By Daniel Corin and David Hamon, ACD's Economic Warfare Institute Tuesday, April 4th, 2017 @ 9:40PM

President Donald Trump will be meeting his Chinese counterpart on Thursday negotiate economic and security matters. But while Mr. Trump is confident he will make America great again, the country can barely afford both butter and guns.

The national security of the U.S. relies heavily on the robustness of economic growth. The faster the economy grows, the more revenue pours into state and federal government coffers, feeding greater security. More importantly, the President may fund additional defense and intelligence requirements without imposing politically sensitive cuts to domestic programs.

For instance, President Trump announced that he aims to increase defense spending by $54 billion in fiscal-year 2018. To do this without increasing the deficit, he proposes cutting an equal amount of spending from other federal programs. Higher economic growth would make it easier to do this. In fiscal-year 2016, defense spending came in at 2.8% of nominal GDP. Had GDP grown just one percentage point faster (3.9% instead of 2.9%), and assuming defense spending remained at 2.8% of GDP, the Pentagon would have an extra $5 billion to spend. If the economy grew three percentage points faster, the military would have $15 billion in additional money to spendmoney that would not have to come out of the budgets of any domestic programs.

The Heritage Foundations recent release of its annual Index of Economic Freedom is cause for concern. According to Heritage experts, only five countries were deemed economically free: Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Australia. The United States (along with 28 other countries) fell into the category of mostly free. Overall, the United States ranked 17th in the world in economic freedom. Rounding out the list of countries ahead of the US: Estonia, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Chile, Taiwan, The United Kingdom, Georgia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Lithuania.

When compared with earlier years, Heritages index indicates a disturbing trend for the economy of the United States. The first graph shows the freedom index of the US since its inception in 1995. There was a somewhat steady upward movement for the first 11 years, leveling off in the two years before the onset of the Great Recession. Since 2009, the U.S. index has shown a steady decline, falling to its lowest level ever.

[It should be noted that Heritage incorporated some changes to its methodology this past year, adding two additional categories. Heritage didnt go back and update country indexes for previous years. Thus, one should be cautious when drawing conclusions based on the time-series as the indexes of the earlier years used a slightly different methodology.]

Regardless of methodology, the index shows an economy growing less free over the past nine years. Much of the decline reflects the implementation of various government programs and regulations designed to stem the tide of the 2008/2009 economic downturnargued by some economists as necessary to forestall another Great Depression. The point is debatable. What is true is the United States, compared with the rest of the world, ranked 4th in 2007, fell to 17th in 2017.

The Great Recession was a global eventimpacting most of the major economies. Manyif not allof these countries implemented the same government programs and regulations as the US. One would expect that the USdespite its falling indexto maintain its relative ranking in the freedom index as they too enacted anti-recessionary programs. Instead, thirteen countries passed the U.S. over the past ten years to be labeled more economically free. But the news is worse: also, there are 13 other countries that are within three points of the United States. Put bluntly: the US is nowhere near the economic leader perceived by many.

This embarrassment should give Congress a pause for concern. Three of the countries with a higher index in 2017 are former Soviet Socialist Republics (Estonia, Georgia, and Lithuania). Two others (Chile and Taiwan) were dictatorships a generation ago; a third is a Middle Eastern country ruled by emirs (UAE.)

Heritages Freedom Index is made up of twelve categories: Business Freedom; Trade Freedom; Fiscal Freedom; Government Spending; Monetary Freedom; Investment Freedom; Financial Freedom; Property Rights; Freedom from Corruption; Labor Freedom; Judicial Effectiveness; and Fiscal Health (the last two were added this year.) These categories revolve around the scope of central government intervention in the economy. This is not to say that government in unnecessary: it is essential for the protection of property rights, the rule of law, anti-corruption, and to regulate interstate commerce. The problem: regulations make it difficult to open a business (Business Freedom/Freedom of Corruption); high taxes and regulations on capital (Investment/Financial Freedom); and increasing debt to fund an expanding federal government (Fiscal Freedom/Fiscal Health).

The chief reason for the poor performance of the American economy is the federal government. Since the dawn of the Obama administration, Washington has greatly increased spending, racking up trillions of dollars in debt. The Federal Reserve made unprecedented interventions in monetary policy (quantitative easingQEI through QEIII); and Dodd-Frank and the Affordable Care Act (to name but two) placed many onerous rules and regulations on capital markets, burdening businesses both large and small. One reaction: the revival of anti-trade policies in official Washington.

The Heritage graph, which calculates each nations economic freedom index with their corresponding per capita GDP, shows a strong relationship between higher economic freedom and per capita output/income.

The defense and intelligence budgets are subject to growing pressure in the coming years as entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare continue to gnaw at and consume a greater portion of the federal budgetthe result of the aging Baby-Boomers.

The path of less economic freedom in this country is a troubling trend and must be reversed. Greater economic growth would give the federal government additional resources to buy both guns and butter.

See the article here:

Trump, Xi Jinping, and the US Economy - American Center for Democracy (registration) (blog)

Dear Editor,

Last week, I wrote about how the independence of the Judiciary is being undermined by the coalition government. Apparently, I irked Mr Winston Jordan, the Minister of Finance. He responded. His response was carried in Stabroek News on April 5. The caption of his missive boldly asserted, Contrary to what Nandlall says the Supreme Court now has greater financial autonomy than at any period in its history.

It is instructive that I reiterate, that prior to May 2015, the fiscal, constitutional and procedural architecture under which the Judiciary was financed remained virtually unchanged since our Independence Constitution promulgated on May 26, 1966. That architecture was patterned after a model, conceived and designed by the constitutional experts at Westminster, which was promulgated in the newly created independent states throughout the Commonwealth. Fifty years later, this architecture still obtains virtually unchanged, in many of those 52 states, and from all accounts it has functioned satisfactorily.

Not unexpectedly, the system has not been without scrutiny over the years. For example, some years ago, a dispute arose between the then Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago and the sitting Chief Justice. It became public and very controversial. The gravamen of the Chief Justices complaint was that the Attorney General was attempting to erode the independence of the Judiciary. As a result of the controversy, the President of Trinidad and Tobago established a Commission of Inquiry headed by the former Lord Chancellor of England, Lord Mackay. The commissioners, inter alia, examined the constitutional, legal, parliamentary and procedural architecture by which the Judiciary was funded. They concluded that it contained sufficient checks and balances to assure and guarantee the financial independence of the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago. That constitutional construct of Trinidad and Tobago greatly resembled that which existed in Guyana, prior to May 2015.

Indeed, from 1966 to 2015, I am unaware of a single allegation ever made, emanating from the Judiciary, or elsewhere, which tended to suggest that the extant constitutional arrangement under which the Judiciary was financed in Guyana impaired its financial independence or its functional autonomy. It is against this backdrop and the foregoing notwithstanding, that the coalition government in 2015, chose to change a status quo that was proven, tested and against which no complaint had ever been made. To date, no rational reason has ever been proffered for the change.

According to the Minister, the change is captured in the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Act 2015, No. 4 of 2015. This Act was assented to by President David Granger on the August 5, 2015. It is instructive to note that this Act was debated and passed in the National Assembly during the period that the PPP was absent from the House. From all indications, our presence and objections would not have mattered.

In answer to my contention that the Judiciary is financed by a direct charge on the Consolidated Fund, the Minister, with bold nescience asserts: this is both dangerously misleading and factually incorrect, since according to Act No. 4 of 2015 FMAA (Amendment, 2015), Section 3 (b) 80B (7), The annual budget of a Constitutional Agency approved by the National Assembly shall not be altered without the prior approval of the National Assembly. Hence parliamentary approval is required both initially and for any alteration.

This emphatic assertion by the Minister as well as Section of the FMAA (Amendment) Act 2015, upon which he relies, are in palpable contravention of the clear and express language of Article 122A (2) of the Constitution, which provides: all Courts shall be administratively autonomous and shall be funded by a direct charge upon the Consolidated Fund

What this means is that no parliamentary approval is required for financing for the judiciary. Therefore, Section 3 (b) of the FMAA Amendment Act 2015, is unconstitutional and void to the extent of its inconsistency with the Constitution by virtue of Article 8.

Article 8 provides: This Constitution is the supreme law of Guyana and, if any other law is inconsistent with it, that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.

Mr Jordan next takes umbrage with my account of how the Judiciarys budget was presented prior to 2015. I recited that the said budget would have been prepared by the Judiciary, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and the final product was included in the budget of the Ministry of Legal Affairs and submitted to the Ministry of Finance to be consolidated as part of the National Estimates of Expenditure. I pointed out that the practice was that the Minister of Legal Affairs never altered, or in any manner whatsoever, interfered with the budget of the Judiciary. As a counter, Mr Jordan argues that when the budget of the Judiciary was presented to the Ministry of Finance during that consultative process, it was reduced. He gave the years 2013 and 2014 as examples. That may be so, since it is impossible to conceive that any entity within the state apparatus would be endowed with the fiscal freedom to prepare a budget to be funded from public funds, without regard to the ability of the State to fund that budget. Obviously, the Minister of Finance, as the custodian of public funds, must have a say, having regard to the States financial ability. To address this dilemma, the practice has always been for the budget of the Judiciary to be agreed upon, having regard to the ability of the State, through a consultative process by the Judiciary and the Minister of Finance. Significantly, via this process, it is the Judiciary that would have been requested to adjust its budget to meet the recommendations of the Minister of Finance and not the Minister of Finance unilaterally and without consultation, cutting the Judiciarys budget. This practice allows the Judiciary the fiscal autonomy to determine what it will adjust, where the adjustments are going to be made and by what amounts. In short, this practice did not unduly restrict or interfere with the financial autonomy of the Judiciary.

