Pastor Umar Mulinde is a convert from Islam to Christianity. Mulinde, 40, was born a
Muslim and is now the head of the Gospel Life Church International in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

He is married and has seven children. Since he converted to Christianity in 1993, his life
changed. His family disowned him, saying he was dead, and they and other Muslims tried
to kill him. He gave his bodyguards the day off, thinking there would be no attack on
Christmas Eve. On December 24, 2011, AS Umar was leaving his Church’s Christmas Eve
services, Muslims terrorist in Uganda threw acid on him and severely burned his face, neck
and back. He was transported to Sheba Medical Center for treatment with the help of Israeli
friends, and has been returning for treatment.

THE HIGHLANDS TEA PARTY  

January 15th, 2019

Rick Scott made 84 last-minute appointments.
That’s not going over well with Ron DeSantis.

Trump fires back at Pelosi, cancels her foreign travel

President Trump on Thursday said he is canceling Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s (D-Calif.) planned international travel in response to her request to postpone the State of the Union address due to the government shutdown.

In a letter to Pelosi, Trump told her a congressional delegation trip she intended to take to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan “has been postponed.”  The president dismissed the trip as a “public relations event,” and said if she wants to go by flying commercial, “that would certainly be your prerogative.”  “I also feel that, during this period, it would be better in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the shutdown,” he wrote.

The response comes one day after Pelosi requested Trump move his address from its scheduled date on Jan. 29, citing security concerns related to the record-long shutdown.

The president did not address the Speaker’s request to move the date of his speech.

Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was speculation on Capitol Hill that Pelosi’s trip may have already been canceled when congressional leaders scrapped next week’s recess

“It must be the role of the mosque to guide the public policy of a nation, raise awareness of critical issues, and reveal its enemies. From ancient times the mosque has had a role in urging jihad for the sake of Allah, resisting the enemies of the religion who are invading occupiers. That blessed Intifada in the land of the prophets, Palestine, started from none other than the mosques. Its first call came from the minarets and it was first known as the mosque revolution. The mosque’s role in the Afghan jihad, and in every Islamic jihad cannot be denied.”

Islamic Scholar Yusuf al Qaradawi

A mosque is not an “Islamic church” as some falsely believe.  A mosque or masjid, also called an Islamic Center, is the center of the Islamic community.  It is a mix of a Town Hall and a District Court.  It is very similar to an embassy.

The Islamic Center of Irving (Texas) – 1 of a half dozen mosques within 5 miles of Irving’s City Center

When a mosque is built, muslims are claiming up to three (3) miles around the mosque as Islamic territory.  It is the seat of the Islamic government where sharia is adjudicated, Islam/sharia is taught, social events are held, jihadi are trained, battles planned, and it is the place from which battles are launched.

And, oh by the way, muslims pray there.

Islam teaches their prophet Mohammad was the “perfect man.”  His behavior is the model behavior for all muslims for all times.  Mohammad condoned the killing of those who mocked him and the taking of sex slaves, participated in beheading up to 900 people after the Battle of the Trench, married a six (6) year old girl, commanded muslims to wage war against non-muslims, and spent the last ten (10) years of his life waging war.

Mohammad also set the example for the purpose of the mosque.  Islam’s perfect example for all muslims for all times used the mosque as the center of Islamic power in an area.  He used it to:  teach the muslim community allah’s divine law (sharia); adjudicate legal matters; house and train jihadis (soldiers for allah); plan battles; and to launch battles.

Therefore, that is what a mosque is.

It is the reason U.S. and allied forces found weapons in the mosques they entered into in Afghanistan, and the reason European security services found military grade weapons in the mosques they raided.  It is also the reason weapons training is occurring in U.S. mosques per FBI investigations.

YOU REALLY NEED TO READ THIS AFFIDAVIT AND SEE WHAT IS GOING ON IN AMERICA”S MOSQUES

CLICK ON LINK BELOW IN BLUE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CRIMINAL COMPLIANT – LUGMAN AMEEN ABDULLAH (aka Christopher Thomas)

Today in America there are over 3200 mosques/masjids/Islamic centers.

Republican and Democrat leaders defend muslims’ “rights” to build mosques based on a “religious liberty issue” despite the fact muslims teach muslim children in America – in the most widely used textbook in U.S. Islamic schools for 12 year olds – that “Islam is not a religion, however, but a complete way of life.”

To read this article online, click Here 

****************
Please consider supporting UTT and the Counter-Jihad by DonatingHERE
100% of Your Donation Supports UTT & Our Effort to Take the Fight to the Enemy and Put Freedom Back on the Offensive Where It Belongs
Sign up for UTT’s YouTube Channel  HERE
Follow UTT on Facebook by Clicking HERE

ATTACK ON NAIROBI
Click here – Attack on Nairobi 15/16 January 2019

AMERICA is in trouble……………………..

Thursday was a big day in Washington.  As newly-elected members of Congress were sworn in, control of the House of Representatives flipped from Republican to Democrat.

While this is usually a run-of-the-mill process, a lot of things happened Thursday that should concern anyone who cherishes American values and who was hoping for compromise from the new Congress.

• Senator Kyrsten Sinema(D-AZ) refused to take her oath of office on the Bible. Instead she used a law book.  I don’t know which law book, but I do know this:  Long after the senator and whatever book she took her oath on are gone, the word of God will endure.

• Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) took her oath on what she called “Jefferson’s Koran.”  She said, “Some of our Founding Fathers knew more about Islam than some members of Congress now.”  Obviously she doesn’t know very much.  Jefferson got a translation of the Koran so he could understand the Islamic Barbary Pirates against whom he would later, as president, wage war.  Thus the phrase, “To the shores of Tripoli” in the Marines’ Hymn.  But she is probably right — the Founders understood what many elites today do not:  Radical Islam is a deadly threat to freedom.

• Unfortunately, Tlaib wasn’t done.  She later went to a reception sponsored by the radical group org.  Referring to a conversation she had with her young son about her election, Rep. Tlaib declared, “We’re gonna go in there and impeach the motherf—er.'”
  And there’s more.  The world map on the wall in Rep. Tlaib’s office had a Post-It note on it labeled “Palestine” over the state of Israel.

• Tlaib is not the only newly elected member of Congress who is hostile to Israel.  Rep. Ilhan Omar(D-MN) lied to her constituents about her support for efforts to boycott and sanction Israel.  The election of these two Muslim women, along with socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez(D-NY), has been hailed by cultural and media elites as “the wave of the future.”  Just to be clear, they are celebrating the victory of anti-Semites.  Some future.

• Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) posted the transgender flag outside of her office.  (Yes, they have a flag.)

• Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College.

• Brad Sherman (D-CA) introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump.

• Not to be out done, Nancy Pelosi made history herself by becoming the first woman to become Speaker of the House twice.  And the first bill she pushed through the House late last night was an appropriation bill that gave an additional $12 billion in foreign aidto multiple countries and provided more money to promote abortions overseas, but did not provide one dime for better border security to protect American citizens.

And that, my friends, was just Day One of the new Democrat House!
Gary Bauer

Islam resembles a cancerous tumor. Get rid of it early, or it will destroy you. Try to name one shooting war that does not involve Muslims. Europe took their refugees in and their citizens are sorry. Why is it the huge refugee majority is made of young to middle age males. The very ones that should be fighting for their own country. 

You have often heard me argue that the premise of the Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the Constitution — is that our rights come from our humanity. Hence the First Amendment, for example, does not command that Congress grant the freedom of speech; rather it commands that Congress shall not infringe upon the freedom of speech.

So you’re right to think as you wish, to say what you think, to publish what you say; your right to worship or not to worship; your right to associate with others or not to associate with others are all natural rights with which the government may not interfere, unless by your own behavior you have given those rights up.

The same is the case with respect to the right to self-defense. What is more natural than protecting your own body from harm? You can protect yourself and your loved ones and your property or even a stranger, and to do so, you can use the same means that someone who is threatening you may be using.

The Second Amendment protects the natural right to keep and bear arms; the same type of arms that crooks and thugs might use against you; and the same type of arms that government agents might use against you. We all know that the police can’t be everywhere. We also know that the first thing tyrants do when they come to power is to disarm the population. Sometimes tyrants are jackbooted thugs. Sometimes tyrants are the majority in an elected government.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But to the framers of the Constitution, an armed population is the best defense against tyranny. And to those who understand the right to self-defense and the history of its use in America, we know that more guns means less crime.

Adapted from Judge Andrew Napolitano’s monologue on Fox Nation’s “Liberty File.”

You can watch “Liberty File” exclusively on Fox Nation. Sign up for your free trial now.

January 15, 2019

Trump’s shutdown trap?

By Thomas Lifson

Has President Trump suckered Democrats and the Deep State into a trap that will enable a radical downsizing of the federal bureaucracy?  In only five more days of the already “longest government shutdown in history” (25 days and counting, as of today), a heretofore obscure threshold will be reached, enabling permanent layoffs of bureaucrats furloughed 30 days or more.

Don’t believe me that federal bureaucrats can be laid off?  Well, in bureaucratese, a layoff is called a RIF – a Reduction in Force – and of course, it comes with a slew of civil service protections.  But, if the guidelines are followed, bureaucrats can be laid off – as in no more job.  It is all explained by Michael Roberts here (updated after the beginning of the partial shutdown):

A reduction in force is a thoughtful and systematic elimination of positions.  For all practical purposes, a government RIF is the same thing as a layoff. …

Organizations must stick to predetermined criteria when sorting out what happens to each employee.  They must communicate with employees how and why decisions are made. …

In deciding who stays and who goes, federal agencies must take four factors into account:

1. Tenure

2. Veteran status

3. Total federal civilian and military service

4. Performance

Agencies cannot use RIF procedures to fire bad employees.   A lot of procedures must be followed, and merit (“performance”) is the last consideration, but based on the criteria above, employees already furloughed can be laid off (“RIFed”) once they have been furloughed for 30 days or 22 work days:

When agencies furlough employees for more than 30 calendar days or 22 discontinuous work days, they must use RIF procedures.  An employee can be terminated or moved into an available position[.]

This seems to be what was referenced in this remarkable essay written by an “unidentified senior Trump official” published in the Daily Caller, which vouches for the authenticity of the author and explains that it is protecting him from adverse career consequences should the name become known.  I strongly recommend reading the whole thing.   The purported senior official makes the case that devotion to “process” eats up most of the time of federal bureaucrats and is also used by enemies of President Trump’s initiatives to stymie the legitimate orders issued by his senior officials:

On an average day, roughly 15 percent of the employees around me are exceptional patriots serving their country.  I wish I could give competitive salaries to them and no one else.  But 80 percent feel no pressure to produce results.  If they don’t feel like doing what they are told, they don’t.  Why would they?  We can’t fire them.  They avoid attention, plan their weekend, schedule vacation, their second job, their next position – some do this in the same position for more than a decade.

They do nothing that warrants punishment and nothing of external value.  That is their workday: errands for the sake of errands – administering, refining, following and collaborating on process.  “Process is your friend” is what delusional civil servants tell themselves.  Even senior officials must gain approval from every rank across their department, other agencies and work units for basic administrative chores.

Then the senior official notes what I have just called the “trap”:

Most of my career colleagues actively work against the president’s agenda.  This means I typically spend about 15 percent of my time on the president’s agenda and 85 percent of my time trying to stop sabotage, and we have no power to get rid of them.  Until the shutdown.  Those officials who waste time and stymie the president’s initiatives now are not present because they are not categorized as “essential.”

Due to the lack of funding, many federal agencies are now operating more effectively from the top down on a fraction of their workforce, with only select essential personnel serving national security tasks. …

President Trump can end this abuse.  Senior officials can reprioritize during an extended shutdown, focus on valuable results and weed out the saboteurs.  We do not want most employees to return, because we are working better without them.  Keep in mind that saboteurs cannot be individually identified and RIFed, but they can be included in the layoffs if they meet the criteria above in terms of seniority and service, and they must be given 60 days’ notice.  But once they are gone, they are no longer free to obstruct using the “process” as their friend, because they are gone.

You can expect lawsuits on every conceivable point, and I suspect that the definition of “furlough” will be one matter of dispute.

If this was the plan all along, it would explain why President Trump goaded Chuck and Nancy in his televised meeting with them last year, boasting that he would claim credit for the shutdown.  How could they resist a prolonged shutdown when he made it so easy to blame him?   President Trump has proven that he is a “disruptor” who changes the framework of thinking on major issues by refusing to accept the “givens” – the assumptions of how things always have been done and therefore always must be done.

