Beltway Insider: Trump/Pelosi Reopen Gov’t, SOTU, All the President’s Men, Brexit, Venezuela, Hillary Clinton

President Donald Trump announced both houses had come to an agreement on a bill that would reopen government for an interim period providing immediate relief to the more than 800,000 government employees who were forced to work without pay.

According to Gallup, President Trump job approval, for the month of January 2019, decreased one percentage point to 37% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President increased by three percentage points to 59%.

Trump/Pelosi Reopen Gov't

President Trump announced he would immediately sign the bill that reopened government after five weeks of contentious negotiations, pushback and ad hominin attacks from both sides as each established new boundaries after the Democrats regained control of the House.

The thirty-five day battle between Democrats and the President, the longest shut-down in history, resulted in both parties gaining little ground. What the shut down did was send a clear message to the President that the house would dig in and deny him free reign.

For the nearly 800,000 government workers who, at the time of the signing, were one month without a paycheck, the fight put them in the middle of Trump's war with the Democrats.

The lack of concern, as an employer, for his workers, should finally drive the message home, to the masses the President does not have the best interest of the population at the forefront of his agenda.

Members of the Trump Administration, also have little concern for the common man the dedicated worker, the Air Traffic Control, TSA Agents, those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep our National Parks operational, an area which is considered a financial drain and thoughtless use of federal dollars to the President, have said clearly they don't understand why workers are using food and funding donations to make ends meet.

With the shut down temporary, federal workers who are expecting, allegedly, to receive their back pay quickly, have to plan ahead as lenders are usually not concerned with personal situations.

Border Wall Funding

The temporary, tide the people over, bill, contains no funding for the Border Wall, a campaign promise the President believes was instrumental in securing his election victory.

"Over the next 21 days, I expect that both Democrats and Republicans will operate in good faith.  This is an opportunity for all parties to work together for the benefit of our whole beautiful, wonderful nation," the President said.


Beltway Insider: Trump/Gov Shut Down, Border/Immigrants, ISIS Attack, Women’s March, May/Brexit, El Chapo, Red Hat Hate


The Wall, which has been a contentious issue over the course of the Presidency, has had major revisions attached and a crisis PR campaign which brought out Vice-President Mike Pence who explained on the Sunday morning talk shows the wall is not and will not ever be a complete border to border project. It will be used in the heavily trafficked areas.

President Trump also used his Twitter account, @therealDonaldTrump, to further his position on the Wall, "21 days goes very quickly. Negotiations with Democrats will start immediately. Will not be easy to make a deal, both parties very dug in. The case for National Security has been greatly enhanced by what has been happening at the Border & through dialogue. We will build the Wall!"

         

President Trump has also provided additional explanation on the Wall and its purpose:

 

Walls should not be controversial.  Our country has built 654 miles of barrier over the last 15 years, and every career Border Patrol agent I have spoken with has told me that walls work.  They do work.  No matter where you go, they work.  Israel built a wall — 99.9 percent successful.  Won't be any different for us.

 

They keep criminals out.  They save good people from attempting a very dangerous journey from other countries — thousands of miles — because they think they have a glimmer of hope of coming through.  With a wall, they don't have that hope.  They keep drugs out, and they dramatically increase efficiency by allowing us to patrol far larger areas with far fewer people.  It's just common sense.  Walls work.

 

We do not need 2,000 miles of concrete wall from sea to shining sea — we never did; we never proposed that; we never wanted that — because we have barriers at the border where natural structures are as good as anything that we can build.  They're already there.  They've been there for millions of years.

 

Our proposed structures will be in pre-determined high-risk locations that have been specifically identified by the Border Patrol to stop illicit flows of people and drugs.  No border security plan can ever work without a physical barrier.  Just doesn't happen.

 

At the same time, we need to increase drug detection technology and manpower to modernize our ports of entry, which are obsolete.  The equipment is obsolete.  They're old.  They're tired.  This is something we have all come to agree on, and will allow for quicker and safer commerce.  These critical investments will improve and facilitate legal trade and travel through our lawful ports of entry.

 

Our plan also includes desperately needed humanitarian assistance for those being exploited and abused by coyotes, smugglers, and the dangerous journey north.

State of the Union Address

Throughout this thirty-five day shut down, President Trump's State of the Union address, the annual televised speech detailing the successes, and if there are issues, treads lightly on shortcomings and areas of concern both domestically and abroad, has been put on hold.

The annual address, which is attended by both the Senate and House of Representatives, the Joint Chiefs and Supreme Court Justices, as well as family members and guests, is also televised globally.

The final word on the January 29, 2019 address is that it has been postponed. No further date has been confirmed.

Trump Issues Two Year Mile Stone

President Trump issued a fact sheet outlining the accomplishments of his administration over the past two years since his historic and challenged victory for President in the 2016 election.

With the 2020 Presidential race two short years away, and what from all pundits, prognosticators, and political race watchers, will be a contentious primary season set to begin in one year, January 2020.