These subtleties are lost upon Mr Jordan. Indeed, the new procedure promulgated by Mr Jordan, deprives the Judiciary of the very financial autonomy about which he boasts. By this new procedure, the budget of the Judiciary is presented to the Clerk of the National Assembly and the Minister of Finance, without any consultation whatsoever capriciously, arbitrarily and whimsically moves a motion and cuts the lump-sum budget proposals of the Judiciary without any regard to the impact such a reduction will have on the Judiciarys ability to discharge its functions. Significantly, this is done on the floor of the Parliament, for the nation to witness that the Judiciarys budget is subject to the whim and fancy of the Minister of Finance. This must appear to the public to be the very antithesis of financial autonomy. Sometimes, the appearance is as important as the reality.

The Minister attempts to upbraid me in the closing paragraph of his letter for peddling untruths about matters that are largely out of my remit. I wish to assure Mr Jordan, that as long as Guyana continues to be a fledgling democracy, the duty of every government shall be to govern in accordance with the Constitution and the law of this land and my remit will always be to ensure that duty is discharged in every sphere of government. My remit, therefore, is government itself.

Yours faithfully,

Mohabir Anil Nandlall, MP

See the original post here:

There is no consultation on the Judiciary's budget - Stabroek News - Stabroek News

President Trump is escalating his feud with the conservative House Freedom Caucus, with his $1 trillion infrastructure package hanging in the balance.

The conservative caucus is sure to play a role in the legislative fight over rebuilding the nations roads, bridges and highways, something Trump promised to deliver during his campaign.

Massive federal spending on transportation has long given fiscal conservatives heartburn.

And Freedom Caucus lawmakers who support Trump's infrastructure push may have to work extra hard now to convince fellow members to support the presidents proposal, especially after Trump stepped up his attacks on some lawmakers in the group this week.

Numerous members sit on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and some are even lead sponsors on infrastructure investment bills including one related to tax reform that appears to be gaining steam.

I have members of the Freedom Caucus on my committee. Theyve been very supportive, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said during an event hosted by The Hill this week.

Its one of those things they embrace. They may not always agree on how we go about it, but I think we can get a coalition to get a big, bipartisan vote.

The Freedom Caucus members on the Transportation panel include Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.), the groups chairman, and Reps. Brian Babin (Texas), Scott Perry (Pa.), Mark Sanford (S.C.) and Randy WeberRandy WeberRyan transfers record M to House GOP's campaign arm in March Freedom Caucus poised for pivotal role in infrastructure fight The Hill's Whip List: 36 GOP no votes on ObamaCare repeal plan MORE (Texas.)

Trump has called on Congress to move a $1 trillion infrastructure package later this year. The White House is still in the early stages of crafting a proposal, but Trump has signaled that it will streamline regulatory hurdles and target transportation projects where enough advanced planning has already been completed so work can start shortly. It is expected to be paid for with a mix of public and private financing.

There were questions over whether the House Freedom Caucus would torpedo the infrastructure package even before Trump slammed the group on Twitter this week for its role in the failure of the ObamaCare repeal effort.

Trumps transportation plan was always going to be a tough sell with fiscal conservatives.

The 2016 GOP platform calls for eliminating federal funding for mass transit, bike-share programs, sidewalks and rail-to-rail projects.

But transportation leaders are swatting down concerns that Trumps deteriorating relationship with conservatives will complicate their efforts.

After I talked about my proposal for user fees for aviation, harbor maintenance and surface infrastructure, I had a couple of members of the Freedom Caucus tell me that they liked those ideas, [because] they were user fee based and did not create debt, said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), ranking member on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Meadows, chairman of the House Oversight subcommittee on government operations, has had a hand in overseeing Washingtons Metro system. He agreed at a hearing this week to help push for more federal funding for the agency if certain conditions are met.

Meadows has also sponsored a bill that would allow U.S. corporations to bring back their foreign earnings at a lower corporate tax rate and use that revenue to replenish the ailing Highway Trust Fund, among other things.

A robust and efficient infrastructure is critical to growing the economy, driving down unemployment, and putting our country on track towards a balanced budget, Meadows says on his website.

The Constitution makes it clear that one of the primary goals of the federal government is to establish roads and highways in order to facilitate commerce between the states.

Perrybelievesinfrastructure investment must be done responsibly but sayspublic-private partnerships could be one option to enhance transportation and boost economic development.

Freedom Caucus member Ted YohoTed YohoRepublicans rush to help shape Trumps infrastructure plan Freedom Caucus poised for pivotal role in infrastructure fight How this little known government agency helps put America first MORE (R-Fla.) is not on the Transportation Committee but is one of the lead sponsors on legislation to allow U.S. multinational corporations to repatriate earnings at a mandatory, one-time tax of 8.75 percent.

Those revenues would be used to improve the nations infrastructure, with an estimated $120 billion going to the Highway Trust Fund, $50 billion going to an infrastructure bank and $25 million going to a pilot program focused on rural infrastructure.

With reports that the White House may now move tax reform and infrastructure at the same time, momentum could be building for Yohos bill.

This is neither a Democratic or Republican issue, Yoho said during a recent meeting with reporters. Were looking at problems and were looking at solutions that are neither Democratic or Republican. Theyre American solutions. Thats what I love about this opportunity.

Other conservatives not in the Freedom Caucus could also support Trumps infrastructure push. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.),who often sides with the far-right group, teamed up with DeFazio on a bill that would lift the federal cap on passenger fees in order to help airports pay for facility upgrades.

Shuster points out that the conference has come together to move infrastructure bills in recent years, including a multi-year surface highway bill and a major waterways bill.

When you talk to some of these [Freedom Caucus] members, they believe as I do the government has a limited role. The first and foremost is national security, but second is the building of infrastructure. Its a core function, Shuster said.

If you look at where a lot of those ports are in need of investment, its Georgia, its South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida. Thats where a lot of our Freedom Caucus friends live. So they know the importance of infrastructure.

Any transportation investment bill, however, cant add to the deficit in order to garner the support of fiscal conservatives. It will also have to place a heavy emphasis on leveraging private-sector dollars for public-private partnerships the preferred funding tool among Republicans, but one that could trip up support among Democrats if there is no direct federal spending along with it.

Conservatives could also take issue with funneling money toward projects that look like earmarks or government boondoggles. There could also be reluctance to back anything that looks like Obamas economic stimulus package, which was criticized for how long shovel-ready projects took to get off the ground.

But Trumps infrastructure proposal doesnt necessarily need the backing of the Freedom Caucus. He could negotiate a deal with Democrats, especially in the Senate, where Democratic senators have signaled they are open to working with the president on an infrastructure package.

The best path, if you were counseling the president, youd ask him to pick up the phone and call [Senate Democratic Leader Charles]Schumer[N.Y.] and see if you can have some kind of a framework for a deal there, said Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.).

And then youd go to [Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell(R-Ky.)] and see if you could get some buy-in and get something there, and then just go to the House.

Here is the original post:

Freedom Caucus poised for pivotal role in infrastructure fight - The Hill

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It turns out that isnt the case at all. The House Freedom Caucus and conservative groups like Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, Freedomworks and Club For Growthamong otherscame out opposing the plan. And the furor began. Whats being revealed as this plays out is the real challenge it will be to drain the swamp. And as the fault lines between conservatives and leadership in the House widen, the Trump agenda is truly at risk.

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Paul Ryan in his now famous PowerPoint Press Conferencesent a message to the House Freedom Caucus and conservative groups. They dont understand the reconciliation process, he said. He drew a line in the sand against to their efforts when he said, The time is here. The time is now. This is the moment, and this is the closest this will ever happen. It really comes down to a binary choice.

Its a binary choice over something which has no costs associated with it. The Congressional Budget Office has not released their report on its budget effect. And some members of Congress are openly concerned the report might show severe impacts on future spending. House leadership hasnt been forthcoming on the fiscal impact either.

Paul Ryan has been sending a message to conservatives. He is telling them to either accept the plan or not. And while conservatives arent yet falling into line, an effort to oppose them during the 2018 campaign is beginning to emerge. It may be a repeat leaderships 2016 efforts to take out conservative members.

Just this week, a group began a $500,000 ad campaign targeting 30 House Freedom Caucus members calling upon them to support what is now being called Ryancare. Similar efforts were initiated against Freedom Caucus members like Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) last year taking out Huelskamp.

Ultimately, Paul Ryan is causing severe harm to the agenda of President Trump. The Speaker knew the bill he released would have strong opposition from conservatives. Sen. Rand Paul was already explaining the reasons for opposition when he complained how the House was hiding the bill in the last few weeks. As the politics in the House continues to deteriorate, there is speculation that while feigning support for the Presidents agenda, House leadership is using the legislation to set up an electoral fight with conservatives next year.

I found myself in the middle of this give and take serving Cong. Tim Huelskamp as his Chief of Staff. Immediately after the 112th Congress began in January 2011, leaders in the House offered a spending cut of $38.5 billion in the budget. They claimed they were taking aggressive steps to get spending under control. But no CBO report had been issued to confirm that number. Our office found the actual CBO research which revealed the cut was only $352 million (not billion but million). House leadership was apparently hiding the report. We released it to a furor of condemnation in the House. I met with Boehners Chief of Staff Barry Jackson. He was furious. Ill just say this meeting set the tone for the ongoing backlash against House Freedom Caucus members and John Boehner ever since.