So who is the “senior official”?  I don’t know, but I think Stephen Miller is the sort of bold thinker who might volunteer to telegraph the strategy just five days before the deadline.  Give Chuck and Nancy something to think about and probably reject as unthinkable.  Then they can’t complain that they weren’t warned once the trap is sprung.

Such a mass RIF would be the Trump version of Ronald Reagan firing the air traffic controllers when they went on an illegal strike in 1981.  That was completely unexpected by his enemies, vehemently criticized, and successful.

Among other benefits, it taught the leaders of the USSR that Ronald Reagan was a man whose threats cannot be dismissed as mere rhetoric.  If you think that Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, Angela Merkel, and any other foreign leaders would not draw the same conclusion from a massive RIF, then you are kidding yourself.

My theory may be completely wrong, but I pray that it is not.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman

Monica Showalter adds: Slate of all places has a useful chart on which agencies have the most RIFs on the line.  Surprise, surprise: It’s where the bureaucrats most in need of layoffs happen to roost.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore (cropped).

My theory may be completely wrong, but I pray that it is not.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman

Monica Showalter adds: Slate of all places has a useful chart on which agencies have the most RIFs on the line.  Surprise, surprise: It’s where the bureaucrats most in need of layoffs happen to roost.

Read more: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/01/trumps_shutdown_trap.html#ixzz5cjM4RqjO
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

In spite of the fact they had SOMEONE or SOME POLITICAL PARTY PAY to get them here, feed them, buss them across the long empty waterless stretches, arrange lodging and Medical care, hey walked an EXTRA 1,400 miles why ?? Read below!!!

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. That is certainly true with respect to the massive migrant caravan from Central America that has arrived in Tijuana. In this case, the picture is the map below. The blue path is the one that the migrants took to the San Ysidro Port of Entry at Tijuana/San Diego, CA.The red path is the one that they could have taken to the Hidalgo Port of Entry at Reynosa/McAllen, TX.

Notice the difference ?? The path to McAllen is approximately 1,300 miles long; whereas the path to San Diego is approximately 2,700 miles long. So the caravan traveled more than twice as far as it needed to .

Why in the world would they do that ?? They didn’t have their own vehicles, and they weren’t carrying enough food or resources to justify the longer journey.

There are two reasons.

The first reason can be summed up in two words:

NINTH CIRCUIT……..
The caravan members have been advised by liberal immigration attorneys all along. Not only were the migrants coached on what to say when claiming asylum, they were also evidently coached on where to go.

Travelling the extra 1,400 miles to Tijuana/San Diego would take the migrants to the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, with its numerous judges willing to minimize the President’s statutory authority to restrict entry of aliens into the United States .      And the presence of similar federal judges at the district level in California would increase the probability that the migrants’ attorneys would obtain an initial ruling in their favor.

And that’s exactly what happened.  When President Trump exercised his authority under 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) to “impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate,” a federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order blocking the President’s action.

The Ninth Circuit will likely agree with the district judge. Even if the Trump Administration prevails in any appeal to the U.S.. Supreme Court, it will take at least a year to reverse the district judge’s ruling.

The second reason for travelling twice the distance:

California is a sanctuary state with dozens of sanctuary cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Those jurisdictions will actively seek to protect the migrants who enter illegally from deportation.

On top of that, the state may interfere more directly with federal immigration enforcement.  State Attorney General Xavier Becerra said recently that he might sue the federal government to stop the use of tear gas to defend the border or to stop the federal government from shutting down ports of entry. His argument is full of holes, but with the right judge that might not matter.

In contrast, in Texas, law enforcement agencies like the Texas Department of Public Safety cooperate with federal officials to improve border enforcement. To be sure, there are some sanctuary cities in Texas too; but it’s nothing like California.

In short, the migrants’ attorneys made sure that the caravan went the extra mile  – –  or extra 1,400 miles  – –  to arrive where the rule of law is the weakest in the United States. And their advice appears to be paying off. Federal immigration enforcement personnel can still prevail, but the playing field is tilted against them.

Kris W. Kobach is the elected Secretary of State of Kansas. An expert in immigration law and policy, he coauthored the Arizona SB-1070 immigration law and represented in federal court the 10 ICE agents who sued to stop Obama’s 2012 DACA executive amnesty.     During 2001-03, he served as U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s chief adviser on immigration and border security at the U.S. Department of Justice.

His website is kriskobach.com

America welcomes more than one million legal immigrants every year who go through a long vetting process. However, the current immigration system is broken due to a combination of outdated legal immigration rules and lax enforcement that exacerbates lawlessness.

In 2017 and 2018, roughly 235,000 illegal immigrants were arrested on various criminal charges or convictions within the interior of the United States—including roughly 100,000 for assault, 30,000 for sex crimes, and 4,000 for homicides.

Insufficient border security is creating a crisis in communities throughout America. 90 percent of the heroin in America comes through our southern border, fueling the opioid epidemic, destroying families, and killing thousands of our fellow citizens. In the past two years, more Americans have died from opioid overdoses than died in the Vietnam war.

Furthermore, human smugglers are exploiting our immigration system for profit and putting innocent lives at risk. One in three migrant women are sexually assaulted on the dangerous trek to the border.

The border crisis is real—and inaction is irresponsible. To protect our communities, the Trump Administration is requesting funds for common sense border security. This ask includes:

• $5.7 billion for construction of approximately 234 miles of steel barrier along the Southern Border

• $675 million to deter and detect dangerous materials crossing our borders like narcotics and weapons

• $563 million that would provide for 75 additional immigration judges and support staff who are necessary to reduce the backlog of immigration cases that are sitting right now at the border

• $211 million for 750 additional border patrol agents, who DHS officials have deemed paramount to this fight

• $571 million for additional ICE personnel

• $4.2 billion for detention center materials and personnel

As a first step to combat this crisis, Congress must pass a spending bill that provides the funding that the President has requested. In addition to obtaining increased border security funding today, we must continue to push for real reforms to our legal immigration system. Necessary reforms include ending chain migration, adopting a skills-based immigration system, and closing loopholes in the asylum claim process.

These are notes to use when calling your member of Congress. Always remember to make these notes your own and include a personal story if you have one relating to the topic. You can find their phone number on the Heritage Action Scorecard.

Senator Rick Scott       Phone: (202)-224-5274

Senator Marco Rubio  Phone  (202) 224-3041

Representative Steube  Phone (202) 225-5792.

