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Trump: “We Are Going to Be Guarding Our Border With Our Military”

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, right, listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting with cyber security experts in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington January 31, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. military will be used to prevent caravans of illegal immigrants from pouring over the southern border with Mexico. His remarks come as activists intend to illegally bring a roughly 1,000-strong caravan of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border to claim asylum.

“Until we can have a wall with proper security, we are going to be guarding our border with our military. That’s a big step,” he told reporters at the White House. “We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way never showing up for court.”

President Trump earlier Tuesday morning said in a tweet that NAFTA and foreign aid are “in play” if Honduras and other countries don’t stop the caravans. The NAFTA threat worked, and Mexico has responded to requests to disperse at least one of the caravans.

Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, accused President Trump on Monday of “bullying” illegal immigrants.

“Trump is trying to turn Central American refugees and other immigrant communities against each other, and use them as a bargaining chip with Mexico,” the group said in a statement.

Nevertheless, President Trump said he has spoken with U.S. Defense Department Secretary James Mattis about the use of the military to guard the border. The plan will entail using the military until a border wall is constructed. The President applauded Mexican authorities for breaking at least parts of the caravan up “very rapidly” as it moved through Mexico.

“They have very strong immigration laws, as we should have,” he said. “It’s sad for the people in the caravan and it’s sad for the people in the United States.”

.@POTUS: “We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing and by the way, never showing up to court.” pic.twitter.com/ojCmSyHC93

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 3, 2018

President Donald Trump said the U.S. military

Alex van der Zwaan Sentenced to 30 Days for Lying to Special Counsel

Alex van der Zwaan arrives at a plea agreement hearing at the D.C. federal courthouse in Washington, U.S., February 20, 2018. (Photo: Reuters)

Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer and the son-in-law of Russian oligarch German Kahn, was sentenced to 30 days in prison on Tuesday and must pay a $20,000 fine for lying to federal investigators about his contacts with Rick Gates.

“What I did was wrong. I apologize to my wife and my family,” van der Zwaan said in court Tuesday prior to receiving his sentence from Judge Amy Berman Jackson in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. “I await your judgment.”

Worth noting, the indictments of Mr. van der Zwaan, Mr. Gates and Mr. Manafort are not at all related to their work under President Donald Trump.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team charged Mr. van der Zwaan with making false statements in an interview involving his time working for a law firm hired by the Ukraine Ministry of Justice in 2012. He helped produce a report on the trail of Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko in a larger effort that included the now-defunct Podesta Group.

The firm was once the most powerful Democratic lobbying group in D.C., co-founded by former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and his brother, Tony. They were working with Gates’ mentor Paul Manafort, who briefly managed the delegate hunt for Donald Trump, in an effort to lobby the Clinton State Department.

The court documents state that Mr. van der Zwaan said he “did not know why an email between him and Person A in September 2016 was not produced to the Special Counsel’s Office” and that his last communication with Mr. Gates was in August 2016. It further states he claimed that his last communication with an unidentified “Person A” was in 2014.

However, Mr. Mueller’s team discovered Mr. van der Zwaan spoke with Gates and Person A in September 2016, and that he deleted “and otherwise did not produce emails” requested by the special counsel, to include an email between him and “Person A” in September 2016.

Thus far, Mr. Mueller has chosen not to indict anyone from the Podesta Group for violations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), one of the statutes used to prosecute Mr. Manafort.

[caption id="attachment_67883" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Alex van der

Video

Tucker to Illegal Immigration Advocate: “Is Everyone This Dumb”

Tucker Carlson flat out asked the head of the Border Angels if all illegal immigration advocates on the Left are as dumb as he is.

Tucker Carlson flat out asked the head

Trump: NAFTA, Foreign Aid “In Play” If Honduras, Others Don’t Stop Caravans of Illegals

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while participating in a tour of U.S.-Mexico border wall prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, California. U.S., March 13, 2018. (Photo: Reuters)

President Donald Trump said NAFTA and foreign aid are “in play” if Honduras and other countries don’t stop the caravans of illegals migrating to the United States (US).

“The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our ‘Weak Laws’ Border, had better be stopped before it gets there,” President Trump tweeted. “Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!”

Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, have organized a roughly 1,000-person strong caravan of migrants who intend to illegal cross the U.S.-Mexico border and claim asylum. The group accused President Trump on Monday of “bullying” immigrants and threatening “mass violence.”

“On April 1st, the U.S. President opportunistically invoked refugee caravans as a pretext for threatening immigrants already in the country, specifically DACA recipients, with a so-called ‘Nuclear Option’ to remove their protections from detention and deportation,” the organization said.

“Trump is trying to turn Central American refugees and other immigrant communities against each other, and use them as a bargaining chip with Mexico.”

The statement makes the ideology of this organization crystal clear. They had no comment in response to their efforts resulting in turning American communities against each other. This is other likeminded groups claim the U.S. has a moral obligation to take these illegal migrant caravans, but give no importance to national sovereignty.