A typical pattern emerged in the House after 2011. Bills were written in the Speakers office. They were forced through the committees with limited amendments. They proceeded to the Rules committee which is stacked with members loyal to the speaker. Conservative amendments were killed there. And the bill reached the floor with rules taking away the right of members to amend the bill.

Conservatives have been shut out of the process for years. And it seems nothing has changed.

The House could have offered a full repeal bill. Speaker Ryan is making a passionate plea against the idea saying it would be filibustered in the Senate and die. But experts are saying that might not be the case at all.

Reconciliation is a mystery to the average Americanmostly because members of Congress make it so. Reconciliation is a process created through the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that allows changes to budget items to reconcile with the then current budget on a simple majority vote. Spending items only are allowed under Reconciliation.

Some experts believe Congress can pass a full repeal of Obamacare in a reconciliation bill. Paul Winfree of the Heritage Foundation argued this in a Politico article last November:

it is clear that those rules are inseparable from the rest of the ACAs structure. In fact, the Obama administration argued this before the Supreme Court in King v. Burwell, the case over whether enrollees who buy insurance through the federal exchange are eligible for subsidies. As a result, Congress may repeal those regulations via reconciliation.

The Senate Parliamentarian could certainly rule against a bill with full repeal language, but there is a simple fix to that. The presiding officer can rule against the parliamentarian, and the Senate can overrule her with a simple majority vote.

GOP leadership in the Senate and House know this. But they are unwilling to take the risk.

This is where President Trump can use his political heft to bring a solution. And it just might save his agenda from an initial defeat.

He can sit down with Speaker Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and conservatives and hash out a full repeal now. President Trump can send Mike Pence to the Senate to override any negative ruling by the parliamentarian, and Obamacare can go to the ash heap of history.

The Swamp doesnt want this. But Donald Trump could once again defy the odds and make winning great again.

Continued here:

Pfaff: GOP Leadership Undermining the Trump Agenda Setting Up 2018 Fight with House Freedom Caucus? - Breitbart News

Despite this unexpected burst of quasi-winter weather, its Sunshine Week in South Carolina.

Now, folks who believe this nonsense about the press being the enemy of the people may dismiss concerns about the Freedom of Information Act. They might think its just whining by the Fourth Estate. But its not.

Sunshine Week is about the peoples right to know what the government is up to. Anyone who has ever invoked FOIA to extract information from a police department, state agency or city council knows what a pain that can be.

Bureaucrats often delay requests for months and then charge unreasonable, unfathomable copying and research fees that are seemingly meant to deter people from access to information that, technically, they already own.

As a front-page story today notes, when reporters Lauren Sausser and Tony Bartelme asked to see emails regarding an incident at MUSC, they were given a bill for $275,000.

That is exactly why South Carolina needs more Sunshine not for the tourists, for the transparency.

The only people who can control this particular sunshine, however, are state lawmakers. And now they're getting push-back from state bureaucrats.

So they need to know this matters not only to the press, but to voters.

For more than four years, the General Assembly has tried to pass meaningful FOIA reform.

The House actually passed it in a previous session, and the Senate was ready to follow suit when those efforts were derailed by the objections of one senator.

These bills are not a huge sea change from what government is already supposed to provide, which is easy access to public documents and information. All this legislation does is set reasonable copying fees and turn-around times for requests, and establish a dedicated administrative law judge to quickly review disputed requests.

You know, when state officials don't think they should have to turn over certain documents.

This is common sense stuff, but over the years there has been some wrangling over the public's right to see autopsy reports, police car dash cams and officers body camera footage. One insidious bill in the hopper right now would even exempt nonprofits and chambers of commerce from the FOIA.

Sorry, but any group that takes public money must show how it is spent.

The real problem right now is a fiscal impact statement from the state Revenue and Fiscal Affairs office which suggests it will cost state agencies about $800,000 to comply with the law. Which they are already supposed to be doing.

A half-dozen state agencies have claimed it would take of an average of $150,000 each to supply the manpower needed to honor FOIA requests in a timely fashion.

That could cost FOIA reform some support, even though many lawmakers believe those numbers are padded or agencies aren't complying with the law now.

Either way, it's a flimsy excuse to deny citizens' right to know how their taxes are spent.

State Rep. Weston Newton, the FOIA reform bill's primary sponsor, believes freedom of information is one of the fundamental duties of government. People have a right to know how their money is spent and what their elected officials are doing.

He's right.

Newton believes FOIA reform will pass this year, but state agencies have muddied the water a bit.

"The bill we have has been through a multi-year, multi-level vetting and it's a good bill," he says. "I am disappointed that a handful of state agencies have come in at the 11th hour to say it's going to cost taxpayers significantly more to do that which they are already supposed to be doing."

Cynical people might think elected officials, being politicians, would be the ones most opposed to complete transparency in government. Turns out it's the bureaucrats.

This is probably no conspiracy; state agencies are not likely hiding rampant malfeasance. The sad truth is they probably just don't want to be bothered with pulling the records and providing the information and being forced to get it done on a deadline.

The problem is their cries of added cost could result in some lawmakers wavering in their support. After all, these folks aren't real keen on spending money.

But let's keep this in perspective. This isn't just a media issue, it's meant to protect the people and their money. Frankly, regular citizens have the toughest time navigating FOIA red tape.

And they don't have First Amendment lawyers on speed dial.

These days a lot of folks are politically active and waste no time calling elected officials to voice their opinion. So maybe it's time they add Freedom of Information Act reform to their weekly calls.

Let state legislators know this isn't about the press it's about transparency.

Here is the original post:

Hicks column: Tell South Carolina lawmakers you believe in open records, meetings - Charleston Post Courier

FAYETTEVILLE -- Lawyers for a Christian college at the center of a kickback scheme want a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the school thrown out.

Arkansas legislators gave nearly $700,000 in public funds to help the private Ecclesia College buy almost 50 acres in Benton County. The lawsuit seeks information from the college about the state money.

Ecclesia's receipt of the grant money entered the spotlight after former state Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale, pleaded guilty in federal court Jan. 4 to taking a pair of kickbacks totaling $38,000 for helping two entities receive grants through the state's General Improvement Fund.

Former state Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, has since been indicted on 11 counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of honest services mail fraud and one count of money laundering in the case.

Also indicted in the kickback scheme are the college's president, Oren Paris III of Springdale, and Randell Shelton Jr. of Alma, a consultant. Each was indicted on nine counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services mail fraud.

The General Improvement Fund consists of unallocated state funds at the end of each fiscal year and interest earned on state deposits.

The money is passed to the state's eight economic development districts for distribution to nonprofit groups or government entities. The beneficiaries are essentially decided by the lawmakers who direct the development districts where to send the funds, according to district directors and lawmakers.

The lawsuit against the school, filed in Washington County Circuit Court on behalf of Jim Parsons of Bella Vista, contends that private organizations that receive public money, engage in activities that are of public interest, carry on work that is intertwined with that of a government body or receive grants to promote economic development are subject to the requirements of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Parsons is chairman of the Benton County chapter of the Transparency in Government Group. He said he's a former Ecclesia board member and faculty member.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order Ecclesia to make the documents available.

The motion to dismiss filed Wednesday said Parsons' complaint is moot because a judge didn't hear it within seven days, which the motion says is required by state law. The complaint was filed Feb. 9 and was assigned to Circuit Judge John Threet.

"Defendant Ecclesia, Inc. prays for an order of the court finding that plaintiff's complaint is time-barred...and that, therefore, defendant has substantially prevailed in the action," according to the motion to dismiss filed by attorney Travis Storey.

The motion also seeks attorneys' fees.

Attorneys for Parsons said state law does not require an expedited hearing..

"Ecclesia's motion is just a tactic to stop from complying with [the Freedom of Information Act]. We are confident that the circuit court will agree," attorney Chip Sexton III said in an email. "Ecclesia's motion doesn't cite even a single case in support of its bizarre argument. And, there is absolutely no authority for the proposition that a [Freedom of Information Act] complaint that isn't heard within seven days must be dismissed."

Sexton said state law allows either side to request an expedited hearing in writing but neither side chose to do so.

Sexton said they did not request a hearing because of concerns that the seven-day time period violates the separation of powers doctrine. The Arkansas Constitution provides that the state Supreme Court has the exclusive power to write the procedural rules that apply in this type of case, and the seven-day expedited process was written by the Legislature, Sexton said.

Ecclesia officials also declined a Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette request in early February to release documents related to its receipt and expenditure of General Improvement Fund money, claiming the school is a private entity and therefore not required to release the documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

Metro on 03/11/2017

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Ecclesia asks judge to toss records suit - Arkansas Online

WEBSITE: (30/32 points): The Rock Island County Board has meeting packets, agendas and minutes going back to 2008 on the Rock Island County Board website, rockislandcounty.org/CountyBoard/Home.

The names and phone numbers for each of the 25 members of the Rock Island County Board can be found under the heading county board members."

The budget for fiscal year 2017 can be found on the homepage of Rock Island County, rockislandcounty.org(note the County Board site is different), which also maintains budgets, beginning with 2013. Along with the current budget is the countys capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2017 through fiscal year 2021. The Auditors Report also is available.

On the county homepage, there is a directory that provides names, phone numbers and email addresses for each department's leadership. The site also contains a Freedom of Information directory, which lists a FOIA officer for each department.

