Holiday retail salesduring the final two months of 2017 not only exceeded forecasts, but also showed the strongest gain since the Great Recession. The National Retail Federation credited growing wages, stronger employment, and higher consumer confidence.
Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp have announced they will build a $1.6 billion joint assembly plant in Alabama. This plant will employ up to 4,000 workers and will produce 300,000 vehicles a year.
ECONOMY:The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its newest jobs report on Friday, and the data clearly show, under the pro-business policies implemented by the Trump administration,low-income and working-class families are enjoying significant economic gains not experienced in nearly 20 years.
TAX OVERHAUL:Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private employer, announced today that it will raise its starting hourly wage, give bonuses to all eligible full and part-time associates, and expand its parental leave policy—all in response to last month’s tax overhaul.
2020 ELECTIONS:The Senate map is really tough for Democrats, with26 Democratic seats in play next year(including a newly opened seat in Minnesota after Al Franken announced his intention to retire) as compared to just eight Republican ones. Moreover, five of the Democratic-held seats — the ones in West Virginia, North Dakota, Montana, Missouri and Indiana — are in states that President Trump won by 18 percentage points or more.
PRO-LIFE:Speaker Paul Ryan will headline the 45th March for Life, which is taking place on January 19th. Paul Ryan has spoken at the annual event before, but this will be his first time coming as Speaker of the House.
RUSSIARUSSIARUSSIA:The salacious andFAKE anti-Trump dossier that Hillary paid for was used to gain approval from a secret courtto monitor members of Trump’s team. There will be more information in the coming week.
RAAACISM:Clarence Thomas talks about being a black conservative in modern society. He saysfaith gives him “the strength to do what I have to doevery day, to assert the independence, to be willing to take the beatings, the criticism, the unfairness.” When he attends daily mass, he says, it helps him do his “job, a secular job, in the right way and for the right reasons.” It reminds him that his work has nothing to do with what is said about him, but is rather about doing what he took an oath to do.
In 2017, the economy added 2.1 million jobs and reversed job losses in critical sectors, most notably in manufacturing. Unemployment rates for veterans, African-Americans, and Hispanics reached historic lows.
U.S. factory activity increased more than expected in December, boosted by a surge in new orders growth, in a further sign of strong economic momentum at the end of 2017.
The number of people receiving food stamps fellby more than two million during the 2017 fiscal year, according to data recently released by the Agriculture Department.
We begin 2018 with a different approach to disseminating the mindless drivel you’ve come to expect from your intrepid reporter. They will generally be long, usually rambling, and at some point you will realize you wasted minutes of your life you’ll never get back.
President Trump’s 1st Year in Office an ECONOMIC MIRACLE: All Time Stock Market Highs – Most Jobs in History – Highest GDP Ever
President Trump’s first year in office resulted in the greatest year in stock market history! The Dow ended up nearly 5,000 points for the year which was the highest increase in the Dow’s more than 100 year history. The Dow reached all-time new highs a record 71 times in 2017, breaking the record for the most all-time highs in a calendar year set in 1995.
At the final bell for the year the Dow closed near its highest closing amount ever at 24,719. Since last year’s election the Dow is up 35%!
Finally: Signs of a real economic recovery for the US
US GDP, for example, is now on pace to grow at an annual rate of about 3 percent for the first three full quarters of President Trump’s term. Compare that to the less than 2 percent average annual growth under President Barack Obama.
Indeed, not a single year saw 3 percent growth or more under Obama, the only president in modern history with such a sorry record. Things may finally be turning around.
Al Sharpton: Trump Is A Symbol Of ‘Northern Bigotry’
DIDN’T KNOW BIGOTRY HAD REGIONS.
[CtH: Plus, you know, lowest Black and Hispanic unemployment rates in recorded history. Methinks “people of color” could use more of this alleged “bigotry.”]
Trump wishes a Happy New Year to his supporters, haters, enemies and fake news
President Trump wished Americans a Happy New Year from his Mar-a-Lago luxury resort in south Florida on Sunday, saying that his New Years wishes extended to not just his supporters but also his “enemies” and the “fake news” media.
“As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2018 will be a great year for America!” Trump tweeted.
Trump pulls brakes on $13B Obama-backed rail-tunnel plan
An Obama-era plan to have the federal government finance half of a $13 billion rail tunnel project ran into a red light Friday from the Trump administration.
The original Obama-era plan called for costs to be split among New York state, New Jersey and the federal government.
But in a letter Friday, the Trump administration notified New York and New Jersey that the Obama-era deal was now “non-existent” because the states recently requested that their portions be covered by loans from the federal government — meaning Washington would supply all of the initial funding for what the Trump White House is calling “a local project.”
