Incoming chief of staff Mick Mulvaney gives an impromptu press briefing to the media highlighting the position of incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the democrat intention to weaponize the government shutdown.

Career Democrats are working through a highly coordinated political agenda, defended by institutional media allies, that involve weaponizing the House of Representatives.

.

If we take the empirical 2006 example as the starting point and overlay the 2018 landscape to modernize the predictive model, what results is a most likely scenario.

First, any intellectually honest review must overlay the current political environment.  In 2018 the scale of unchecked lawless behavior is a significant influence toward the differences we can expect from the last time Democrat/Marxists held congressional power. The term “Democrat-socialism”, in essence a Marxist approach, is now the dominant fuel within the professional DNC  political operations.

When the Democrats last held power in 2006, their actionable objective was toward a far-left, Saul Alinsky-type aggressive tone and influence; however, there was a need to couch that intention as they positioned Senator Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential election.

In 2006 the radicals, needed to downplay their radicalism.  In 2018 the severity and aggression of the left, as assisted by the dropping of all media pretense, no longer needs to hide the intention.  When Democrat-Marxists take control in January of 2019 they no longer need to couch the extremism, the American electorate have been prepped.

Secondly, it cannot be overstated how violent and confrontational the House of Representatives will be as soon as they are sworn in.  They will work with an immediate purposeful intention. All political violence will be approved to attain their objectives.  The recent behavior of Jim Acosta (CNN media), and ANTIFA toward Tucker Carlson, is now, and will be going forward, the new normal.

There will be extreme political violence.

In 2006 it was the SEIU and AFSCME union foot-soldiers who smashed windows, advanced upon polling places and engaged in the most severe examples of voter fraud and intimidation.  In 2018, with the help of uber-Alinsky DNC Chairman Tom Perez, that corrupt sentiment is now institutionalized within democrat-socialist political apparatus.  ANTIFA is now the DNC grassroots activist approach.

Failing to accept the severity of this shift in the past decade is intellectually dishonest.  As Nancy Pelosi said of the Occupy Wall Street violent anarchists: “God bless these people.”  Indeed the OWS precursor to ANTIFA were laying the groundwork for the new severity of power in Democrat leadership.  Nothing is out-of-bounds; no level of corrupt behavior will be avoided; everything will happen openly and without any backlash from a compliant media apparatus; the social fabric will be shredded.

The Democrat mantra: “never let a crisis go to waste” is the modern version of the Fabian-Socialist: “remould it closer to the heart’s desire“.  Both approaches rely upon the destruction of acceptable norms in order to advance the political objective.

♦Specifics: When Democrats last took power in January 2007, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer took control in the final two years of George Bush second term.  Immediately they set about a process laying the groundwork for the 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama.  This was a priority objective.

One of the techniques was the removal of the budget process. By eliminating the federal budget process in 2007 (fiscal year ’08) the Democrats paved the way for the next democrat president to demand massive open-ended spending.

By the time the year of the general election came around (2008), the lengthy budget process was replaced with Omnibus spending bills (fiscal year 2009).  Obviously when Obama was successfully installed in November of 2008, the useful crisis was financial. The subsequent TARP bailout, auto bailout, ARRA ($1 trillion stimulus) and QE1 were all accomplished with massive omnibus spending packages.

[NOTE: These are important references because from that moment forward, despite the GOP taking back control in January 2011, the constraining budgetary process was forever destroyed. There was never regular-order budgetary spending again.]

It is also critical to emphasize the difference between Democrats taking control in the last two years of Bush’s second term, and Democrats taking control in the last two years of Trump’s first term.  Within this difference you will predictably see a shift in strategic operations from the Marxists.

George W Bush was exiting, and unlimited spending was used to empower the entry of Obama; however, now the Marxists need to knee-cap President Trump by weaponizing the power of the purse – the biggest weapon of the House of Representatives.

After a ten year UniParty hiatus the Marxists will now go back to using budgets in the structural defunding and dismantling of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the Southern Border Wall, and any program, initiative, policy or institution the Marxists want to see removed.   This is a strategy of the Democrat crisis-makers; and they are exceptionally better at achieving their desired results than Republicans.

When it comes to political weaponization and political power constructs the Marxists have exceptional work ethics; they will outwork anyone on the other side who opposes them.  They are far, far, better at political strategy and scheme than conservative politicians.  Part of the reason for their success is that crooks, cons and swindlers are far more cunning than honorable, virtuous and moral people.  It is unfortunate, but true; and the same truth applies beyond politics.

♦ Two other thoughts on this issue.  First, you might remember when this massive spending, and the government takeover of healthcare, led to the Marxists losing the 2010 midterm election in a massive defeat.   But do you remember what the democrats did in the lame-duck congress between November 2010 and January 2011?

Does the term “Porkulous” ring a bell?

While 63 democrat seats were lost in the November 2010 election (and six democrat senate seats), those exiting Marxists, despite just having suffered the worst defeat in almost 100 years, audaciously –and apologetically– voted in the December 2010 lame-duck session, to fully fund President Obama’s next two years in office.  This was done by Speaker Nancy Pelosi specifically to block the incoming GOP wave from upending the priorities of the Obama administration in 2011.  That was called the “Porkulous” spending bill; and the democrat-marxists didn’t give a snit about how it looked.