MEETINGS (17/25 points): From 2012 to 2016, the Rock Island County Board held a total of 81 meetings that included regular and special meetings of the board. In that time, the board went into closed session 26 times. The closed sessions had to do with personnel issues, including negotiations and bargaining with the unions that represent the countys workers. Minutes of closed sessions cannot be made public until the matter under discussion is resolved, per Illinois law.

The county board went into executive session more than 20 percent of the time.

BUDGET/FINANCIALS (35/35 points): The budget for fiscal year 2017 can be found on the Rock Island County website home page. The budget contains a complete table of contents on which there are hyperlinks to each section of the budget. For instance, clicking on the hyperlink for section 5b of the budget will take you to the summary for outstanding debt for the county. There also are hyperlinks to all sections of the budget, including, for example, the executive summary, bonds/debt service and property tax information.

The budget also contains an executive summary, a list of financial policies, an explanation of the budget cycle, budget trends, as well as a summary of funds and departments. There also are explanations on the debt service and property taxes.

Graphs aid in understanding the budget schedules, and there are complete budget worksheets and expense reports in the budget.

RECORDS (10/10): There is no fee to inspect records. The first 50 pages of copies are free and 15 cents per page after 50.

A request for the expense reports filed for the week of Oct. 10-14, 2016, was satisfied the same day. Because the request did not specify which department, the county assumed all departments and provided the information for each of the departments. There was no fee for the documents.

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Sunshine Week report card: Rock Island County - Quad City Times

WEBSITE (30/32 points): The city of East Molines website, eastmoline.com, is user-friendly and easy to navigate. The homepage features a calendar of upcoming events, a quick link to agendas and minutes, water bill payments and a Notify Me icon. The notification allows users to sign up, using email or text messaging, for various alerts, such as snow emergencies and upcoming council meetings.

Tabs at the top of the homepage are broken down by government, services, community, doing business and general inquiry.

Minutes and agendas for regular city council and committee-of-the-whole meetings are available, from 2012 to March 2017, by clicking on "agendas and minutes" on the homepage.

On the City Council page (under the Government tab at the top of the homepage), the names, email addresses, telephone numbers and terms of office are available for the mayor, aldermen, city clerk and treasurer.

Under the Services tab at the top of the homepage, users may click on Freedom of Information Act request, which contains a link for a FOIA request form and an email for submitting the completed form. The page also lists the email addresses and phone numbers of City Clerk/FOIA Officer Arletta Holmes and Deputy Clerk/FOIA Officer Cynthia Braggs.

MEETINGS (16/25 points): According to minutes listed on the citys website, there were 121 regular and special council meetings between 2012-2017. The council went into executive session 42 times, or about 35 percent of the time.

The purpose of the closed meetings, including the exemption used to keep the public out, are reflected in minutes.

BUDGET/FINANCIALS (8/35 points): A link to the city budget can be found under the government" tab at the top of the citys website.

The page contains links to budgets for years 2015-17. The 2017 budget book is a 104-page document that lists the citys revenues and expenditures, broken down for each fund or department. It contains a link to its comprehensive annual financial reports, which are based on audited financial statements.

The site also contains financial reports from fiscal years ending in December 2013, December 2014 and December 2015.

Another link contains employee salaries for fiscal years 2015-17.

RECORDS (5/10 points): The Quad-City Times submitted an open records request to clerk Holmes via email on Feb. 20. The request included the number of council meetings held during the past five years and the number of executive sessions that were called during the same time period, along with minutes from the past five executive sessions.

The request also included a copy of expense reports for the week of Oct. 10-14, 2016.

Holmes left a voicemail for a Times reporter the same day, and the two spoke by phone the following day. Holmes said the agendas and minutes of council meetings are available online, along with the city budget.

She said the city council reviews the minutes from executive sessions every six months. Since the last review, two executive sessions have been called. Holmes directed the Times to send an additional FOIA request to the finance department for expense reports.

Kathryn Motzer, who performs payroll and insurance duties for the city, responded to the request on Feb. 22, two days after the initial request was submitted. She said there were no expenses paid during the time period for which the records were requested.

Holmes followed up with a Times reporter on Feb. 27 to ensure compliance with the requests.

The city charges $0.25 cents a page for copies of documents. A minimum charge of $5 is added for mailing.

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Sunshine Week report card: East Moline - Quad City Times

Republicans hold a majority in Congress, but are now at odds over how to fulfill one of their biggest campaign promises: repealing and replacing Obamacare.

Conservatives from the small-government wing are leading the opposition, but concerns are also coming from more moderate Republicans worried about healthcare disruptions for those now covered by the Affordable Care Act.

The GOP can lose no more than about 20 votes in the House and two in the Senate to pass the bill, assuming all Democrats vote against it. But already many Republicans are voicing reservations.

Here are some of the GOP lawmakers who could determine the fate of the repeal-and-replace bill.

Meadows is the chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus. Like many small-government proponents, he does not think the GOP bill goes far enough in dismantling Obamacare, particularly its insurance mandates, federal subsidies for low- and moderate-income people and expansion of Medicaid. With about 30 members, the secretive caucus has enough votes to stop the bill.

Jordan has been one of the most outspoken voices opposing Obamacare. As a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, he also favors repealing Obamacare entirely, and reintroduced a 2015 bill with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to do just that. Then he wants to start from scratch on a replacement plan. He and other deficit hawks are particularly opposed to the new tax credits created in the GOP plan.

Brats concern is that the president is being sold a little bit of spin on repeal, and worries that elements of Obamacare remain. He says the GOP bill swaps one federal subsidy system for another and retains insurance rules that will not lower costs. It will not go well for the next eight years.

Labrador is among those taking his concerns to the White House, believing hell have a better audience with the administration than House leadership. Trump has generally endorsed the GOP plan, but he has also characterized it as a starting point for negotiations. Fiscal conservatives such as Labrador sense an opening.

Cotton, a newer but increasingly vocal senator, urged his House colleagues to abandon the arbitrary deadline they have set for themselves or risk appearing to repeal Obamacare in the same aggressive, partisan manner it was approved by Democrats. He said lawmakers should await the cost analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

Paul is leading the Senate opposition, working closely with House conservatives. An ophthalmologist, he opposes federal subsidies to buy insurance and has offered his own replacement bill. Lets vote on all the replacement plans and see what happens.

Lee joined Paul in early opposition to the House plan, and has been particularly critical of GOP leaders for engaging in the type of back-room dealing that produced the bill and is now pushing it to a vote. Quieter than many colleagues, he is among the most conservative in the Senate, making him influential in and out of Washington.

Cruz is emerging as a possible deal-maker, shuttling back and forth between House and Senate conservatives and dinner with Trump at the White House. He opposes the House bill, but wants to address Freedom Caucus concerns and make sure Republicans dont miss this opportunity to get a bill to the presidents desk.

Collins is among the more moderate Republicans, but represents a growing flank of GOP senators concerned that patients will lose healthcare options, particularly with the House GOPs elimination of Planned Parenthood funds. Why should those women have to change doctors? she told Katie Couric at Yahoo News. That doesnt make sense.

Portman is among a group of four GOP senators who raised early concerns about reducing federal funds for states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare. After a meeting this week with Vice President Mike Pence, he appeared no closer to supporting the GOP bill. We all share the goal of repealing and replacing Obamacare with a better plan, he said. I will continue to work with the administration and my colleagues to address these concerns.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

Twitter: @LisaMascaro

ALSO:

Republicans unveil plan to repeal and replace Obamacare amid conflicting pressures

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Voices of internal opposition: These Republicans could tank the GOP Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill - Los Angeles Times

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement SWAT Public Domain, Link

March 9, 2017; Washington Post

Immigration courts are buckling under a backlog of more than 540,000 cases, and in lockstep with the unstaunched refugee crisis coupled with soaring immigration bond prices, there is no mystery as to how 350,000-plus detainees (asylum seekers, visa violators and those charged with crimes) wound up swelling ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) facilities between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016.

This federal fiscal year, President Trumps comfortless border security policies are going to give a huge bump to those numbers if his administrations simple and single-minded plans are implemented in full force. When it comes to protecting the rights of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants and other detainees, theres no one guarding this ICE henhouse. Very few among the imprisoned can afford to post their own bonds, and other undocumented immigrants face detainment if they attempt to pay on their behalf. However, now comes Libre by Nexus, exacting pounds of flesh in exchange for freedom and a GPS tracking device.

Libre (free in Spanish) by Nexus is a middleman connecting desperate detainees to bail bond companies who front a percentage of the bond in surety to the government, securing detainee release pending resolution of forestalled court proceedingswhich may be years off and counting. Detainees can rarely afford their own bail nor have substantial collateral like houses or other property to put up for bail bond companies.

Libre by Nexus was formed in 2013 by two highly seasoned check-kiting felons, chief executive Micheal Donovan and his husband Richard Moore. They had a long history of leaving large bills unpaid, highlighted by Donovans 1999 plea to eight felonies for ripping off four Northern Virginia hotels, which led to time served of seven months after Donovan failed to pay a $45,000 bond. Accordingly, Libre by Nexus cant act directly as bail bondsmen because of the founders felony convictions.

Of particular interest to NPQ readers, the pair claimed that Project Nexus, a former venture assisting general population criminal defendants, was a nonprofit organization, though Libre by Nexus staff concede it was never registered as such. Their new business model, though, is highly profitable, as is always the case when customers have no other choicespend bottomless time in insufferable ICE facilities, or pay twenty percent of the immigration bond plus fees, as well as $14 per day for the privilege of donning an uncomfortable and discomfiting GPS tracker on their ankle.