Months after a half-dozen members resigned in protest of the Trump administration’s position on health policies, the White House dismissed the rest through a form letter.
The notice “thanked me for my past service and said that my appointment was terminated, effective immediately,” said Patrick Sullivan, an epidemiologist at Emory University who works on HIV testing programs. He was appointed to a four-year term in May 2016.
Judge Upholds Controversial Bill Requiring Taxpayers to Fund Abortions in Illinois
The bill forces Illinois state residents to fund abortions of Medicaid recipients and state employee health insurance beneficiaries and sets no expense ceiling nor a limit on the number of abortions that Medicaid will cover.
Rauner said that the state should fund abortions because wealthy women should not have reproductive options not shared by poor women
According to Illinois House Republican Floor Leader, Peter Breen, the new law will oblige taxpayers to foot the bill for “an expected 20,000 to 30,000” abortions per year.
Clinton Donors David Brock, Susie Tompkins Buell Spent $700,000 to Find Trump Accusers
Left-wing political operatives and Hillary Clinton backers David Brock and Susie Tompkins Buell bankrolled $700,000 allegedly to find people who would accuse then-candidate Donald Trump of sexual misconduct before Election Day 2016
CNN Reporter Holds Joints, Lights Bong for Pot Smoker on Live New Year’s Eve Broadcast
CNN reporter Randi Kaye, sporting large marijuana leaf styled earrings, lit a bong for a pot smoker during a live report from Denver broadcast on CNN’s New Year’s Eve show Sunday night that was hosted from Times Square by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Kaye was also seen several times holding lit joints on air.
Really @cnn , this is where your morals have landed in 2018? Old ladies and gas mask bongs?
CNN’s Brooke Baldwin Makes Joke About Having Bigger ‘Balls’ Than Don Lemon
CNN’s Brooke Baldwin made a joke about her balls being bigger than Don Lemon’s Sunday during CNN’s coverage of New Year’s Eve. Baldwin said during CNN’s News Years’ Eve coverage, “By the way, my balls are bigger than your balls.”
Former Israeli Ambassador To The US: Obama Rejected Iran Green Revolution For Nuclear Deal
US President Barack Obama chose not to support the 2009 Iranian Green Protest Movement, because he hoped to reach a deal with Iran on its nuclear weapons that he signed six years later, then-ambassador to the US and current Deputy Minister Michael Oren (Kulanu) said Monday.
Obama’s failure to help Iranian protesters has been criticized since then by Israeli officials, led by Jewish Agency chairman and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, who has called it the biggest failure to help human rights in modern history
Ex-Obama State Dept. Spox: We Didn’t Support Iran Protesters in 2009 Because They Asked Us Not To
More from the woman who claimed “job opportunities” were the key to defeating ISIS.
Substitute host Dana Perino didn’t hesitate to put Harf on the hot seat, comparing Obama’s lack of support for Iranian protesters in 2009 with President Trump and VP Pence’s support for the protesters in Iran today.
Exemplifying Obama’s losing, “leading from behind,” approach to foreign policy, Harf said:
“The reason we didn’t [support the protesters] was that it was our judgment—and we were hearing from Iranians protesting on the streets that your support will not help us.”
Former Obama Advisers Tell Trump to ‘Be Quiet’ on Iran Protests
HE WAS WILLING TO LET INNOCENT PEOPLE DIE TO SAVE HIS PRECIOUS IRAN DEAL.
Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice tweeted a New York Times op-ed by former Obama aide Philip Gordon, “How Can Trump Help Iran’s Protesters? Be Quiet.” The author argues that supporting the protests, and taking steps to end the Iran nuclear deal, will only help the regime to delegitimize its internal opponents.
Iran blocking social media to ‘maintain public safety’
“Iranian authorities are blocking access to Telegram for the majority of Iranians after our public refusal to shut down … peacefully protesting channels,” Telegram CEO Pavel Durov wrote on Twitter.
Tehran claimed that social media censorship was necessary to maintain public safety.
“With a decision by the Supreme National Security Council, activities of Telegram and Instagram are temporarily limited,” according to a statement on Iranian state TV.
White House: Iranian protesters ‘deserve to be heard’
“We support the right of the Iranian people to express themselves peacefully. Their voices deserve to be heard,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
“Exodus in Progress?”: Mystery Aircraft Leave Iran With “No Callsign, Origin, or Destination” As Protests Rage
Last night, a large number of aircraft were spotted leaving Iran with “no callsign, origin, or destination.” Strategic Sentinel, a DC-based firm that provides “nonpartisan international relations and national security analysis,” raised the prospect that the live flight radar data may suggest an “exodus,” is in progress.