Hello,

My name is [NAME] from [CITY AND ZIP CODE] and I am calling today to urge [MEMBER OF CONGRESS] to provide President Trump with the border security funding that he’s asked for.

We must have a secure border and strong enforcement of our immigration laws in order to:

• Reduce illegal immigration.
• Protect American lives.
• Combat the opioid epidemic.
• Protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation by human traffickers.

Insufficient border security is creating a crisis in communities across America and at the southern border. For instance, 90 percent of the heroin in America comes through our southern border, fueling the opioid epidemic and destroying our communities.

Please do the right thing and work to pass President Trump’s border security funding request.

Thank you for your time.

Stanford College Republicans:

Today, the 116th Congress was sworn in, and all day long, the media was salivating and fawning over the “remarkable diversity” of the new Democrat members. It was a day of “firsts,” we were told incessantly. It was indeed a day of many firsts. While the new Democrat majority offers many members of note, we wanted to highlight a few “firsts” who are examples of the “diversity” that was sworn in today. Here are our Top Most “Diverse” (Ridiculous) House Freshmen.

#1. Ilhan Omar: the first person who married her brother to commit immigration fraud ever to be elected to Congress. Omar is also the first open supporter of female genital mutilation to ever be elected to Congress. Such amazing diversity!

#2. Rashida Tlaib: One of the first Muslim Brotherhood-linked and anti-Semitic candidates to be elected to Congress. She also claims to be a “Palestinian.” Wonders never cease. And called the President a “Mother  F     r”!

#3. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Where do we even begin? Let’s just say she is the first person elected to Congress who lied about being from the Bronx, and thus, made up her life story. She’s also an overt Marxist, in case you forgot.

#4. Abigail Spanberger: The first substitute teacher from an Islamist school (nicknamed ‘terror high’) ever to be elected to Congress.

#5. Donna Shalala: Rep. Shalala was HHS Secretary from 1993 to 2001 under Bill Clinton and worked from 2015 to 2017 at the Clinton Foundation, and in 2016 she admitted in an interview that some significant Clinton Foundation donors received “courtesy appointments” in the Clinton State Department. To top it off, apparently she can’t let go of politics: at 78, she’s the oldest female House freshman in history.

These are just a few examples of the “firsts” that the media has been celebrating today. If you are looking for corrupt politicians who show an open disdain and animosity for American principles and values, you can always count on the Democrat Party.

Trump Admin Accomplishments – 1/2019
Washington Examiner

1. Economic Growth
   -4.2 percent growth in the second quarter of 2018.
   -For the first time in more than a decade, growth is projected to exceed 3 percent over the calendar year.

   2. Jobs
   -4 million new jobs have been created since the election, and more than 3.5 million since Trump took office.
   -More Americans are employed now than ever before in our history.
   -Jobless claims at lowest level in nearly five decades.
   -The economy has achieved the longest positive job-growth streak on record.
   -Job openings are at an all-time high and outnumber job seekers for the first time on record.
   -Unemployment claims at 50 year low
   -African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American unemployment rates have all recently reached record lows.
   -African-American unemployment hit a record low of 5.9 percent in May 2018.
   -Hispanic unemployment at 4.5 percent.
   -Asian-American unemployment at a record low of 2 percent.
   -Women’s unemployment recently at the lowest rate in nearly 65 years.
   -Female unemployment dropped to 3.6 percent in May 2018, the lowest since October 1953.
   -Youth unemployment recently reached its lowest level in more than 50 years.
   -July 2018’s youth unemployment rate of 9.2 percent was the lowest since July 1966.
   -Veterans’ unemployment recently hit its lowest level in nearly two decades.
   -July 2018’s veterans’ unemployment rate of 3.0 percent matched the lowest rate since May 2001.
   -Unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma recently reached a record low.
   -The rate for disabled Americans recently hit a record low.
   -Blue-collar jobs recently grew at the fastest rate in more than three decades.
   -A poll found that 85 percent of blue-collar workers believe their lives are headed “in the right direction.”
   68 percent reported receiving a pay increase in the past year.
   -Last year, job satisfaction among American workers hit its highest level since 2005.
   -Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job.
   -Optimism about the availability of good jobs has grown by 25 percent.
   -Added more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since the election.
   -Manufacturing employment is growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades.
   -100,000 new jobs supporting the production & transport of oil & natural gas.

   3. American Income
   -Median household income rose to $61,372 in 2017, a post-recession high.
   -Wages up in August by their fastest rate since June 2009.
   -Paychecks rose by 3.3 percent between 2016 and 2017, the most in a decade.
   -Council of Economic Advisers found that real wage compensation has grown by 1.4 percent over the past year.
   -Some 3.9 million Americans off food stamps since the election.
   -The median income for Hispanic-Americans rose by 3.7 percent and surpassed $50,000 for the first time ever in history.
   -Home-ownership among Hispanics is at the highest rate in nearly a decade.
   -Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic—-Americans have reached their lowest levels ever recorded.

2. American Optimism
   -Small business optimism has hit historic highs.
   -NFIB’s small business optimism index broke a 35-year-old record in August.
   -SurveyMonkey/CNBC’s small business confidence survey for Q3 of 2018 matched its all-time high.
   -Manufacturers are more confident than ever.
   95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future, the highest ever.
   -Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high.
   12 percent of Americans rate the economy as the most significant problem facing our country, the lowest level on record.
   -Confidence in the economy is near a two-decade high, with 51 percent rating the economy as good or excellent.

   5. American Business
   -Investment is flooding back into the United States due to the tax cuts.
   -Over $450 billion dollars has already poured back into the U.S., including more than $300 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
   -Retail sales have surged. Commerce Department figures from August show that retail sales increased 0.5 percent in July 2018, an increase of 6.4 percent from July 2017.
   -ISM’s index of manufacturing scored its highest reading in 14 years.
   -Worker productivity is the highest it has been in more than three years.
   -Steel and aluminum producers are re-opening.
   -Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all notched record highs.
   -Dow hit record highs 70 times in 2017 alone, the most ever recorded in one year.

   6. Deregulation
   -Achieved massive deregulation at a rapid pace, completing 22 deregulatory actions to every one regulatory action during his first year in office.
   -Signed legislation to roll back costly and harmful provisions of Dodd-Frank, providing relief to credit unions, and community and regional banks.
   -Federal agencies achieved more than $8 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings.
   -Rolled back Obama’s burdensome Waters of the U.S. rule.
   -Used the Congressional Review Act to repeal regulations more times than in history.

