed corporate acquisitions, though almost all deals are approved unchanged.

Some manufacturers that serve the United States have shifted production to other countries to avoid Trump’s tariffs.

UBS said Friday that 37 percent of 200 manufacturers surveyed by the bank have shifted out of China over the past 12 months. The threat of U.S. tariff hikes was the “dominating factor” for nearly half, while others moved because of higher costs or tighter environmental regulation.

“Most firms expect the trade war to escalate,” the bank said. (read more)

Jan 7 2019

Sunday Talks: Mick Mulvaney Outlines Democrat “Negotiations” as Political Resistance Ploy…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on January 6, 2019 by 

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney outlines how Democrat leadership have dispatched legislative staff to frame optic of negotiations to re-open government; however, it appears the discussions are only intended to further political resistance efforts.

The leadership staff have no authority to actually negotiate, but simply give the impression of negotiations.  Pelosi, Hoyer, Schumer and Durbin have a plan to maximize the shutdown for political gains; any border agreement would be adverse to their interests.

Jan 7 2019

President Trump Impromptu Presser Departing White House…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on January 6, 2019 by 

President Donald Trump delivers impromptu remarks to pool reporters as he departs the White House for Camp David.

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Jan 7 2019

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Proposed to Raise Individual Tax Rates to 70%


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Jan 7, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

I have warned that all the talk behind the curtain I was hearing when the Democrats won the House was that as soon as they go in, they would be looking at raising taxes to where they use to be back before Reagan. Well it did not take long. The new Congresswoman from New York with ZERO experience in economics, is now arguing to raise taxes on the “rich” Americans to 70% to her idea of a“Green New Deal.” She has also come out and called Trump a racist totally failing to understand that there are only four races, black, red, white, and yellow. Mexican is not a race it is an ethic group just as Americans are not some mythical single race. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came out on Friday and said:

“You look at our tax rates back in the 60s, and when you have a progressive tax rate system, your tax rate, let’s say, from $0 to $75,000 may be 10% or 15%, etc. But once you get to the tippy tops, on your 10-millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60% or 70%.” 

Of course, the tax cuts in the 1960s were introduced by John F. Kennedy – a democrat. It was those high tax rates that drove American manufacture offshore to begin with. Americans are taxed on worldwide income. When I testified before the House Ways & Means Committee, the question they ask me why did no American firms get any contracts to build the Yellow River Dam in China? I explain that Germans did not pay worldwide income tax so when they big on such a project, they were already 40% less. Any German personnel that went there were also tax free. Ocasio-Cortez  is clueless about taxes and economics.

I have to state plainly. I am very much aware of the trend in Washington. It looks like our taxes are going to rise significantly!!!! As interest expenditures soar consuming a greater and great proportion of total spending, both parties will resort to rising taxes. I see Trump as the last hope in holding off that trend for the one thing he does understand in debt servicing. But I have also warned that our models show Trump is a reaction within a bear market trend in government. So I am not hopeful of the future to say the least.

Personally, this means at some point I will have to make a decision. I shut down operations entirely and just walk the beach, or I will have to resign my citizenship and leave for Asia. I have not made that decision. I just have to realize I personally need Plan B and Plan C. Part of the Crash & Burn requires someone like Ocasio-Cortez to complete devastate Western Economies. Once she raises that taxes in the USA to such levels, the rich will flee as took place in France and economic growth will collapse causing unemployment to rise and presto = civil unrest.

The greatest flaw in American politics is that the tax rate is not stable. It reflects the brainwave of someone suffering from Schizophrenia. Nobody would sign a lease to an apartment where it allowed the landlord to rise the rent anytime if he determines he needs money. This is why companies left in the first place. Not because they paid a worker $5 instead of $10 an hour. It was to get guaranteed deals with respect to fixed taxation rates.

Categories: Politics, The Hunt for Taxes
Jan 7 2019

Trump & His Wall


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Jan 7, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Do you support Trump’s Wall? They say Trump’s wall is a waste of money and won’t work. Do you disagree?

GH

ANSWER: To me, it is really irrelevant. It is far more important to the people living there on the border who are tired of all the crime and nonsense lacking security. There are also many hard-working people trying to get in for a better life. While the press and Democrats bash Trump and call him a racist over this issue even when Mexican is no more a race than being an American, Obama deported more people than any other President. Nobody called Obama a racist.

As an employer, you are REQUIRED to ensure the person you hire is LEGAL. Verification of employment (VOE) requests on current or former employees can come to an employer from government agencies. The employers cannot lie on such a request from the government or suffer up to even imprisonment for false answers. The law requiring employers to identify an employee is not something Trump created. They were passed back in 1986.

I understand all the yelling about trying to prevent illegal aliens as being racist is political labeling for surely anyone who believes that is really stupid for Mexican is not a race. Nevertheless, there are a host of laws that are impacted by the attempt to work illegally. Even to get a decent apartment, they run a background check on you and may deny you for any criminal violations or lacking legal status and a job. Illegal aliens are not able to rent such places leaving them at the highly questionable level of living typically in very poor areas that operate in cash. The call to eliminate cash is also a covert backdoor way to get rid of illegal aliens nobody will say publicly. Eliminate cash and you eliminate their ability to work under the table.