Children anxiously await the day for months. Weeks of shopping, cleaning, decorating, wrapping, and cooking. In a half hour, it’s over. There’s New Years Eve, if you’re into partying, and New Years Day for parades and football games. After that comes 3 or 4 months of vast, empty wasteland.
It was -2 degrees when I went to deliver my papers this morning. In a previous life, I’d go to work with a truck with a diesel engine frozen solid and a cab that never got warm. The wet floor mats I changed would stick to the floor making it sooo much fun to unload. Those times are, thankfully, in my rear view mirror.
We have a mixed bag today, since I’m a little sluggish from overeating with family and friends yesterday. For having beautiful grandchildren and a wife who can cook, it’s a price I’m glad to pay.
Fears the royal couple will snub the new President in favour of the predecessor he hates.
Officials fear a royal wedding invite could be seen as a snub to President Trump
Prince Harry and Barack Obama have a close relationship and are firm friends
Mr Obama will appear on the Today show tomorrow presented by Prince Harry
Mr Obama tweeted his congratulations to the prince and Meghan Markle
Where’s the party? No state dinner in Trump’s first year. Trump spoke dismissively of state dinners as a candidate, when he panned President Barack Obama’s decision to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping with a 2015 state visit. Such visits are an important diplomatic tool that includes a showy arrival ceremony and an elaborate dinner at the White House.
“I would not be throwing (Xi) a dinner,” Trump said at the time. “I would get him a McDonald’s hamburger and say we’ve got to get down to work.”
On December 18, President Trump invited lawmakers to the White House for a screening of Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. Such a screening would never have happened under the previous president.
On his first day in office, POTUS 44 removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office and returned it to Britain. When the eviction made news, White House mouthpiece Dan Pfeiffer said the story was “100 per cent false.”
But as the Telegraph reported, long after the denial, “Barack Obama’s White House has been forced to admit that it did return a bust of Sir Winston Churchill to British diplomats.”
This move has roots in the president’s mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, who shows up as the beloved “Frank” in Dreams from My Father.
Year One List: 81 major Trump achievements, 11 Obama legacy items repealed
With the passage of the GOP tax bill this week, the Trump administration has scored 81 major achievements in its first year, making good on campaign promises to provide significant tax cuts, boost U.S. energy production, and restore respect to the United States, according to the White House.
And along the way, President Trump even outdid his own expectations and slashed at least 11 major legacy items of former President Barack Obama, including cracking down on the open border, slowing recognition of communist Cuba and effectively killing Obamacare by ending the mandate that everyone have health insurance or face a tax.
Now the left is angry about ‘pro-Trump’ year-end bonuses Boy, are they annoyed: Democrats are pooh-poohing the avalanche of announcements by major corporations that they’re giving their workers bonuses and raising wages after the passage of tax reform
It’s classic left-wing disdain for anything big business does, even when it’s rewarding its workers — and even when those reaping the benefits include the Democratic cheerleading squad at MSNBC.
Buoyed by Alabama win, Democrats eye Tennessee Senate race THE DEMOCRATS/McCONNELL SPENT $100 MILLION AND THE MEDIA WHORES SPENT 6 WEEKS BUYING WOMEN TO TRASH JUDGE MOORE. THEY REMIND ME OF THE UNDERDOG WHO GETS IN A LUCKY SHOT AND KNOCKS DOWN THE CHAMP. THEN THEY THINK THEY’RE 10 FEET HIGH AND BULLETPROOF.
[CtH: And they didn’t beat Moore by much. They’re delusional if they think they can pull off that kind of effort throughout 50 states!]
Neither of Tennessee’s two top GOP candidates, Rep. Marsha Blackburn and former Rep. Stephen Fincher, has the kind of personal baggage Republican Roy Moore had in the Alabama race won by a Democrat. But both have wholeheartedly embraced President Donald Trump at what Democrats hope is exactly the wrong time.
Former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen, a known quantity in Tennessee, has kicked off his Senate run from a position of strength.
“He starts with credibility among Tennesseans that Doug Jones didn’t have or almost no Democratic challenger in any of the other Republican states would have next year,” Maslin said.
Liberals really do live on another planet. The corporate tax cut was not intended as some cheap way to win votes or to benefit employees and voters in the here and now. It is simply an effort to lower the tax rate on corporate income down to generally accepted international levels approved by all card-carrying globalists.