Now, did Speaker Paul Ryan or Senate Leader Mitch McConnell do anything as bold to fund and secure the budgetary priorities of President Donald Trump in this lame-duck?

No, UniParty.

Secondly, about the overall unilateral commitment and cunning historically displayed by the Marxists.  They are so committed to the long-term view they are willing to sacrifice anything for the biggest, most consequential, advances toward their objectives.  In 2010 the democrats killed their own “blue-dog” coalition to advance their ideological goals.

Within the 63 House seats the Marxists lost in that 2010 midterm election; they killed off the entire 40 member Bart Stupak coalition; the blue-dog caucus.  Totally willing to sacrifice 40 seats to attain a generational ideological objective (ObamaCare); and they are about to step back into power a mere eight years later.  Stunning when you think about it.

Few people have any idea just how bad these next two years are going to be. We are the normal people who don’t spend every moment of our day scheming, conniving, and developing plans to dismantle the lives of your freedom loving community and rebuild it as a collective society.  For these political Marxists who are about to take power that’s all they do.   Every moment of their existence they spend thinking about how to gain power and dominate, 24/7/365  that is all they do.

That is all the ever talk about; that is all they ever converse with each-other about.  Every second of every moment, in every meeting, is consumed with plots, plans and strategies for indulging themselves and growing power at all costs.

The illegal alien suspect in the shooting death of a Newman Police Department corporal Ronil “Ron” Singh was arrested in the Bakersfield, CA, area Friday morning, the Stansislaus County Sheriff’s Department said.

Gustavo Perez Arriaga, 32, was arrested in connection with murder of Police Officer Singh.  The suspect was identified as using multiple aliases.

Also arrested for aiding and abetting were the suspect’s brother, Adrian Virgen, 25, and the suspect’s co-worker, Erik Razo Quiroz, 35.

The suspect was trying to flee to Mexico when he was captured, Stansislaus Sheriff Adam Christianson.  Gustavo Perez Arriaga also claimed to be a member of the Sureno street gang, the sheriff  said during a press briefing moments ago (See Video Below).

Victim: Officer Ronil “Ron” Singh  –  Suspect: Gustavo Perez Arriaga

Earlier today President Trump tweeted out the possibility of closing the Southern U.S. border if congress cannot find a solution to funding border security.  Sounds good….

I’m not sure if even President Trump realizes how much support there would be for this approach.  Mexico would be lighting up the switchboards in DC if that happened.  The Mexican economy is entirely dependent on access.

The investment instruments created by Wall Street billionaire hedgefund managers and institutional multinational banking interests; operated by robotic algorithmic data networks, while programmed to twitch and flitter with coded signals only decipherable by the hired engineers; are wildly swinging amid their detachment from Main Street.

This fluctuating Wall Street process is likely to continue; actually, it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse; because the invisible data driving the activity behind the swings is based on investment bets, derivatives that are entirely disconnected from actual Main Street financial results.  Chairman Hassett discusses:

.

Full Spectrum: “The Main Street-Wall Street demarcation has been fortuitously blurred, all to Wall Street’s benefit. Recall the mass migration over the last few decades from defined pension plans to self-directed IRAs and 401ks. This was Wall Street impregnating Main Street with Wall Street’s sweatless ethics. Main Street is very much ‘in the market’. Trumponomics desperately needs a tutorial to the American people explaining the rockiness of the transition and all that’s at stake.”…

President Trump and First Lady Melania stopped at Ramstein Air Base in Germany en-route back to Washington DC.  The president took the opportunity to talk directly with key military generals and leaders aboard Air Force-One:

It’s a little funny to watch this.  The chicken little pearl-clutchers at Fox Business: ‘orange-man-bad tariffs‘ -vs- former Walmart CEO Bill Simon on strong holiday retail sales, global growth and the U.S-China trade reset.

The Wall Street business-pundits are pre-programmed, at an institutional dna level, to jump into the “tariffs are bad” talking points.  Mr. Simon aptly dispatches them with a dose of reality from the Wal-Mart/Main Street perspective.  [It’s kinda funny]

Here’s a weird question.  I’ve been looking at this all day.  Something sketchy is afoot.  I waited specifically for CBS to report so that I could share an exact comparison.

In 2017 total holiday sales were reported as follows:

2017 CBS – […] They had a lot of company across the country. Total retail sales this holiday season added up to a record $598 billion dollars — up $33 billion from last year. (link)

In 2018 total holiday sales were reported as follows:

2018 WSJ and CBS – […]  Overall, U.S. consumers spent over $850 billion this holiday season, according to Mastercard. The figures suggest a stock-market swoon and partial government shutdown haven’t curbed consumer confidence and spending. (link)

See the issue?..

In all 2017 financial media reports $598 billion was the holiday spending total.  And in all of 2018 financial media reports $850 billion was the total holiday spending.