Indeed, there are a host of laws in conflict over this very issue of illegal aliens. It is even a crime under 8 U.S. Code § 1324  to bring in and harbor certain aliens. Employers can go to jail for hiring an illegal alien and you can go to jail for helping them to get into the country.

Over the centuries, there have been some walls were constructed to keep people in like a prison. That was the case with the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall.

In the case of the Roman Wall in Britain, known as Hadrian’s Wall, the Picts or Scots were constantly raiding the northern Roman communities. Instead of trying to conquer the Picts, they build a wall to keep them out.

It was the state Chu who first constructed the Chinese Wall. It was during the Qin Dynasty that China became one empire. To defend off the invasions from northern invaders, Emperor Qin Shi Huang had all the walls joined up. Thus, the Great Wall came into being.

The oldest wall to keep invaders out is known as the Great Wall of Gorgan located near modern Gorgan in northeastern Iran, at the southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea. The wall is believed to have protected the Sassanian Empire to the south from the peoples to the north, known as the White Huns. It was the most ambitious and sophisticated frontier walls ever constructed in history. It effectively kept the invasions of Huns from overrunning Sassanian or Persian Empire. It was 121 miles in length (195km) with over 30 fortresses spaced at intervals of between 6 and 31 miles apart. It was only surpassed only by the Great Wall of China as the longest defensive wall in existence against the very same people.

Many believed that the Great Wall of Gorgan was constructed by Alexander the Great. It was known for centuries as the Gates of Alexander which were a legendary barrier that was constructed in the Caucasus to keep the uncivilized barbarians of the north from invading the land to the south. During medieval literature, the Gates of Alexander were believed to be associated with the Biblical tribes of Gog and Magog from about the 6th century onward.

The question of will such a wall work? It will unquestionably reduce the traffic. Historically, such walls prevent massive invasions. They will not stop someone from tunneling under or circumventing them by sea or air. We have invisible walls between all countries. It is called – Papers Please!

Trump’s biggest problem is that he offends may with some of the things he says. In all fairness, the Democrats will oppose whatever he wants because politics has degenerated to such an extent that it is no longer about what is best for the country, it just opposes the opposition at all costs. This is becoming manifest on both sides.

I am sure the Deep State would love it. It may keep Mexicans out, but it will also keep Americans in. Make everything legal once again except Heroin and watch the drug trade end just as ending prohibition undermined the Mafia. They use to tax marihuana until nearly 1970 as well as cocaine. Such laws will never stop people from using them and they only create drug wars and violence.

 

Jan 6 2019
Image

No More Needs to be Said!


Jan 6 2019

Pocahontas to Run for President


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Jan 6, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

The stage has been set and Elizabeth Warren, aka Pocahontas, is to Run for President. What is going to be really interesting besides her becoming more vocal now for the next two years, will be the revelation of how corrupt she really is. She has bashed the banks and is the closest thing to a full-fledged Marxist in the Democratic Party so will the like of Goldman Sachs fill her purse with money to defeat Trump?

We all know about the claim Warren made to get into Harvard Law School back in the 90s claiming she was a Native American. She claimed that she was pointing to “family stories” passed down to her through generations as evidence. Harvard had singled her out claiming she was a leading Native American student. Warren later acknowledged that she had listed herself as a minority in an Association of American Law Schools directory. Warren maintains she never furthered her career by using her heritage to gain advantage.

Then analysis from Carlos Bustamante, a professor of genetics at Stanford and an adviser to Ancestry, said: “While the vast majority of the individual’s ancestry is European,” he concluded of Warren, “the results strongly support the existence of an unadmixed Native American ancestor in the individual’s pedigree, likely in the range of 6-10 generations ago.”
So if there was some involvement 6 to 10 generations prior, it is hard to see why someone would have the audacity to even claim she was Native American. In the process, her release of a DNA test that suggesting such a distant a lineage to a Native American ancestor sparked outrage among real Native Americans who felt she was using such a weak cultural and social ties for political gain.
It just seems disingenuous to claim someone who is a blue-eyed blond is Native American with such a distant connection. Sure, in my distant past, on my father’s mother side was married to a German in the late 1600s in New Amsterdam before it became New York City. I probably have as much German in me or more than Warren has Native American going that far back.
Jan 6 2019

Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot? Arkansas Sheriff Deputy Shoots Family Chihuahua…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on January 5, 2019 by 

This is severely disturbing.  Faulkner County, Arkansas, Sheriff Tim Ryals is now facing massive backlash thanks to a camera phone and social media.

A Faulkner sheriff deputy named Keenan Wallace was caught on camera shooting a small dog while investigating a neighborhood call reporting an aggressive dog.  Initially the County Sheriff was slow to respond to the outcry; then the video went viral on social media. [Warning, this is disturbing]:

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Thankfully the dog named “Reese’s” survived being shot.

ARKANSAS – The Faulkner County Sheriff has fired the deputy who was caught on camera shooting a small dog.  Sheriff Tim Ryals said in the statement he felt deputy Keenan Wallace had numerous opportunities to deescalate the incident.