Really, you couldn’t choose a better setup for the 2018 midterms. The Democrats get to wail about Russia collusion and Republicans stealing the silver and #MeToo and gay wedding cakes. Republicans get to talk about middle-class tax cuts and 4 percent growth. Remember the days when Dick Morris taught Bill Clinton to strike terror into Republican hearts with their centrist triangulation between left and right? Today’s Democrats don’t know nothin’ about such pranks.
Detroit Christmas Toy Giveaway Devolves into Massive Brawl
A Christmas toy giveaway in Detroit, Michigan, devolved into a massive brawl Saturday night, leading to the arrest of one woman, police said.
Police said they arrested a 39-year-old woman for allegedly threatening a 30-year-old woman at knifepoint while inside the building. The 30-year-old victim did not suffer any injuries.
Police say the suspect had been accompanied by her two children when the brawl took place.
Chelsea Clinton’s back in the news, this time for a public letter to her toddlers full of drool and glurge “about our country’s future, about your future.” Apparently, she takes us for idiots. Because this confection, published in the anal penetration for teens-advocating Teen Vogue, is about as transparently cynical as such letters come.
I suppose if you live in the White House amid round-the-clock maid service and Secret Service protection to keep the riff-raff and “deplorables” away, it probably does make a difference in your personal experience. But that sure as heck resonates like a clank on the floor at a ballet performance.
Topless Feminist Tries To Steal Jesus From Vatican Nativity Scene, Gets Trounced By Guard A member of a radical feminist group attempted to steal a statue of the baby Jesus from the Vatican’s nativity scene on Christmas day but was intercepted by police as she grabbed it.
A Reuters photographer happened to witness the incident as the topless woman, shouting “God is woman,” climbed over a guard rail and scrambled up to the scene in a brazen attempt to take the statue of Jesus from its crib.
Democratic Congressional Candidate Indicted in $803,000 Fraud, Embezzlement Case
A Democratic congressional candidate in Virginia has been indicted on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and theft for allegedly stealing government funds from a school nutrition program in 2012.
Shaun Brown, 58, denied any wrongdoing during her first appearance in a Norfolk courtroom last week and said after the hearing that she intends to fight the charges.
Prosecutors said Brown fraudulently obtained $803,000 of government funds through her nonprofit organization, which participated in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service Program. The organization worked with the USDA Summer Food Service Program to provide meals to low-income children on school breaks.
Israel in talks with more than 10 countries over Jerusalem embassy move AMBASSADOR HALEY SAID OF THE U.N. VOTE TO CONDEMN AMERICA’S MOVING THEIR EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM: ‘WE’LL REMEMBER THIS.’
Israel is in talks with more than 10 countries — including some in Europe — about potentially moving their respective embassies to Jerusalem, according to officials.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely on Monday said the nations were interested in following President Trump’s footsteps and declaring the Israeli city the new capital in the wake of Guatemala’s recent decision to do so.
Trump UNLEASHES Over Report Suggesting Fusion GPS Dossier Triggered Surveillance
WOW, @foxandfrlends “Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.” And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!, tweeted President Trump Tuesday.
On Saturday, Trump went scorched earth on McCabe for his corruption and obvious conflicts of interest during the Hillary Clinton email investigation:
According to WaPo: McCabe is retiring in just the right time to collect his pension:
Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s deputy director who has been the target of Republican critics for more than a year, plans to retire in a few months when he becomes fully eligible for pension benefits, according to people familiar with the matter. […] McCabe won’t become eligible for his full pension until early March. People close to him say he plans to retire as soon as he hits that mark. “He’s got about 90 days, and some of that will be holiday time. He can make it,’’ said one.
The GOP’s tax bill will mean an extra $800 or $1,000 per year for a working family.
Lefties mocked this on Twitter, saying that wouldn’t matter A BIT to ANYONE. But the REALITY these elitist schmucks clearly do not understand is that $800 to $1,000 is YUGE for many families.
More than half of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings and checking accounts combined.
Most of these say they couldn’t pay for a $400 emergency without borrowing money or selling some of their possessions.
The true hypocrisy of those tweeting twits may be that they’d shriek tweet outrage the mere suggestion of reducing public benefits by $800 to $1,000 per year.
Writing in The Atlantic, a self-described “middle class” writer described what it was like to be one of those Americans who doesn’t have $400 to spare:
I know what it is like to have to juggle creditors to make it through a week. I know what it is like to have to swallow my pride and constantly dun people to pay me so that I can pay others. I know what it is like to have liens slapped on me and to have my bank account levied by creditors. I know what it is like to be down to my last $5 — literally — while I wait for a paycheck to arrive, and I know what it is like to subsist for days on a diet of eggs. I know what it is like to dread going to the mailbox, because there will always be new bills to pay but seldom a check with which to pay them. I know what it is like to have to tell my daughter that I didn’t know if I would be able to pay for her wedding; it all depended on whether something good happened. And I know what it is like to have to borrow money from my adult daughters because my wife and I ran out of heating oil.