   7. Tax Cuts
   -Biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history by signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs act into law
   -Provided more than $5.5 trillion in gross tax cuts, nearly 60 percent of which will go to families.
   -Increased the exemption for the death tax to help save Family Farms & Small Business.
   -Nearly doubled the standard deduction for individuals and families.
   -Enabled vast majority of American families will be able to file their taxes on a single page by claiming the standard deduction.
   -Doubled the child tax credit to help lessen the financial burden of raising a family.
   -Lowered America’s corporate tax rate from the highest in the developed world to allow American businesses to compete and win.
   -Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.
   -Cut dozens of special interest tax breaks and closing loopholes for the wealthy.
   -9 in 10 American workers are expected to see an increase in their paychecks thanks to the tax cuts, according to the Treasury Department.
   -More than 6 million of American workers have received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to tax cuts.
   -Over 100 utility companies have lowered electric, gas, or water rates thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
   -Ernst & Young found 89 percent of companies planned to increase worker compensation thanks to

   8. Worker Development
   -Established a National Council for the American -Worker to develop a national strategy for training and retraining America’s workers for high-demand industries.
   -Employers have signed Trump’s “Pledge to America’s -Workers,” committing to train or retrain more than 4.2 million workers and students.
   -Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.
   -Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers.

   9. Domestic Infrastructure
   -Proposed infrastructure plan would utilize $200 billion in Federal funds to spur at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment across the country.
   -Executive order expediting environmental reviews and approvals for high priority infrastructure projects.
   -Federal agencies have signed the One Federal Decision Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) streamlining the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects.
   -Rural prosperity task force and signed an executive order to help expand broadband access in rural areas.

   10. Health Care
   -Signed an executive order to help minimize the financial burden felt by American households Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline.
   -Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.
   -Signed Right-to-Try legislation, expanding health care options for terminally ill patients.
   -Enacted changes to the Medicare 340B program, saving seniors an estimated $320 million on drugs in 2018 alone.
   -FDA set a new record for generic drug approvals in 2017, saving consumers nearly $9 billion.—Released a blueprint to drive down drug prices for American patients, leading multiple major drug companies to announce they will freeze or reverse price increases.
   -Expanded short-term, limited-duration health plans.
   -Let more employers to form Association Health Plans, enabling more small businesses to join together and affordably provide health insurance to their employees.
   -Cut Obamacare’s burdensome individual mandate penalty.
   -Signed legislation repealing Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as the “death panels.”
   -USDA invested more than $1 billion in rural health care in 2017, improving access to health care for 2.5 million people in rural communities across 41 states
   -Proposed Title X rule to help ensure taxpayers do not fund the abortion industry in violation of the law.
   -Reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy to keep foreign aid from supporting the global abortion industry.
   -HHS formed a new division over protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom.
   -Overturned Obama administration’s midnight regulation prohibiting states from defunding certain abortion facilities.
   -Signed executive order to help ensure that religious organizations are not forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.

11. Combating Opioids
    -Chaired meeting the 73rd General Session of the United Nations discussing the worldwide drug problem with international leaders.
    Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, introducing new measures to keep dangerous drugs out of our communities.
    -$6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.
    -DEA conducted a surge in April 2018 that arrested 28 medical professions and revoked 147 registrations for prescribing too many opioids.
    -Brought the “Prescribed to Death” memorial to President’s Park near the White House, helping raise awareness about the human toll of the opioid crisis.
    Helped reduce high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent in 2017.
    -Opioid Summit on the administration-wide efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
    -Launched a national public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.
    -Created a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis which recommended a number of pathways to tackle the opioid crisis.
    -Led two National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days in 2017 and 2018, collecting a record number of expired and unneeded prescription drugs each time.
    -$485 million targeted grants in FY 2017 to help areas hit hardest by the opioid crisis.
    -Signed INTERDICT Act, strengthening efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids before they reach our communities.
    -DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.
    -Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.
    -Declared the opioid crisis a Nationwide Public Health Emergency in October 2017.

    12. Law and Order
    -More U.S. Circuit Court judges confirmed in the first year in office than ever.
    -Confirmed more than two dozen U. S. Circuit Court judges.
    -Followed through on the promise to nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will adhere to the Constitution
    -Nominated and confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
    -Signed an executive order directing the Attorney -General to develop a strategy to more effectively prosecute people who commit crimes against law enforcement officers.
    -Launched an evaluation of grant programs to make sure they prioritize the protection and safety of law enforcement officers.
    -Established a task force to reduce crime and restore public safety in communities across Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.
    -Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.
    -Violent crime decreased in 2017 according to FBI statistics.
    -$137 million in grants through the COPS Hiring Program to preserve jobs, increase community policing capacities, and support crime prevention efforts.
    -Enhanced and updated the Project Safe Neighborhoods to help reduce violent crime.
    -Signed legislation making it easier to target websites that enable sex trafficking and strengthened penalties for people who promote or facilitate prostitution.
    -Created an interagency task force working around the clock to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent human trafficking.
    -Conducted Operation Cross Country XI to combat human trafficking, rescuing 84 children and arresting 120 human traffickers.
    -Encouraged federal prosecutors to use the death penalty when possible in the fight against the trafficking of deadly drugs.
    -New rule effectively banning bump stock sales in the United States.