Detainees released with Libre by Nexuss help claim their contracts come with verbal threats of return to ICE facilities if they dont pay the $420 per month for the GPS tracking devices, the equivalent cost of leasing a car. There have been cases of burns and other injuries from the GPS devices, and also claims of usury, as clients who have spent sizable sums to repay Libre by Nexus for the cost of the bond find they have made little headway in reducing the principal.

Donovan paints a different picturethat of a benevolent service provider stepping in where detainees have no other means of obtaining freedom. I care about our clients, he says. It would be awesome to not have to charge them any money, but thats not really the system we live in. He denies threats of re-detention, states that detainees are offered contracts in their native language, and promises the tracking devices are safe and a good deal.

On the last part, at least the numbers tell a different storyBI, a company that contracts directly with ICE, charges the government $4.41 per immigrant per day for the same service, a $50 million dollar annual expense for the agency. Court documents show Libre by Nexus rents the tracking devices for merely $3 per day, which is a lowball figure according to the company, though it wont disclose a countervailing figureperhaps because there isnt one.

These numbers and stories of woe shed light on Libre by Nexuss seemingly predatory enterprise, whose success will likely breed competitors to step in and share the spoils. Libre by Nexus has found practically free money, with nearly 13,000 customers to date and more than $30 million in annual revenues, with 200 employees scattered over 30 offices, including one in El Salvador. Donovan plans to hire at least 150 additional employees this year and expects his client list to double. Donovan and Moore were once lobbyists for bail bond companies, seeking to enact legislation in Virginia and Colorado (under the euphonious Safe Streets Colorado slogan) that would limit programs for and rights of criminal defendants in favor of bail bondsmens bottom lines (both efforts fell flat). Now, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott is a lobbyist for their company.

Donovan attests to his efforts in support of immigration reform, including seeking protection for dreamers. Donovan states, I employ lobbyists every day that seek to pass legislation that would put us out of businessIm a bit of an enigma that way. More likely, this is a deliberately fashioned front in support of his underlying business model, knowing full well that there is little chance reform will occur against the current headwinds.Louis Altman

Read more:

Freedom's Just Another Word for $14 a Day - The Nonprofit Quarterly (registration)

The White House is not ruling out altering a Republican-crafted health care overhaul measure by accelerating a Medicaid expansion roll back, a move that could garner more conservative votes, although it could jeopardize support from GOP moderates and senators from states who have used the program to cover the uninsured.

The bill, which has been approved by two key House committees, would nix the 2010 health laws expansion of the entitlement program in 2020. Thats not soon enough for many House conservatives, and a reason why the White House and GOP leaders appear to lack the 218 votes needed to send the overhaul measure to the Senate.

Right now, the date thats in the bill is what the president supports, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Friday. But President Donald Trump is willing to listen to other ideas, his top spokesman said.

The presidents also been very clear through all of the discussions... that as he meets with members of Congress and outside groups, that if someones got an idea that can make this legislation more accessible, give more choice to the American people, drive down costs, make it more patient-centric, Spicer said, he wants to listen to it.

[On Paper, Trumps First 50 Days Resemble Previous Presidents]

Both the House Freedom Caucus and Republican Study Committee have called for the change.

Earlier Friday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy pushed back, saying, right now, that would be very difficult to do.

Most of the action between the White House and Congress in recent weeks has focused on the health care overhaul push. But that wasnt all on the agenda at Fridays briefing.

The administration wants to finalize its fiscal 2018 budget request, then use that to inform talks with Capitol Hill about funding the government for the rest of the current fiscal year. Stop-gap funding for fiscal 2017 currently expires April 28.

They go hand-in-hand. You need to close our FY-17, then our budget lays out where we want to go FY-18, Spicer said in response to a question from CQ Roll Call. And I think once we have a handle on FY-18, we can start to backfill 2017.

[(VIDEO)White House Watch: Three Things to Watch as Trump Navigates Health Debate]

Steve Bell, a former Senate aide now with the Bipartisan Policy Center, puts ehe odds of a late-April shutdown at 50-50.

Much depends upon the size of the anticipated defense/security supplemental which would increase deficits unless all of the reported $30 billion is [overseas contingency operations monies] or emergency, Bell said Friday.

If deficit hawks hold their noses and vote to extend the debt limit, and vote for repeal and replace even if it increases deficit/debt, Bell said, then it might be hard to get them to vote for large deficits that will be contained in the FY-17 appropriations bills.

Spicer also was posed several questions about whether Trump knew that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, needed to be registered as a foreign agent over work he did on behalf of the Turkish government.

He replied that, legally, it was up to Flynn to register himself.

We did the right thing then when Trump transition officials, prior to taking office, directed Flynn to take the information to the right lawyers, Spicer said. He declined again to say whether Trump would have hired him had he known.

Finally, Spicer confirmed that Trump has invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House. He did not say whether Abbas has accepted, nor when the visit might take place.

Joe Williams contributed to this report.

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Trump Open to Earlier Freeze of Medicaid Expansion - Roll Call

Rev. CJ Rhodes, Guest Columnist 2:54 p.m. CT March 10, 2017

The Rev. CJ Rhodes(Photo: File photo)

Clergy for Prison Reform applauds the Mississippi Legislature for its continued efforts to improve the criminal justice system in our state. Over the last several years, lawmakers have demonstrated courageousness by enacting common sense laws that focus on morality, not just money. As citizens, we have been proud to boast about the Mississippi criminal justice reforms, setting an example for other Southern states. Yet, there remains work to be done.

Since its inception in March 2015, CPR has advocated for a more holistic and humane approach to incarceration and remediation. A diverse group of Christian pastors and community leaders representing theological and political conservatives, moderates, progressives and Libertarians join hands and hearts to advocate for a system that considers both the human and fiscal cost of an unjust criminal justice system.

On Tuesday, CPR held its second annual Policy Summit at the state Capitol, where members of the clergy from across the Mississippi advanced CPRs 2017 policy platform. We urged the Legislature to consider the following:

Mississippians suffering from drug addiction and mental illness do not belong in prison. CPR supports the reclassification of low-level simple drug possession as a misdemeanor and other measures that focus on rehabilitation and healing over incarceration. CPR supports the use of prison alternatives, such as drug courts, for those convicted of nonviolent offenses.

Mississippi should reform its habitual offender statute to ensure nonviolent offenders do not spend the rest of their lives behind bars. CPR supports limiting the crimes that trigger sentencing enhancements. A defendants sentence should only be enhanced under the most serious circumstances where there are multiple convictions for crimes of violence. CPR supports redemption and forgiveness for all of Gods children. A persons mistakes should not follow them for the rest of their lives. CPR also supports the creation of a cleansing period for prior convictions after a period of time following the persons reentry into society, as well as not allowing past juvenile convictions to trigger longer prison stays as an adult.

Mississippi must pass state legislation to end the operation of debtors prisons. CPR supports bail reform because individuals should not lose their freedom simply because they are too poor to afford bail or other court fines and fees.

Mississippians deserve a chance for redemption and an opportunity to fulfill Gods purpose for their lives. CPR supports expanding parole eligibility to individuals who do not have a history of violence and have served a significant portion of their sentence.

As citizens of this great state and religious leaders in our communities, we will continue striving for better ways to reduce crime, recidivism and community disintegration which will include actively engaging with the legislative process. This issue extends beyond the criminal justice system. Adequate education, community investment, economic opportunities and spiritual and moral formation, among other things, are necessary elements in holistic criminal justice reform.

This is not simply about math it is about Gods men, women and children. We are grateful for the Legislatures commitment to improving communities and furthering justice, and we pray that this will be an opportunity to build on previous gains made by our state. Ultimately, we must extend the same love, forgiveness and opportunities for redemption to others as he has done for us.

Rehabilitating incarcerated people makes moral and fiscal sense. We have proven we can lower the prison population while preserving public safety. Legislators have an opportunity to directly impact the lives of tens of thousands of Mississippians.

We are moving in the right direction, but there is much more to be done. We must push forward. CPR has faith that Mississippis political leadership will make the right decision they will put Gods people before politics.

The Rev. CJ Rhodes is president of Clergy for Prison Reform and pastor at Mount Helm Baptist Church.

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Celebrate prison reform, yet push forward - Jackson Clarion Ledger

Progress on a Code of Conduct, as Chinas Tourism Plans Move Forward

Chinese tourists pictured on a cruise to the Paracel Islands last year. (Photo: Liu Zhen via South China Morning Post)

China claimed progress on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea this week, and the countrys bold plans to turn the Paracels into a tourist haven took steps forward.

In Beijing, Hainan provincial delegates unveiled preliminary plans to begin tourism flights to the Paracels, and a Chinese cruise ship made its maiden journey from Sanya to the island group, carrying 308 Chinese passengers. A remarkable video produced by the South China Morning Post shows passengers, who paid between $500 and $3,000 and passed a political screening test, taking in a South China Sea documentary and participating in a Chinese-flag-raising ceremony. Also depicted in the video are the austere conditions of Chinese civilians who are paid to occupy the islands.

The ships voyage is a further step toward routinizing civilian access to the islands, where cruise operator Hainan Strait Shipping says tourists can play beach volleyball, dive, fish and take wedding photos. China intends to maintain a continued civilian presence on the islands in order to support their legal claims and administrative dominion over the disputed island region.