That’s a difference of $252 billion more spent in 2018.  An increase of 42%.

A forty-two percent increase !!

Now, you might say it’s simply a difference in the media source.  However, CBS is cited specifically to avoid this possible disparity.

Additionally, the exact same analyst is quoted in both years:

2017 – “”This is literally the best season since before the recession,” business owner Craig Johnson said. “Johnson’s company, Customer Growth Partners, analyzes all things retail. He credits low unemployment and a booming stock market for this humbug-free holiday season.

“The single biggest drive of retail sales is growth in real disposable income,” he said. “And when real income goes up, people have money in their pocket and they’re able to spend it.” (link to 2017 analysis)

-AND in 2018-

2018– ““Wall Street is running around like a chicken with its head cut off, while Mr. and Mrs. Main Street are happy with their jobs, enjoying their best wage increases in a decade,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail research and consulting firm. A recent drop in gas prices has helped last-minute spending, he said.”  (link to 2018 analysis – and additional citation via identical CBS)

If $598 billion was spent in 2017; and $850 billion was spent in 2018; that means this years holiday shopping increase was truthfully, factually, and actually a jaw-dropping 42% !!

Now….

Why would the overall media, and specifically the Wall Street focused financial media, downplay results that reflected a stunning 42% increase in consumer spending?

Could the institutional bias be that overt?

Then again…. perhaps the underlying truth explains this:

(LINK)

Do you realize the scale of this?

According to a report in Bloomberg News the U.S. is sending a trade negotiation team to Beijing on January 7th, 2019.  If accurate this would be the first face-to-face delegation since President Trump and Chairman Xi outlined the structure for strategic trade discussions during the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires.

(Via Bloomberg) A U.S. government delegation will travel to Beijing in the week of Jan. 7 to hold trade talks with Chinese officials, two people familiar with the matter said.

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will lead the Trump administration’s team, which will also include Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Neither the USTR nor Treasury responded to requests for comment. (more)

When President Trump outlined the preliminary terms for negotiations between the U.S. and China, U.S Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was assigned the lead position for the contacts.   Abassador Lighthizer has been very firm in pointing out the 90-day window for discussions, prior to enhanced tariff action, was not going to change.  The deadline is March 1st, 2019, for a principle agreement, or the next phase of tariffs is triggered.

THE DANCE – There are some signs Beijing is trying to bring an aggressive North Korea back into play as leverage toward China’s economic negotiation goals.  President Trump will almost certainly instruct Secretary Mike Pompeo to engage and schedule a second meeting between Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Trump.

Trump’s move to keep North Korea’s Chairman Kim visible and negotiating is less about DPRK denuclearization and more specifically about keeping Chairman Xi from being able to leverage DPRK denuclearization as part of China’s trade leverage.  This aspect to the U.S -vs China geopolitical confrontation can be described as the dance of the panda mask.

View image on Twitter

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Christmas Eve briefing with my team working on North Korea – Progress being made. Looking forward to my next summit with Chairman Kim!

82.7K

4:14 PM – Dec 24, 2018

47.6K people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

No other president would, could, or has, ever considered publicly taking on this dual economic and diplomatic challenge.   Not only is President Trump taking on China, but he is simultaneously taking on every financial interest who previously acquiesced to China – because they saw no option.

Only, and I do mean O.N.L.Y President Trump has the cunning to take on China, Wall Street, the multinational banking system (IMF), the World Trade Organization, and every vested global politician…. while simultaneously taking on Beijing’s DPRK control ploys.

The vast majority of punditry and news discussion will focus on Trump and Xi as if they are direct adversaries.  That adversarial perspective is not only misplaced, it is merely the tip of the iceberg.  A limited perspective will entirely miss what is happening beneath the surface.   That’s where the fight is.  That’s where the really good stuff is happening.

The real challenge in dealing with or confronting China is what happens in the places we cannot see directly attached.  Specifically because politicians suck at complex strategies that not entirely obvious to the consuming masses – we have never had a politician with the right skills, in the right position, to take on a cunning Eastern economic adversary.

We do now.

POTUS Trump’s life dealing with predatory financial adversaries, including the Chinese, has provided him with a very specific set of skills.  Trump is keenly aware of the cunning nature behind the panda mask; and the results so far are excellent.  It is also clear that Robert Lighthizer holds a solid understanding of this specific adversary.

Those who follow global politics and global economics well understand the significance and massive consequence in this U.S. -vs- China confrontation.   This economic challenge is planetary in scale.  This one is for all the marbles.  There are trillions upon trillions at stake, and Donald Trump is confronting decades of planning by global financial interests.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump deliver remarks to U.S. military during a surprise visit to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq.

During his remarks President Trump outlines his determination to remove U.S. military from Syria and to hold regional allies accountable to retain stability and security.

Additionally President Trump directly addresses the notion that any withdrawal from the region means a reconstituted terror threat that might strike the U.S: “if that was to happen, they would suffer consequences like never before.”  “That’s not a threat, that’s going to be a fact.” … “If anything were to happen at all.”