    13. Border Security and Immigration
    -Secured $1.6 billion for border wall construction in the March 2018 omnibus bill.
    -Construction of a 14-mile section of border wall began near San Diego.
    -Worked to protect American communities from the threat posed by the vile MS-13 gang.
    -ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division arrested 796 MS-13 members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from the prior year.
    Justice worked with partners in Central America to secure criminal charges against more than 4,000 MS-13 members.
    -Border Patrol agents arrested 228 illegal aliens affiliated with MS-13 in FY 2017.
    -Fighting to stop the scourge of illegal drugs at our border.
    -ICE HSI seized more than 980,000 pounds of narcotics in FY 2017, including 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin.
    -ICE HSI dedicated nearly 630,000 investigative hours towards halting the illegal import of fentanyl.
    -ICE HSI made 11,691 narcotics-related arrests in FY 2017.
    -Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand introduced new measures to keep dangerous drugs out the United States. -Signed the INTERDICT Act into law, enhancing efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids.
    -DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.
    -DOJ launched their Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.
    -Released an immigration framework that includes the resources required to secure our borders and close legal loopholes, and repeatedly called on Congress to fix our broken immigration laws.
    -Authorized the deployment of the National Guard to help secure the border.
    -Enhanced vetting of individuals entering the U.S. from countries that don’t meet security standards, helping to ensure individuals who pose a threat to our country are identified before they enter.
    These procedures were upheld in a June 2018 Supreme Court hearing.
    -ICE removed over 226,000 illegal aliens from the United States in 2017.—ICE rescued or identified over 500 human trafficking victims and over 900 child exploitation victims in 2017 alone.
    -In 2017, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested more than 127,000 aliens with criminal convictions or charges, responsible for
    Over 76,000 with dangerous drug offenses.
    More than 48,000 with assault offenses.
    More than 11,000 with weapons offenses.
    More than 5,000 with sexual assault offenses.
    More than 2,000 with kidnapping offenses.
    Over 1,800 with homicide offenses.
    -Created the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office in order to support the victims and families affected by illegal alien crime.
    -More than doubled the number of counties participating in the 287(g) program, which allows jails to detain criminal aliens until they are transferred to ICE custody.

    14. Trade
    -Negotiating and renegotiating better trade deals, achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade for the United States.
    -Agreed to work with the European Union towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsides.
    -Deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe.
    -Litigated multiple WTO disputes targeting unfair trade practices and upholding our right to enact fair trade laws.
    -Finalized a revised trade agreement with South Korea, which includes provisions to increase American automobile exports.
    -Negotiated a historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.
    -Agreement to begin trade negotiations for a U.S.-Japan trade agreement.
    -Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam.
    -Established a Trade and Investment Working Group with the United Kingdom, laying the groundwork for post-Brexit trade.
    -Enacted steel and aluminum tariffs to protect our vital steel and aluminum producers and strengthen our national security.
    -Conducted 82 anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations in 2017 alone.
    -Confronting China’s unfair trade practices after years of Washington looking the other way.
    -25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China and later imposed an additional 10% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods.
    -Conducted an investigation into Chinese forced technology transfers, unfair licensing practices, and intellectual property theft.
    -Imposed safeguard tariffs to protect domestic washing machines and solar products manufacturers hurt by China’s trade policies
    -Withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
    -Secured access to new markets for America’s farmers.
    -A recent deal with Mexico included new improvements enabling food and agriculture to trade more fairly.
    -A recent agreement with the E.U. will reduce barriers and increase trade of American soybeans to Europe.
    -Won a WTO dispute regarding Indonesia’s unfair restriction of U.S. agricultural exports.
    -Defended American Tuna fisherman and packagers before the WTO
    -Opened up Argentina to American pork exports for the first time in a quarter-century
    -American beef exports have returned to China for the first time in more than a decade
    -OK’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation.

    15. Energy
    -Presidential Memorandum to clear roadblocks to construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
    -Presidential Memorandum declaring that the Dakota -Access Pipeline serves the national interest and initiating the process to complete construction.
    -Opened up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.
    -Coal exports up over 60 percent in 2017.
    -Rolled back the “stream protection rule” to prevent it from harming America’s coal industry.
    -Canceled Obama’s anti-coal Clean Power Plan and proposed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule as a replacement.
    -Withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.
    -U.S. oil production has achieved its highest level in American history
    United States is now the largest crude oil producer in the world.
    -U.S. has become a net natural gas exporter for the first time in six decades.
    -Action to expedite the identification and extraction of critical minerals that are vital to the nation’s security and economic prosperity.
    -Took action to reform National Ambient Air Quality Standards, benefitting American manufacturers.
    Rescinded Obama’s hydraulic fracturing rule, which was expected to cost the industry $32 million per year.
    -Proposed expansion of offshore drilling as part of an all-of-the above energy strategy
    -Held a lease sale for offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2018.
    -Got EU to increase its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.
    Issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

    16. Foreign Policy
    -Moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
    -Withdrew from Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.
    -Treasury has issued sanctions targeting Iranian activities and entities, including the Islamic -Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force
    Since enacting sanctions, Iran’s crude exports have fallen off, the value of Iran’s currency has plummeted, and international companies have pulled out of the country.
    -All nuclear-related sanctions will be back in full force by early November 2018.
    -Historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.—The two leaders have exchanged letters and high-level officials from both sides have met resulting in tremendous progress.
    -North Korea has halted nuclear and missile tests.
    -Negotiated the return of the remains of missing-in-action soldiers from the Korean War.
    -Imposed strong sanctions on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro and his inner circle.
    -Executive order preventing those in the U.S. from carrying out certain transactions with the Venezuelan regime, including prohibiting the purchase of the regime’s debt.
    -Responded to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.
    -Rolled out sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.
    -Directed strikes in April 2017 against a Syrian airfield used in a chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.
    -Joined allies in launching airstrikes in April 2018 against targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons use.
    -New Cuba policy that enhanced compliance with U.S. law and held the Cuban regime accountable for political oppression and human rights abuses.
    -Treasury and State are working to channel economic activity away from the Cuban regime, particularly the military.
    -Changed the rules of engagement, empowering commanders to take the fight to ISIS.
    -ISIS has lost virtually all of its territory, more than half of which has been lost under Trump.
    -ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital city, Raqqah, was liberated in October 2017.
    -All Iraqi territory had been liberated from ISIS.
    -More than a dozen American hostages have been freed from captivity all of the world.
    -Action to combat Russia’s malign activities, including their efforts to undermine the sanctity of United States elections.
    -Expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, WA.
    -Banned the use of Kaspersky Labs software on government computers, due to the company’s ties to Russian intelligence. -Imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and three individuals for enabling Russia’s military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities.
    -Sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, and 12 companies they own or control, who profit from Russia’s destabilizing activities.
    -Sanctioned 100 targets in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine.
    -Enhanced support for Ukraine’s Armed Forces to help Ukraine better defend itself.
    -Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
    -Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.