President Donald Trump said NAFTA and foreign

Mick Mulvaney: CFPB Is “Far Too Powerful,” Needs Congressional Oversight

Budget Director Mick Mulvaney responds to a question from reporters about President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal 2018 federal budget in the Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (Photo: AP)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its semi-annual report, the first issued by Acting Director Mick Mulvaney. In the report, Mr. Mulvaney said the Bureau “is far too powerful” not to be subjected to congressional oversight.

“The Bureau is far too powerful, with precious little oversight of its activities,” said Acting Director Mick Mulvaney. “The power wielded by the Director of the Bureau could all too easily be used to harm consumers, destroy businesses, or arbitrarily remake American financial markets.”

The CFPB was the pet project of far leftwing Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who proposed its creation after the financial crisis. But it has unfettered power, which is why Democrats did not want to give up control of the CFPB following the election of President Donald Trump.

Former deputy director Leandra English filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration after President Trump appointed Mr. Mulvaney as acting director. Ms. English was appointed by former director Richard Cordray, a Democrat and holdover from the Obama Administration, before he resigned.

Democrats, including the minority leaders in the U.S. House and Senate, argued Ms. English should serve until the upper chamber confirmed the president’s nominee. It’s a tactic they’ve used since Inauguration Day — stall nominees and use leftwing bureaucrats to maintain power to stall the Trump agenda.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly disagreed, tossing the lawsuit and ruling it was not likely that the Democrats’ arguments would succeed on its legal merits.

The report primarily covers the period before President Trump appointed Mr. Mulvaney as Acting Director, from April 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2017. From October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017, the Bureau handled roughly 317,200 consumer complaints.

The most-complained-about products or services were debt collection at 27% of complaints, credit reporting at 27% and mortgages at 13%. Roughly 80% of all consumer complaints were submitted through the Bureau’s website. Companies have responded to about 93% of complaints sent to them for response during the period.

Acting Director Mulvaney recommended 4 changes to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the first being that the Bureau should be funded through Congressional appropriations. The second recommendation is to require legislative approval of major rules, something Democrats do not want.

Public Citizen, a leftwing group claiming to be consumer advocates, said Mr. Mulvaney’s proposals would thrust “a knife through the heart” of the CFPB.

“Mulvaney’s goal here is clear: to block, defund, and politicize the protections Dodd-Frank finally gave Main Street Americans with the creation of an agency to look out for our financial security,” Vice President Lisa Gilbert said. “This plan must be stopped.”

The third recommendation is to ensure that the Director answers to the President of the United States in the exercise of executive authority. The fourth is to create an independent Inspector General (IG) for the Bureau.

“I’m requesting that Congress make four changes to the law to establish meaningful accountability for the Bureau,” Mr. Mulvaney added. “I look forward to discussing these changes with Congressional members.”

Acting Director Mick Mulvaney said the Consumer

Policy

Privatization Options for the Scandal-Plagued Veterans Administration

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 31, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

I try not to pay much attention to the staffing decisions of President Trump’s “Boston-phone-book presidency.” Yes, I realize those choices are important, but my focus is policy.

As such, I don’t have any strong opinions on the ouster of David Shulkin, the now-former Secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs. But I definitely have something to say about whether America’s military vets should be consigned to an inefficient (at best) and costly form of government-run healthcare.

We should never forget that the VA put vets on secret – and sometimes fatal – waiting lists. And then the bureaucrats awarded themselves big bonuses. That is horribly disgusting.

By the way, the VA scandals haven’t stopped.

Here are some excerpts from a report in USA Today.

A USA TODAY investigation found the VA — the nation’s largest employer of health care workers — has for years concealed mistakes and misdeeds by staff members entrusted with the care of veterans. …In some cases, agency managers do not report troubled practitioners to the National Practitioner Data Bank, making it easier for them to keep working with patients elsewhere. The agency also failed to ensure VA hospitals reported disciplined providers to state licensing boards. In other cases, veterans’ hospitals signed secret settlement deals with dozens of doctors, nurses and health care workers that included promises to conceal serious mistakes — from inappropriate relationships and breakdowns in supervision to dangerous medical errors – even after forcing them out of the VA. …The VA has been under fire in recent years for serious problems, including revelations of life-threatening delays in treating veterans in 2014 and efforts to cover up shortfalls by falsifying records.

So what’s the answer? How can we fix a dysfunctional bureaucracy?

The honest answer is that we can’t. Inefficiency, sloth, and failure are inherent parts of government (yes, the free market also is far from perfect, but at least there’s a profit-and-loss incentive that rewards good firms and punishes bad ones).

So it’s time to get the private sector involved. Though I noted in the TV discussion that not all privatization is created equal. If the government simply contracts with selected healthcare providers, that could be a recipe for cronyism since politicians would try to help their campaign contributors.

I much prefer the advance-funding model developed by Chris Preble and Michael Cannon, which would give active-duty service members added money, up front, to purchase a benefits package to cover future costs related to their military service.

For what it’s worth, former VA Secretary Shulkin, in a recent column for the New York Times, was very critical of privatization. But it isn’t clear whether he was referring to the contracted-out version or the advance-funding version.