The fact sheet can be read here.

All the President's Men - Mueller Investigation Nabs Another Inching Closer to the President

Special Counsel Robert A. Mueller, head of the Investigation of Russian Interference in the 2016 United States Elections arrested former political campaign adviser Roger Stone early Friday morning on charges of one count of obstruction, five counts of false statements and one count of witness tampering.


Europe Strong - Still and Always


President Trump tweeted his opinion @therealdonaldtrump "CBS reports that in the Roger Stone indictment, data was "released during the 2016 Election to damage Hillary Clinton." Oh really! What about the Fake and Unverified "Dossier," a total phony conjob, that was paid for by Crooked Hillary to damage me and the Trump Campaign? What... ...about all of the one sided Fake Media coverage (collusion with Crooked H?) that I had to endure during my very successful presidential campaign. What about the now revealed bias by Facebook and many others. Roger Stone didn't even work for me anywhere near the Election!"

Stone, 66, who has worked no less than six Republican presidential campaign is known for his opposition strategies, which essentially translate to digging up the most damaging information, fact or fiction, on the opponent and using his vast network of political and media operative to further the dissemination of the information.

The indictment, which he immediately issued a contradictory statement declaring his innocence indicating Mueller had nothing and the indictment was worthless was said to be conclusive.

Stone, who immediately flashed the Richard Nixon double armed Victory sign upon his arrest, has since moved closer to agreeing to a plea deal in exchange for information and an agreement to testify at any time in any court where these proceeding are relevant as with Special Counsel Mueller continues to inch closer to securing sufficient evidence to indict the president of the United States.

To date the investigation led by Special Counsel Mueller has resulted in charges of eight Americans once affiliated with Trump's campaign or administration, 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian intelligence officers, three Russian companies, and two other people.

Brexit – Queen Shocks Government with Statement

Prime Minister Theresa May and warring Tory Leader Jeremy Corbyn has been issued a veiled albeit stern warning from Queen Elizabeth II.

While the Head of the Monarchy usually refrains from stating her opinion, with the future of the British Empire uncertain and an official separation from the European Union in eight weeks, she included a gentle rebuke, to those in government, while speaking recently.


The British Misunderstanding


"As we look for new answers in the modern age, I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture," the Queen said, CNN reported.

The synthesized statement, which is perhaps the only time in nearly a quarter century that the Queen has made her personal opinions in government known.

In this case the bigger picture is of course, the future of the people within the United Kingdom. The continued debate has created an unnecessary financial instability as outside businesses and investors look to the British government and for once cannot even begin to envision the financial future either on the short or long term.

Businesses remain jittery especially as Parliament is seen as using Brexit as a power play to shift government from Ms. May's Conservative Party to Mr. Corbyn's Labour Party, the continued in-fighting as caused business to take stock and create contingency plans.

CME Group, a $240 billion-a-day financial market has made the decision to relocate to a continental European city, Amsterdam, and not face the uncertainty of an exit without a plan.

"All of our euro-denominated bonds and repo will move to Amsterdam," John Edwards, managing director of BrokerTec Europe, said in an interview. "We saw no benefit in splitting liquidity pools. Our U.K. business will not be able to provide services to the European clients," The Japan Times reported.

The CME Group is a sampling of the firms and business that are relocating in order to continue to provide services to European Clients.

Venezuela – Presidential Election Divided Nation, World

Venezuela, which remains unstable, has ushered in a new political season as Juan Guaido, former President of the National Assembly of Venezuela was enabled by the constitution to declare himself Interim President as the recent election of Nicolas Maduro was contested.

"Today, I am officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela.  In its role as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, the National Assembly invoked the country's constitution to declare Nicolas Maduro illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant.  The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law," the president said.


The Islamic State and The Façade of Civility


The legitimacy of the Guaido government continues to be recognized globally, with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing support for the Guaido government.

Maduro's government has drawn support from Russian, China, Syria and Turkey. Maduro has announced the succession as a US backed coup and ordered all diplomats and US workers to leave the country.

"We continue to hold the illegitimate Maduro regime directly responsible for any threats it may pose to the safety of the Venezuelan people.  As Interim President Guaido noted yesterday: "Violence is the usurper's weapon; we only have one clear action: to remain united and firm for a democratic and free Venezuela."

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate and former Secretary of the State, and has made it known that she may still consider a 2020 Presidential run.

Clinton, who won the popular vote in the controversial political race, has remained largely out of the public eye, save the recent coming together of all former President's and First Ladies to attend and honor former President George H.W. Bush at his funeral and also the funeral of former First Lady Barbara Bush in April of 2018.

Clinton, who may feel somewhat vindicated by the continued arrests and convictions obtained by Special Counsel Mueller in the Election probe, has yet to officially throw her hat into the ring. The Democratic Primaries are one year away and the pool of potential candidates continues to grow.

For more information on President Donald Trump: www.whitehouse.gov

Sources: Whitehouse.gov, Wikipedia.com

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