Sheriff Ryals added it appears no state law was violated. The investigation will be turned over to the prosecuting attorney’s office for further review. (media link)

I can’t even fathom….

The Sheriff Office statement (source):

A GoFundMe for $5,000 has been set up to help pay for surgery – SEE HERE

 

Jan 6 2019

Indefatigable Trump Tweets: “The Wall is Coming”….


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on January 5, 2019 by 

President Donald Trump knows he holds the right position…

The question is, can the White House communications team take control over the consistently (intentionally?) failing communication strategies from the GOP legislative leadership within the House and Senate?…

If the President Trump White House communications team can get the House GOP, Senate GOP and national RNC communications teams to follow his path, they would be far more successful.

Jan 6 2019

Are We in the Second American Civil War?


Dr. Jack D. Minzey died Sunday, 8 April 20
Jack was head of the Department of Education at Eastern Michigan University as well as author of numerous books, most of which were on Education and the Government’s role.
This is the last of his works:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Civil War – How do civil wars happen? Two or more sides disagree on who runs the country. And they can’t settle the question through elections because they don’t even agree that elections are how you decide who’s in charge. That’s the basic issue here. Who decides who runs the country? When you hate each other but accept the election results, you have a country. When you stop accepting election results, you have a countdown to a civil war.
The Mueller investigation is about removing President Trump from office and overturning the results of an election. We all know that. But it’s not the first time they’ve done this. The first time a Republican president was elected this century, they said he didn’t really win. The Supreme Court gave him the election. There’s a pattern here.
What do sure odds of the Democrats rejecting the next Republican president really mean? It means they don’t accept the results of any election that they don’t win. It means they don’t believe that transfers of power in this country are determined by elections.
That’s a civil war.
There’s no shooting. At least not unless you count the attempt to kill a bunch of Republicans at a charity baseball game practice. But the Democrats have rejected our system of government. This isn’t dissent. It’s not disagreement. You can hate the other party. You can think they’re the worst thing that ever happened to the country. But then you work harder to win the next election. When you consistently reject the results of elections that you don’t win, what you want is a dictatorship. Your very own dictatorship. The only legitimate exercise of power in this country, according to Democrats, is its own. Whenever Republicans exercise power, it’s inherently illegitimate. The Democrats lost Congress. They lost the White House. So what did they do? They began trying to run the country through Federal judges and bureaucrats.
This was what the last one looked like is this what we want again?
Every time that a Federal judge issues an order saying that the President of the United States can’t scratch his own back without his say so, that’s the civil war.
Our system of government is based on the constitution, but that’s not the system that runs this country. The Democrat’s system is that any part of government that it runs gets total and unlimited power over the country. If the Democrats are in the White House, then the president can do anything. And I mean anything.
He can have his own amnesty for illegal aliens. He can fine you for not having health insurance. His power is unlimited. He’s a dictator. But when Republicans get into the White House, suddenly the President can’t do anything. He isn’t even allowed to undo the illegal alien amnesty that his predecessor illegally invented.
A Democrat in the White House has ‘discretion’ to completely decide every aspect of immigration policy. A Republican doesn’t even have the ‘discretion’ to reverse him. That’s how the game is played. That’s how our country is run.
Sad but true, although the left hasn’t yet won that particular fight. When a Democrat is in the White House, states aren’t even allowed to enforce immigration law.
But when a Republican is in the White House, states can create their own immigration laws. Under Obama, a state wasn’t allowed to go to the bathroom without asking permission. But under Trump, Jerry Brown can go around saying that California is an independent republic and sign treaties with other countries. The Constitution has something to say about that. Whether it’s Federal or State, Executive, Legislative or Judiciary, the left moves power around,
to run the country. If it controls an institution, then that institution is suddenly the supreme power in the land. This is what I call a moving dictatorship.
Donald Trump has caused the Shadow
Government to come out of hiding:
Professional government is a guild. Like medieval guilds. You can’t serve in it if you’re not a member. If you haven’t been indoctrinated into its arcane rituals.
If you aren’t in the club. And Trump isn’t in the club. He brought in a bunch of people with him, who also are NOT in the club. Now we’re seeing what the pros do when amateurs try to walk in on them. They spy on them, they investigate them and they send them to jail. They use the tools of power to bring them down.
That’s not a free country.
It’s not a free country when FBI agents who support Hillary take out an ‘insurance policy’ against Trump winning the election. It’s not a free country when Obama officials engage in massive unmasking of the opposition. It’s not a free country when the media responds to the other guy winning by trying to ban the conservative media that supported him from social media. It’s not a free country when all of the above collude together to overturn an election because the guy who wasn’t supposed to win… WON.
Have no doubt. We are in a civil war.  This war is between Conservative volunteer government and a leftist Democrat professional government.

This email has gone viral. This is the one I received and it credits the late Dr. Jack Minzey. The research I did indicates the words may have originated from Daniel Greenfield. Daniel is a South Carolina Tea Party conservative. My kinda guy. In my opinion whichever one of these gentlemen originally delivered these words it doesn’t matter – the author was spot on.

Jeff Longo