    17. Defense
    -Executive order keeping the detention facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay open.
    $700 billion in military funding for FY 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019.
    -Largest military pay raise in nearly a decade.
    Ordered a Nuclear Posture Review to ensure America’s nuclear forces are up to date and serve as a credible deterrent.
    -Released America’s first fully articulated cyber strategy in 15 years.
    -New strategy on national biodefense, which better prepares the nation to defend against biological threats.
    -The administration has announced that it will use whatever means necessary to protect American citizens and servicemen from unjust prosecution by the International Criminal Court.
    -Released an America first National Security Strategy.
    Put in motion the launch of a Space Force as a new branch of the military and relaunched the National Space Council.
    -Encouraged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to increase defense spending to their agree-upon levels.
    -In 2017 alone, there was an increase of more than 4.8 percent in defense spending amongst NATO allies.
    -Every member state has increased defense spending.
    -Eight NATO allies will reach the 2 percent benchmark by the end of 2018 and 15 allies are on trade to do so by 2024.
    -NATO allies spent over $42 billion dollars more on defense since 2016.
    -Executive order to help military spouses find employment as their families deploy domestically and abroad.

    18. Veterans Affairs
    -Signed the VA Accountability Act and expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.
    -Delivered more appeals decisions – 81,000 – to veterans in a single year than ever before.
    -Strengthened protections for individuals who come forward and identify programs occurring within the VA.
    -Signed legislation that provided $86.5 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest dollar amount in history for the VA.
    VA MISSION Act, enacting sweeping reform to the VA system that:
    -Consolidated and strengthened VA community care programs.
    -Funding for the Veterans Choice program.
    -Expanded eligibility for the Family Caregivers Program.
    -Gave veterans more access to walk-in care.
    -Strengthened the VA’s ability to recruit and retain quality healthcare professionals.
    -Enabled the VA to modernize its assets and infrastructure.
    -Signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act in 2017, which authorized $2.1 billion in addition funds for the Veterans Choice Program.   -Worked to shift veterans’ electronic medical records to the same system used by the Department of Defense, a decades-old priority.
    -Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life.
    -Increased transparency and accountability at the VA by launching an online “Access and Quality Tool,” providing veterans with access to wait time and quality of care data.
    -Signed legislation to modernize the claims and appeal process at the VA.
    -Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, providing enhanced educational benefits to veterans, service members, and their family members.
    -Lifted a 15-year limit on veterans’ access to their educational benefits.
    -Created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans.
    -VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far.
    -Signed the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act, increasing the number of VA employees that can assist justice-involved veterans.

Happy Thursday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like our newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis.

THE BIG DEAL–-Trump inches toward emergency declaration for wall as immigration talks collapse: President Trump on Thursday gave his strongest indication yet that he may declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress if he cannot reach a deal with Democrats on funding for his long-promised border wall.   Trump spent most of the day near the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, a visit many in Washington see as a precursor to an emergency declaration after talks with congressional leaders imploded the day before.   “Well, we can declare a national emergency. We shouldn’t have to because this is just common sense,” Trump told reporters on the banks of the Rio Grande River, flanked by border agents and piles of plastic-wrapped drugs seized at the frontier.  But if talks don’t pick back up, Trump said, “then you will see what happens with national emergency, which I can do very easily and there’s no question it holds up.” 

What about the money? The White House is looking at $13.9 billion in funding approved by Congress last year as part of a disaster response bill to use for building Trump’s wall in the event he declares an emergency. That bill provided funding for various Army Corps of Engineers projects that has been allocated but not spent.   “I can tell you that’s definitely an option that has been presented to the president. Nothing has been finalized yet though,” said an administration official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.  Another administration official confirmed that option is under consideration, but said other plans are also being discussed. The Hill’s Jordan Fabian has the story. 

Talks fall apart: Trump’s declaration came a day after a brief but explosive White House meeting with Democratic leaders. The president stormed out of a negotiation session with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) after Pelosi rebuffed his request for border wall funding once the shutdown concluded. 

The latest from the House: Lawmakers Thursday attempted to pave the way to reopening the government after 20 days of a partial shutdown.

• The Democratic-led House passed a standalone bill Thursday to provide funding for the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and other agencies.

• The chamber then voted to pass a separate measure to fund the Department of Agriculture and related agencies through Sept. 30, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats to vote for the measure. That’s more than the 8 Republicans who voted Wednesday to fund the Treasury Department and IRS.

 But those bills are headed for a buzzsaw in the Senate: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday blocked two House-passed funding bills that would reopen the federal government.

• Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), flanked by roughly two dozen fellow Senate Democrats, sought approval to bring up a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through Feb. 8, along with a separate package that would fund the remaining agencies without current-year appropriations through Sept. 30.

• McConnell objected, arguing they would be “show votes” and saying that he and Schumer (D-N.Y.) made an “explicit commitment” to avoid such votes. “The last thing we need to do right now is trade pointless — absolutely pointless — show votes back and forth across the aisle,” McConnell said.

 Immigration talks falter: Broader immigration reform talks also collapsed in the Senate after a last-ditch effort by a group of Senate Republicans to end the partial government shutdown quickly unraveled on Thursday.  After fruitless talks between Trump and congressional leadership, the moderate group was viewed as a last-ditch effort to find a negotiated solution that would avoid an emergency declaration by Trump to build the wall.  “I think we’re stuck. I just don’t see a pathway forward,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters. “I don’t know who to talk to and I don’t know what else to do.”

Graham later called on Trump to build the wall through an emergency declaration, adding “I hope it works.”

Trump promises to pay federal workers after shutdown: President Trump has promised Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.) that he will sign a bill providing backpay to federal workers once the government shutdown, which has stretched 20 days, finally ends.  The Senate passed by unanimous consent legislation Thursday evening providing that federal workers — essential and furloughed employees — will be paid once the shutdown is over.  Federal employees are due to miss paychecks Friday, which has caused consternation in the Washington, DC, region.   Trump made his pledge in a phone call with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as part of an effort to work out a deal to adjourn the Senate this week. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton has more.

Fallout from the shutdown:

• Hundreds of government workers protested outside the White House on Thursday as the partial government shutdown entered its 20th day.

• Shutdown chaos is complicating the IRS’s work at its most important time of the year.