In a press conference during the Fifth Session of the 12th National People's Congress, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that a China-ASEAN joint working group successfully produced a draft Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea (SCS). While the draft COC has not been made publicly available, senior officials with Chinese government-affiliated research institutes have said that it would call for a halt in the militarization of islands and require all countries to stop installing offensive weapons, but would grant leeway for countries to maintain defensive weapons.

Wang said that tensions in the SCS have significantly abated over recent months due to efforts by the working group members, and added that if someone should try to make waves and stir trouble, they will have no support but meet the common opposition of the entire region. He went on to praise Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for appropriately [handling] the South China Sea issue and actively [improving] relations with China. Duterte, if not always others in his administration, has struck a conciliatory tone with the Chinese and downplayed the significance of maritime conflict.

Holding the chairmanship of ASEAN this year, the Philippines agreed to fast-track discussions and work towards a COC that garners the unanimous consent of all ASEAN parties. The first China-ASEAN Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea was signed in 2002.

China

Just days after President Donald Trump requested a sharp increase in defense spending, China announced that it would raise its military budget by about 7 percent, the smallest increase in nearly a decade. The reduced rate of spending growth reflects the countrys slowing economic performance. Even so, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed an increase in forces dedicated to offshore locations, which include islands in the East and South China Seas.

Three Chinese warships returned to port this week after a 25-day voyage during which they performed drills and traversed the South China Sea, East China Sea, and the East Indian Ocean. During this years National Peoples Congress, retired general Liu Xiaojiang advocated a shift in focus from land to naval forces, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi appeared to take a hard line against U.S. Navy activity in the South China Sea region, saying, China will never allow the hard-won stability [in the South China Sea] to be disrupted again.

Finally, China this week unveiled the worlds largest offshore drilling rig, a Chinese-constructed semi-submersible vessel capable of exploring, among other remote locations, the deep waters of the energy-rich South China Sea.

United States

The Department of Defense released its fiscal year 2016 Freedom of Navigation (FON) Report this week. During that period, the United States conducted FON operations challenging the maritime claims of 22 countries, including China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Among the most commonly challenged practices was a requirement for prior notification of foreign military vessels transiting through a country's territorial seas.

Japan

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighters jets last Thursday after 13 Chinese military aircraft were spotted flying through the Miyako Strait between Japan's southern islands of Okinawa and Miyako. The Japanese Defense Ministry said the Chinese aircraft did not violate Japanese airspace. The aircraft, which included fighters, bombers and early warning aircraft, flew through the Strait in conjunction with a large Chinese naval drill in the East China Sea.

Taiwan

The Taiwanese navy displayed new plans for an Amphibious Landing Helicopter Dock Ship at an indigenous shipbuilding exhibition, the first such public presentation since the navy unexpectedly scrapped a previous plan last year. According to the listed specifications, the ship would be able to accommodate at least six large helicopters at the same time, would have a top speed of 30 knots, an actively electronically scanned array radar, and an advanced sonar system, and would be armed with an OTO Melara 76mm gun and an air defense missile system. A helicopter carrier could also potentially provide a platform for vertical take-off and landing warplanes that the Taiwanese military has considered purchasing, including Harriers, V-22 Ospreys, and the new F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter. The plan represents only the navy's vision and remains subject to government approval and funding capacity.

Philippines

Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana, along with other top Philippine government officials, visited the USS Carl Vinson on Saturday, as the aircraft carrier continues its South China Sea patrols.

Separately, in remarks to the media on Thursday, Lorenzana expressed alarm over Chinese vessel activity in Benham Rise, within the Philippines exclusive economic zone and considered part of the country's continental shelf. Lorenzana said that he suspects the Chinese were conducting seabed survey missions in the area, and that he ordered the navy to drive away any Chinese vessels seen in the area in the future. He also alluded to a Chinese plan from last year to start reclamation activities in the Scarborough Shoal, which is within the Philippine EEZ but controlled by the Chinese coast guard. The United States intervened, Lorenzana said, and was able to dissuade the Chinese from crossing what would be a red line for both the Philippines and the United States.

Malaysia

A Vietnamese freighter evaded an attack by pirates near the Turtle Islands off the coast of Sabah, reaching Malaysian territorial waters where the vessel was met by forces from Malaysia's Eastern Sabah Security Command and escorted to port. The Turtle Islands are located in the Philippine province of Tawi Tawi, approximately 130 nautical miles west of where a deadly attack on a Vietnamese vessel occurred two weeks ago.

Australia

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, in Jakarta for the Indian Ocean Rim Association summit, clarified that there is no plan to conduct joint military patrols with Indonesia in the South China Sea. Referencing comments Indonesian President Joko Widodo made last month after the two countries agreed to restore military cooperation, Bishop said Widodo was not talking about joint exercises as such, he was talking about cooperation in maintaining freedom of overflight and freedom of navigation through the South China Sea."

The Navys FY 2016 FONOP report generated a wide range of responses this week. Ankit Panda commended the Navys even-handed approach to challenging territorial claims in the South China Sea, but Joseph Boscos take on the report was darker, parsing its language to draw the conclusion that the U.S.s operations last year actually had the effect of conceding territory to China. In Foreign Policy, Ely Ratner of the Council on Foreign Relations proposed concrete measures the Trump Administration could take to turn its tough but capricious rhetoric on China into action, saying, Theres a right way to get off on the wrong foot with China.

Forbes contributor Ralph Jennings shed light on how economic dependence on China drives Bruneis non-confrontational approach to South China Sea disputes. In the Naval War College Review, Lyle Morris of the RAND Corporation discussed the evolving role of coast guards in both contributing to and managing SCS disputes, concluding that to reduce tension and build trust, the the countries of the region should create a multilateral coast guard forum with both information-sharing and operational components. Finally, Patrick Cronin and Seongwon Lee make the case for South Korea to take on a larger role in Southeast Asian security affairs, highlighting its critical interest in protecting the free flow of commerce through the region.

See the article here:

Water Wars: Sun and Sand in the South China Sea - Lawfare (blog)

Tennessee is one of the nine states that significantly cut taxes in the 2016 legislative session, according to an annual report released last week by the American Legislative Exchange Councils Center for State Fiscal Reform.

In the ALEC news release, Johnathan Williams, chief economist and vice president of the Center for State Fiscal Reform, said that Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Utah were also highlighted for enacting changes that provided substantial taxpayer relief.

While hardworking American taxpayers have painstakingly waited 30 years for comprehensive tax reform at the federal level, states continue to take the lead by providing meaningful tax relief, he said.

Of the nine states, Mississippi, Florida, New York and Tennessee achieved landmark tax relief during their 2016 legislative sessions.

The report said Tennessees recent phase-outs of the death tax and Hall income tax the 6-percent tax on interest from savings, notes, stocks and bonds, which will be phased-out by one percent each year until its complete elimination in 2022 will likely heighten the states prosperity, based on evidence from other no-income states.

As Tennessee lawmakers are already considering ways to further provide taxpayer relief in the 2017 legislative session, the report pointed out that the burden of taxation can be successfully minimized by enacting a principled tax system that isnt aimed at class warfare or social engineering.

Tax reform may have stalled out on the federal level, but these nine states took a step in the right direction, Joel Griffith, director of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force at ALEC, added in the release. After all, states with lower tax burdens and more economic freedom regularly outperform their higher tax and more restrictive counterparts. Legislators successfully implementing pro-growth tax cuts are leading the way for others.

See more here:

Tennessee highlighted for 2016 tax cuts - Maryville Daily Times

[Ed. Note: To see exactly what this former Reagan insider has to say about Trump and the fiscal threats from politics and the debt ceiling, David Stockman is sending out a copy of his bookTrumped! A Nation on the Brink of Ruin And How to Bring It Backto any American willing to listen before it is too late. To learn how to get your free copyCLICK HERE.]

At the peak of the Dutch tulip mania, bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman and a single rare specimen bulb (Semper Augustus) purportedly changed hands for the equivalent of 12 acres of prime land.

But after rising 8X in a few months, the reckoning came in February 1637. The tulip bulb price index came crashing back to where it had started in, well, November of the prior year!

So it might be wondered whether this most recent November to February (into March) mania is there yet. That question is especially important in light of the fact that Trumps recent address to Congress amounted to the proverbial clanging bell at the top.

In giving the most fiscally irresponsible speech since LBJs guns and butter, the Donald proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he and his team have no clue about the horrific fiscal facts of life confronting them.

They are utterly unaware, apparently, that they are plowing right into a Grand Debt Trap that will put the kibosh on not only the vaunted Trump Stimulus, but on the entire 30-year era of Bubble Finance.

But before I get back to more detail on the Grand Debt Trap ahead, it is worth noting what happened during a more recent November to March blow-off rally. I am referring to the infamous dotcom mania, of course, and it just so happens that there is a nice symmetry in the numbers as they pertain to the present.

Between October 24, 1999 and March 22, 2000, the NASDAQ 100 rose from 2,460 to 4,600 or 87%. After that parabolic climb, however, it soon plunged back to where it had started in October. Nor was the year 2000 collapse close to done it plunged a further 67% through October 2002.

Like the NASDAQ blow-off of 2000, the current Trump-O-Mania rally started on November 2. As it happened back then, however, the NASDAQ 100 peaked shortly after the Fed raised interest rates (again) on March 21. Yet as CNN reported that day, the Feds action was considered to be no big threat to a then unstoppable bull:

For financial markets, the rate increase and the short announcement that followed was a non-event, mostly because Wall Street had widely expected the Fed to do exactly what it did.