CtH: This is us as well. Life got much easier once we had grown, well employed offspring who generously help out when we suffer a short fall. This year of the Trump Economy has been amazing! We were able to easily afford what we needed, plus splurge on some of the stuff we had done without for years (like a dehumidifier for the moldy basement FINALLY).
The fact is that architects are the worst paid white collar workers in the country. They live from job to job and woe betide the family budget if even a single client stiffs them. Blessedly, this happened to us only twice; it was devastating and hard to forgive since neither of these selfish couples were depending on a single income to care for a disabled adult and 3 minor children!
Dearest is well established in his profession now, but he was new and wet-behind-the-ears when Saddam invaded Kuwait. That recession put him out of work for a full year. I was disabled with medical bills and our three elementary aged daughters needed all the usual, plus child care help for me whenever Dearest wasn’t home and they were.
A few differences between us and that fellow who wrote in The Atlantic are that I know what it’s like to be down to my last three cents (for a month!); we’re allergic to eggs so ate oatmeal while waiting for the next paycheck; and our daughters knew from a very young age that they were on their own for cars, weddings, and college. We were just really grateful that God gave them all straight teeth!
Democrat politicians tried to spin “taxpayers keep more of their own money” as“Republicans steal from the government”:
In other news, two major corporations announced they will be handing out hundreds of thousands in bonuses to their employees and investing hundreds of millions:
Nancy Pelosi called the GOP tax plan bill, “Armageddon.”
But the Tax Foundation says it is pro-growth and will
increase revenues by $600 billion,
lift the GDP by 1.7%, boost wages by 1.5%,and
add 339,000 full-time jobs to the economy.
Hardly the end of the world.
I got this in an email from Heritage Action for America:
The 2016 election provided a once in a generation opportunity for tax reform. And thanks to your efforts, the Republican-controlled Congress has delivered a huge accomplishment for the conservative movement and America as a whole.
Thirteen months ago, the American people spoke with a firm and resounding message — they demanded sweeping tax reform and lower taxes for everyone!
And this time — Congress listened.Republicans in Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which willhelp middle class families keep more dollars in their pockets, small business will get the chance to grow and thrive, and large business are now able to bring jobs back to America and increase the wages of workers.
Despite the good the tax reform plan might do for their voters, Democrats are unanimously opposed because some cuts go to those who pay the vast majority of taxes (the Evil Rich, who should more properly be hung like piñatas and beaten with sticks until they explode in a shower of bloodstained wealth) and other cuts go to corporations to encourage them to produce more employment. Andif there’s one thing Democrats hate, it’s jobs.
On Monday, Nancy Pelosi, who has previously praised unemployment for giving people the free time to become artists, writers, philosophers, or meth addicts, was scheduled to speak before a huge rally of angry anti-tax reform protesters. Hilariously, so few people showed up (about two dozen) that Pelosi simply blew off the protesters – perhaps to spend time with her accountant figuring out how the new tax rates will affect middle-class taxpayers like her who have approximately $200 million in assets thanks to “putting a little aside each month” and clipping coupons.
Democrats are universally against the tax reform simply because Republicans, and particularly Donald Trump, are for it. Because the last thing they want to see for the next three years is America and Americans (of all economic levels) succeeding.
Trump spoke dismissively of state dinners as a candidate, when he panned President Barack Obama’s decision to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping with a 2015 state visit. Such visits are an important diplomatic tool that includes a showy arrival ceremony and an elaborate dinner at the White House.
Boy, are they annoyed: Democrats are pooh-poohing the avalanche of announcements by major corporations that they’re giving their workers bonuses and raising wages after the passage of tax reform
THE DEMOCRATS/McCONNELL SPENT $100 MILLION AND THE MEDIA WHORES SPENT 6 WEEKS BUYING WOMEN TO TRASH JUDGE MOORE. THEY REMIND ME OF THE UNDERDOG WHO GETS IN A LUCKY SHOT AND KNOCKS DOWN THE CHAMP. THEN THEY THINK THEY’RE 10 FEET HIGH AND BULLETPROOF.
A member of a radical feminist group attempted to steal a statue of the baby Jesus from the Vatican’s nativity scene on Christmas day but was intercepted by police as she grabbed it.
AMBASSADOR HALEY SAID OF THE U.N. VOTE TO CONDEMN AMERICA’S MOVING THEIR EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM: ‘WE’LL REMEMBER THIS.’
polination.blog 