• Small business owners are struggling to stay afloat or open their doors. (The Washington Post)

• Estimates from Trump’s chief economist peg the cost to the overall U.S. economy at about $1.2 billion for each week the shutdown persists. (Politico)

• More than 1,500 federal workers sidelined by the government shutdown are asking for donations on GoFundMe to help pay their bills. (Business Insider)

• The partial government shutdown is hurting some borrowers seeking a mortgage. (The Washington Post)

• A photo of a protected Joshua tree chopped down at its base by vandals went viral Thursday as the shutdown left national parks unstaffed and vulnerable to damage. (The Hill)

• Senate Democrats are urging the White House to secure backpay for federal contractors, who unlike federal workers have not been compensated for lost work due to shutdowns in the past. (The Hill)

• A group of Senate Democrats on Thursday told Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that they were worried that the partial government shutdown would make it hard for taxpayers to receive assistance from the IRS during the upcoming filing season. (The Hill)

LEADING THE DAY

Fed chief Powell: Prolonged shutdown will harm US economy: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday that the partial government shutdown could hinder the U.S. economy and the central bank’s ability to keep it stable.  Powell said at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., that a prolonged shutdown may harm the world’s largest economy beyond the financial hardship facing hundreds of thousands of furloughed and “essential” federal workers who are expected to go without a paycheck this week.   The Fed chief said that while shutdowns “typically don’t last very long,” an extended shutdown “would show up in the data pretty clearly.”

• The shutdown is expected to break the record for the longest in U.S. history, and affected workers on Friday will miss their first paycheck since funding for about 25 percent of the federal government expired on Dec. 22.

• The hit to personal finances could in turn result in missed mortgage payments and a failure to meet other debt payment deadlines, though Congress is expected to approve back pay for affected federal employees as part of any legislation to end the shutdown.

Powell said it’s difficult to gauge the full economic impact of the shutdown since one of the central bank’s major sources of data, the Commerce Department, is shuttered.

• The Fed is independently funded through fees paid by banks, so it will remain open during the shutdown. But the central bank will be deprived of important economic data until Trump and Democrats reach a funding deal.

• The Fed relies on a wide range of data from the Commerce Department, including GDP, price increases, wage growth, retail sales and international trade metrics. That leaves the central bank without a slew of important indicators that shape monetary and financial regulatory policy.

China sees progress on ‘structural issues’ in trade talks with US: The U.S. and Beijing made progress on “structural issues” during talks to resolve a trade dispute between the two countries, China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday, according to Reuters.  Ministry spokesman Gao Feng reportedly said during a news conference that the two sides made progress on issues including forced technology transfers, intellectual property, tariff barriers and cyber attacks.

Gao added that the talks between the two countries were “serious” and “honest,” the news service reported.

 GOOD TO KNOW

• China continues to borrow billions of dollars a year from the World Bank, making it one of the bank’s top borrowers. But China is also the world’s second-largest economy and itself a major lender itself. A new report from the Center for Global Development looks into why.

• The economics profession faces a billowing “crisis of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying that women in the field say has pushed many of them to the sidelines — or out of the field entirely,” according to The New York Times.

• The Department of Agriculture is throwing out Obama-era school nutrition standards and “tossing a lifeline to the dairy industry,” according to Bloomberg News.

• Op-Ed: “The Fed wants to be boring, but Trump, markets won’t let it”

• The S&P 500 notched its first five-day winning streak since September.

ODDS AND ENDS

• A Google shareholder is suing the internet giant’s founders and the board of directors for its parent company Alphabet over a $90 million severance payout made to an executive who was pushed out amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

• Fiat Chrysler will pay almost $500 million to settle claims that the auto giant used integrated vehicle software to cheat on emissions tests, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.

YOU THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER ARE FINANCING COMMUNISM  HELPING OUR ENEMIES EXPAND THEIR MILITARY MIGHT TO SOMEDAY TRY TO TAKE US ON AS THE DOMINANT

POWER IN THE WORLD!

China’s CHEVY!!! You really need to watch this

This video shows how GM simply does not have any or much intent on expanding or maintaining its manufacturing presence in America but instead they are doing their growth, expansion, etc. in China
 Remember that GM’s largest assembly plant is in Korea. And Ford’s Largest is in Brazil. Both are relatively new plants. They did not build them in the US 
 
If this doesn’t make you sick, nothing will. China’s Chevy? WOW!! This is truly a “MUST SEE” BUY A CHEVY ………. WHAT A JOKE! WAS OUR BAILOUT MONEY WAS WELL SPENT???
After investing $80 BILLION ($80,000,000,000.00) in GM this is what we get.

Just take a few minutes to watch the video below.

This is disgusting, U.S taxpayers spent $80 BILLION dollars to bail out GM, but did you really help GM?

GM then moved most of it;s manufacturing to china, today they manufactures 7 out of every 10  of their cars and trucks in china, that means 70% of their vehicles made outside the United States most in  China.  GM has 11 joint ventures in China with SAIC & FAC, SAIC is Shanghai Automotive industry Corporation, it is run by the Communist Party of China which owns or controls manufacturing in China, FAW is another communist owned manufacturer, what this means is your American $80 Billion dollar bailout sent GM to China and Bailed out China, then left America hanging, shuttering plants across the nation, laying 100’s of thousand of people.

GM is involved in Manufacturing, Sales, Distribution and engineering Design in China, and operate 11 manufacturing plants in China, 4 powertrain plants across the country.

Who do we have to thank for this? BARACK OBAMA!  Getting the government involved in private business!

When companies get into financial trouble like GM did we have a process for them to correct the errors and continue to rebuild, it is called Chapter 11!

On top of this Obama had the government buy back the remaining bonds instead of holding till the sold; another $11 Billion dollar loss!

 by Jim Hoft January 6, 2019

Former Law Enforcement Official: Benghazi
Coverup Was to Protect Clinton Foundation
– General Flynn Attacked Because He Knew
Too Much

A former Law Enforcement Officer named Roscoe B. Davis unveiled a number or tweets over the weekend tying the attack in Benghazi to the Clinton Foundation.  The foundation reportedly made millions gun running and General Flynn was allegedly attacked because he knew too much.

The tweets are as follows and start with information about the Taliban having US Stinger missiles:

The Taliban had obtained the stinger missiles that Hillary and McCain had hoped to go to Libya –

30 feet high, 5 feet in the ground in solid concrete 5 feet by 2 feet thick’

Will take two 55 pound 36 foot ladders to scale (have to consider ladder angle)

How many people are going carry two ladders of this size across the desert you see
for many miles to climb the wall? The dem’s have no idea when they keep saying show
me a wall I will show you a ladder!

by Philip Wegmann

 | January 03, 2019 01:44 PM

Nancy Pelosi says no to the wall but
yes to overseas abortion funding