There wasnt a black swan in the sky, it seemed until there suddenly began a dizzying two-year plunge of almost 85% from the nosebleed peak.

This time there is an Orange Swan hovering above the market, but it appears equally unrecognized by todays punters. I am referring to the fact that the headline reading algos have totally misread the Trump Stimulus.

The robo-machines and the remaining troop of day-trading carbon units that mimic them can only read words, not the political tea leaves. Accordingly, when the Donald promised a big, big corporate cut and a massive tax reduction for the middle class and also a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to rebuild Americas roads, bridges, airports, hospitals and schools, the machines dutifully priced it in.

But what they havent reckoned with is that the debt ceiling clock starts ticking on March 15 when the current holiday expires. It will then freeze in at approximately $20 trillion, leaving the Treasurys coffers with about $200 billion in cash.

But the Trump Administration blew through $204 billion of cash during its first 35 days in office. That fact was apparently unbeknownst to the President, who tweeted the complete falsehood that he had already reduced the public debt by $12 billion.

Au contraire!

The U.S. Treasury is bleeding red ink profusely notwithstanding Janet Yellens comical claim that the American economy is closing in on the Keynesian nirvana of full employment. During the first four-and-one-half months of FY 2017, in fact, Uncle Sams net debt increased an astonishing $532 billion. That amounts to an annualized borrowing rate of $1.3 trillion.

Given the Treasurys cash burn rate of $3-4 billion per calendar day, the U.S. Treasury will have 50-75 days of cash when the debt ceiling clock starts ticking again on March 15. Thats less than a week away.

And that means it will run out of cash long before any tax bill even gets out of the House Ways and Means Committee or infrastructure bill even gets tabled.

Indeed, the Wall Street robo-machines are abysmally un-programmed with respect to the entire budgetary process. The fact is, none of the components of the Trump Stimulus can happen until both houses pass and agree to a FY 2018 budget resolution with its 10-year path for revenues, spending, deficits and the public debt.

It is only through a budget resolution that encompasses a comprehensive long-term fiscal plan that it is possible to get a reconciliation instruction for the tax bill; and without that parliamentary mechanism, tax reform will die in a Senate 60-vote filibuster stage managed by the K-Street lobbies.

But heres the thing. The ticking debt ceiling clock will mightily interfere with if not block completely the process of reaching an agreement within the GOP caucuses on the FY 2018 budget resolution.

In fact, the legislative and political maneuvering in the run up to this summers debt ceiling vote will powerfully concentrate the minds of the backbench fiscal hawks. It will remind them that their fate under the massive deficits embedded in the Trump Stimulus will be to walk the plank time after time to raise the debt ceiling!

Moreover, as the media finally begins to focus on the rapidly dwindling cash balance at the Treasury, it will elicit a maneuvering, bargaining and posturing spectacle inside the GOP caucus that will make Speaker Ryan wish to send the gavel back to John Boehner.

The fiscal conservatives will demand entitlement reforms, but Trump says no. The Trump White House has embraced an utterly stupid and unnecessary plan to bust the sequester caps and add $54 billion to the already bloated $600 billion defense budget for FY 2018 alone and proposed to offset it with draconian cuts to domestic agencies and the State Depart/foreign aid budget which are already dead in the water in the GOP Senate.

But heres the newsflash. The FY 2018 sequester caps of $548 billion for defense and $518 billion for non-defense discretionary spending are chiseled in law under the BCA (Budget Control Act).

There is not a snowballs chance in the hot place that a bill could pass the House which raised defense to more than $600 billion, while slashing the domestic cap to under $500 billion. There would be blood on the floor from one end of the Capitol Building to the other.

By the same token, there would be an outright revolt by the Freedom Caucus if both caps are raised which is the only way to assemble a legislative majority.

In the meanwhile, the drive to repeal and replace Obamacare is already deeply fracturing the House GOP, and its going to get progressively worse.

Whats happening is that the Freedom Caucus is quickly figuring out what I documented already. Namely, that the Ryan plan for repeal and replace is actually little more than Obamacare Lite. Not only will the $7 trillion 10-year cost under current law not be reduced in any material way, but the Ryan plan will also establish what amounts to a new age-based entitlement to health tax credits.

Taken together, all of these battles over the sequester caps, Obamacare repeal, a new continuing resolution for FY 2017 appropriates which will be needed to avoid a government shutdown in later April will take their toll.

Accordingly, the Mother of All Debt Ceiling Crisis will occur for the simple reason that there is no pathway to a House and Senate majority for a multi-trillion debt ceiling increase.

Perhaps thats because Washington has never been there before. That is, facing down a $20 trillion public debt with $10 trillion more in the pipeline over the next decade, and a clueless team in the White House that wants to pile trillions more of red ink on top of that.

In a word, the algorithms driving the stock averages to tulip bulb mania highs cant possibly anticipate the political firestorm that is coming down the pike.

When it hits, the machines will begin puking up a tsunami of sell orders like never before. When the dust finally settles, there will surely be some new charts that will give the October-March plunges depicted above a run for their money.

Regards,

David Stockman for The Daily Reckoning

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It's Tulip Time! - Daily Reckoning

The followings is the Fiscal Year 2016 summary of the Department of Defense freedom of navigation operations.

Albania*

Prior authorization required for foreign warships to enter the territorial sea (TTS); excessive straight baselines.

Brazil

Consent required for military exercises or maneuvers in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Cambodia

Excessive straight baselines.

China*

Excessive straight baselines; jurisdiction over airspace above the EEZ; restriction on foreign aircraft flying through an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) without the intent to enter national airspace; domestic law criminalizing survey activity by foreign entities in the EEZ; prior permission required for innocent passage of foreign military ships through the TTS.

Croatia

Prior notification required for foreign warships to exercise innocent passage in the TTS.

India*

Prior consent required for military exercises or maneuvers in the EEZ; security jurisdiction claimed in the contiguous zone.

Indonesia*

Limits on archipelagic sea lane passage through normal routes used for international navigation; prior notification required for foreign warships to enter the TTS and archipelagic waters; restriction on stopping, dropping anchor, or cruising without legitimate reason in seas adjoining TTS.

Iran*

Restrictions on right of transit passage through Strait of Hormuz to Parties of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; prohibition on foreign military activities and practices in the EEZ.

Italy

Claimed historic bay status for the Gulf of Taranto.

Japan

Excessive straight baselines.

Malaysia*

Prior authorization required for nuclear-powered ships to enter the TTS; military exercises or maneuvers in the EEZ requires prior consent.

Maldives*

Prior authorization required for foreign ships to enter the EEZ.

Malta

Passage by foreign warships through the TTS subject to prior consent or prior notification.

Oman*

Prior permission required for innocent passage of foreign military ships through the TTS; requirement for innocent passage through the Strait of Hormuz (an international strait).

Pakistan*

Prior consent required for foreign warships to conduct military exercises or maneuvers in the EEZ.

Philippines*

Claims archipelagic waters as internal waters.

South Korea

Excessive straight baselines; prior notification required for foreign military or government vessels to enter the TTS.

Taiwan*

Prior notification required for foreign military or government vessels to enter the TTS.

Thailand

Excessive straight baselines; consent required for military exercises in the EEZ.

Tunisia

Excessive straight baselines.

Venezuela*

Prior permission for overflight of the EEZ and Flight Identification Region (FIR).

Vietnam*

Prior notification required for foreign warships to enter the TTS.

* designates multiple challenges to the claim(s) during the reporting period.

Go here to read the rest:

Document: Pentagon 2016 Freedom of Navigation Report - USNI News

When Paul Ryan wanted to spend more money, his budget got blown up. When John Boehner tried the same thing earlier on, an axe suddenly came down on his head. And now that Obamacare repeal is on the table, Vice President Mike Pence must succeed where those House speakers failed.

Specifically, Pence must win over the combative and determined House Freedom Caucus. Nothing less than the entire White House healthcare agenda rests on his ability to woo 40 of the most conservative representatives in the 435-member House. Already, though, it's been tough going.

In a closed-door meeting on the Hill this morning, Pence warned Republicans not to mount a revolt against a recently released Obamacare repeal package. A few hours later, members of the Freedom Caucus gathered for a press conference in front of the Capitol to give their answer.

"Our goal is real simple," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told a gaggle of reporters, "bring down the cost of insurance for working and middle-class families across the country." Without addressing Pence by name, Jordan dismissed the vice president, describing the American Healthcare Act as "Obamacare in a different form."

Specifically, the feathers of the fiscal hawks have been ruffled by the news Republican leadership planned to install a new system of refundable tax credits and keep Obamacare's Medicaid expansion in place until 2020. Long story short: The Freedom Caucus won't listen.

That's not exactly a surprising development. Both Jordan and Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., told the Washington Examiner that leadership's repeal bill was a non-starter. "It doesn't matter who comes to us and asks us to go along with this devastating program," Brat said late Monday night. "The answer will be no." That's a bitter and personal bummer for everyone involved.

Last September, after Ryan told House Republicans to go their own way, Freedom Caucus members went out campaigning for the Trump-Pence ticket. When the nominee was behind by double digits, Brat and Jordan were climbing onstage next to the vice president in Ohio and Virginia. Ever since Trump won that election, though, the conservative faction has been losing influence.

Like a cheap date, the White House has taken a shine to leadership and left behind the Freedom Caucus. Sure, Trump elevated an original member of the Freedom Caucus, South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, to head up his Budget Office. Other than personnel changes, though, the administration hasn't followed the group's lead on policy. Soon things will get even more awkward.

Tomorrow, Jordan plans to head to the House floor and introduce a 2015 bill that thoroughly guts Obamacare. But when he dredges up the pastjust three House Republicans voted against the bill before Obama vetoed itthere won't be any going back.

Also from the Washington Examiner

House conservatives aren't jumping on board with the Republican leadership's healthcare plan despite cajoling over the last 36 hours from top lawmakers, and two prominent members are sending out the message that they'll go their own way.

Rep. Mark Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan, the first two chairmen of the House Freedom Caucus, said Wednesday they're introducing a clean repeal of the Affordable Care Act and they refuse to get on board with the House GOP plan heading to committee Wednesday.

Jordan said on MSNBC that it's fulfilling a promise to the American people.

"Let's do what we told them we're going to do," he said. "Let's do what they sent us here to do.

03/08/17 8:51 AM

Just like they bucked Boehner and Ryan before, the Freedom Caucus will be revolting against the White House. And right now, there doesn't seem like there's anything Pence can do about it.

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

Original post:

Mike Pence vs. the House Freedom Caucus? - Washington Examiner

Michronicleonline

Trump's anti-immigrant policies causing severe pain in Detroit Michronicleonline Over the past fiscal year, Freedom House has helped 136 people from 26 different countries, 85 percent of whom were from Africa. The average length of stay was 217 days. Additionally, there were 7 percent from the Middle East, 3 percent from Asia, and ... Attorneys, Refugee Advocates Clash With Trump On Revised Immigration OrderWSHU Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United StatesThe White House all 85 news articles »

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Trump's anti-immigrant policies causing severe pain in Detroit - Michronicleonline

As we celebrate International Women's Day, I think of the courageous Libyan women who played a key role in sparking the 2011 revolution. Today, women play a pivotal role in preserving their families freedom from fear and freedom from want. Unfortunately, they are still too often deprived from a real freedom of speech, and absent from the political life. Only with a fair participation of women in all levels of the Libyan political and social life, can peace security and prosperity be achieved.

Libyan women have provided critical assistance to vulnerable people affected by armed conflict, something that has been recognized beyond the countrys borders. The women of Libyan population are too often the most affected by the conflict. Libyan women and girls are more vulnerable to kidnapping, physical assault and other forms of violence.

Recently, the courage of Libyan women was applauded across the region and the world when they you stood up fearlessly and united against a travel ban preventing them from traveling outside of Libya.

What women are demanding today will shape the future of young girls and generations to come in Libya, to enjoy a life free from fear, violence, and conflict with access to education, technology and knowledge. There can be no claim of democratic and modern state without their full and active participation in political, social and economic initiatives.

As recalled by this years theme of the International Women Day, by 2030, we must achieve a 50-50 representation of women and men in the workplace, including in decision-making positions in state institutions and civil society organizations. The United Nations will always stay committed to support and empower Libyan women as effective agents for peace in Libya.

I wish all Libyan women, girls and men a successful and fruitful International Womens Day. Continue to fight for your rights. We, the people of the United Nations will continue to stand by your side.

Note to Editors

International Womens Day 2017: The official United Nations theme for International Women's Day, 8 March, 2017 is Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030. The world of work is changing, and with significant implications for women. On the one hand, we have globalization, technological and digital revolution and the opportunities they bring, and on the other hand, the growing informality of labour, unstable livelihoods and incomes, new fiscal and trade policies and environmental impacts all of which must be addressed in the context of womens economic empowerment.

Resolution 1325: The Security Council adopted resolution (S/RES/1325) on women and peace and security on 31 October 2000. The resolution reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. Resolution 1325 urges all actors to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspectives in all United Nations peace and security efforts. It also calls on all parties to conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict. The resolution provides a number of important operational mandates, with implications for Member States and the entities of the United Nations system.

Link:

SRSG statement on the occasion of International Women Day 8 March 2017 Towards equal participation of women in ... - Reliefweb

[Ed. Note: To see exactly what this former Reagan insider has to say about Trump and the fiscal threats of the debt ceiling, David Stockman is sending out a copy of his book Trumped! A Nation on the Brink of Ruin And How to Bring It Backto any American willing to listen before it is too late. To learn how to get your free copy CLICK HERE.]

David Stockman joined CNBCto offer a stark warning for investors that continue to follow Wall Street on a path of misreading Trumps policies while Washington is headed toward a fiscal bloodbath.

Stockman started out his fiscal warning saying, I think that Wall Street is totally misreading Washington. It is pricing in a fantasy about a Trump stimulus that simply is not going to happen. There will be no big tax cut, there will be no $15 or $20 a share reduction in the corporate rate. Infrastructure stimulus [isnt going to happen].

The host then prompted how Stockman knew this to which he pushed, we are heading into a debt ceiling trap that will grind the whole system to a halt by June or July. People are forgetting that weve been on a debt ceiling holiday. That holiday ends on March 15.

David Stockman is the former Budget Director under President Ronald Reagan. He also served in Congress where he was a two-term Congressman representing Michigan. Following his service in the U.S government, Stockman went on to work on Wall Street. Currently he is the bestselling author of Trumped! A Nation on the Brink And How to Bring It Back learn how to get your FREE copy CLICK HERE.

The CNBC host then posed that this was not a new scenario to Donald Trump. David Stockman then took the point to task noting that, This is totally new to Donald Trump. He tweeted last weekend that he had reduced the national debt by $12 billion. It is actually up $187 billion in the first 35 days that he has been in office. The cash on the Treasurys balance sheet, and this is the key point, was $382 billion the day he was sworn in as of last Friday it hit $178 billion and has bled $200 billion in cash.

Thats one fifth of a trillion while he didnt even have his economic team in place. When they get to March 15 and the debt ceiling freezes at $20 trillion, theyll have maybe $200 billion of cash. That is being run out at a rate of $3-5 billion a day. By June it will be gone. There is no pathway to a majority in the House or Senate to pass a debt ceiling increase in the trillions in order to make any of this stuff possible.

When asked about whether Trumps negotiation tactic, The Art of the Deal, is presenting a different way of running the system than before Stockman did not hold back. He pushed, [Trump might be doing that] But that makes it even more dangerous and reckless. This isnt an Atlantic City Casino and the junk bond markets of 1991. This is the big time this is $20 trillion of debt. This is an environment with a House, Republican majority that doesnt exist. Thats a delusion. This is an environment of a gang of factions. Theyre already beginning to splinter and fracture as a result of the Obamacare plan of repeal and replace.

They wont even get to tax reform before the debt crisis hits. We will have a government shutdown. It is totally unexpected, unpriced in, as they say by Wall Street. It will spook everybody. Trump is so reckless that this could go on for days, weeks or months in a way that weve never seen before. The 2011 with Obama will be a Sunday school picnic compared to what is likely coming down the pike.

Following the Presidents speech to Congress the Dow Jones along with the S&P 500 jumped in a bullish tone following the Trump policy agenda. Stockman took the speech through an entirely different approach. He noted, The Joint Session of Congress speech from last Tuesday night was irrelevant. It was the most fiscally irresponsible speech given by a President since LBJ talked about guns and butter. How can he possibly raise defense by $50 billion, more for Veterans, a trillion dollar or more for infrastructure, medical credits and all of the rest while cutting taxes by $3-5 trillion? This is complete madness.

When asked by the CNBC host about whether it was good policy for Donald Trump to continue to take credit for the rise in the stock market Stockman took the Presidents mistake to task. I think hell rue the day he took credit. You should never predicate what youre trying to do for the long-run, as well as intended as he might be, for what the robo-machines are doing on Wall Street. The robo-machines can read words and when Trump speaks, they hit the buy key. They cant read the tea leaves in Washington because it is far more complex and opaque than the stimulus the machines are used to.

He was then asked about the 2012-2013 and the fiscal cliff worries and how they managed to raise the debt ceiling but why a now Republican lead Congress and White House will not be able to be solve the debt dilemma? Stockman doubled down on his claim noting, We now have a Republican president and a Republican Congress that is not about to start a bipartisan negotiation, like Obama did with former Speaker of the House Boehner. The reason that the Freedom Caucus exists today, and that the Tea Party is still half of the back bench, is because they believe they were sold out time after time. That is how they passed the debt ceiling.

Now Trump has declared war on the Democrats, the border, immigrants. The Democrats are not going to deliver any votes, in my view, for a debt ceiling increase unless he throws in the towel on Obamacare and border control. The politics today are three times more fragile than they were in any of the years mentioned with the fiscal cliff.

When asked on his belief that the markets would much lower and to what extent he responded, There is a massive fantasy built in that an economy 92 months into an expansion, almost the longest in history, can suddenly get up on its hind-legs and start growing again. Profits are still down. In the last 12 months theyre still about 10-12% below the peak in September 2014. I see nothing to reaccelerate the economy or profits and I see a huge bloodbath or a fiscal stalemate that will remove any of the stimulus that traders are expecting.

To listen in on the full interview with David Stockman on the fiscal bloodbath he believes is headed to Washington featured on CNBC, CLICK HERE. If you want to explore David Stockmans prescription for exactly what Trump and Washington most do to bring America back from the fiscal brink get your FREE copy of his bestselling book TRUMPED! CLICK HERE.

Regards,

Craig Wilson, @craig_wilson7 for the Daily Reckoning

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Stockman: Wall St is Misreading Trump - Fiscal Crisis Ahead - The ... - Daily Reckoning