I am convinced that privatization is a political issue aimed at rewarding select people and companies with profits, even if it undermines care for veterans. …individuals, who seek to privatize veteran health care as an alternative to government-run V.A. care, unfortunately fail to engage in realistic plans regarding who will care for the more than 9 million veterans who rely on the department for life-sustaining care. …privatization leading to the dismantling of the department’s extensive health care system is a terrible idea.

But even if you accept that he’s criticizing the less-preferred from or privatization, he definitely likes throwing rocks in a giant glass house considering the VA received ever-larger amounts of money and generated a horrible track record.

As I said at the end of my interview, a private healthcare provider might get a contract via cronyism, but it still would be a better option for vets since that company presumably wouldn’t let them die on secret waiting lists.

I’ll close by sharing a Politico article on the infamous boondoggle that got Shulkin in trouble.

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin’s chief of staff altered an email to create a pretext for taxpayers to pay for Shulkin’s wife to accompany him on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer, the agency’s inspector general reported… The report by Inspector General Michael Missal also claims that Shulkin improperly accepted a gift of Wimbledon tickets during the trip, and a VA employee’s time was misused planning tourist activities for Shulkin and his entourage. …the VA paid for Shulkin’s wife’s airfare, which cost more than $4,300.

This obviously does not reflect well on Shulkin.

But the real scandal almost certainly is that the trip to Europe occurred. We don’t know how many bureaucrats participated and what supposedly was going to be achieved by this junked, but I’m guessing the total tab was enormous and the total value was zero.

The fact that taxpayers also were saddled with the cost of Shulkin’s wife’s trip merely added insult to injury.

The Veterans Administration (VA) received ever-larger amounts of money

Policy

From Bad to Worse: The Ongoing Implosion of Venezuelan Statism

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro (C) attends a ceremony to sign off the 2017 national budget at the National Pantheon in Caracas, Venezuela October 14, 2016. (Photo: Miraflores Palace/Handout)

As far as I’m concerned, everything you need to know about capitalism vs. statism is captured in this chart comparing per-capita economic output in Chile and Venezuela.

Ask yourself which country offers more opportunity, especially for the poor? The obvious answer is Chile, where poverty has rapidly declined ever since the country shifted to free enterprise. In Venezuela, by contrast, poor children die of malnutrition thanks to pervasive interventionism.

Indeed, having shared several horrifying stories of human suffering and government venality from Venezuela (including 28 separate examples in April 2017 and 28 different separate examples in December 2017), I’ve reached the point where nothing shocks me.

So now I mostly wonder whether leftist apologists feel any shame when they see grim news from that statist hellhole.

For instance, what does Joe Stiglitz think about this report from the Miami Herald?

At 16, Liliana has become the mother figure for a gang of Venezuelan children and young adults called the Chacao, named after the neighborhood they’ve claimed as their territory. The 15 members, ranging in age from 10 to 23, work together to survive vicious fights for “quality” garbage in crumbling, shortage-plagued Venezuela. Their weapons are knives and sticks and machetes. The prize? Garbage that contains food good enough to eat. …A year ago, the gang was “stationed” around a supermarket at a mall called Centro Comercial Ciudad Tamanaco that generates tons of garbage. But a feared rival gang from the neighborhood Las Mercedes also wanted the garbage.

And what does Bernie Sanders think about this story from NPR?

The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates the country is suffering from an 85 percent shortage of medicine amid an economic crisis… The entire Venezuelan health care system is on the verge of collapse, says Francisco Valencia, head of the public health advocacy group Codevida. Some hospitals lack electricity, and more than 13,000 doctors have left Venezuela in the past four years in search of better opportunities. “They don’t give food to the patients in the hospital…” Government data shows infant mortality rose by 30 percent in 2016… The International Monetary Fund predicts inflation will soar to 13,000 percent this year and the economy will shrink by 15 percent. …The monthly minimum wage for many Venezuelans is now equal to $3, according to the AP. …Maduro blames the country’s growing crisis on…the U.S…leading an effort to wipe out socialism in Venezuela.

I’d be curious to know what Michael Moore thinks about this news from CNN?

Venezuela’s devastating food crisis means wheat flour has become a rare commodity in the country. Some churches have run out of the ingredient needed to make the sacramental bread that is central to celebrating the Holy Eucharist… So, members of the Catholic diocese of Cúcuta, Colombia, braved heavy rain this week to deliver the wafers over a bridge that connects the two countries… Venezuela’s economic crisis, fueled by a decline in oil production, shows no signs of improvement.People are starving because of routine food shortages. They are dying in hospitals because basic medicine and equipment aren’t available.

And what does Jeremy Corbyn think about this Bloomberg report?

Ruiz’s weekly salary of 110,000 bolivares — about 50 cents at the black-market exchange rate — buys him less than a kilo of corn meal or rice. His only protein comes from 170 grams of canned tuna included in a food box the government provides to low-income families. It shows up every 45 days or so. “I haven’t eaten meat for two months,” he said. …Hunger is hastening the ruin of Venezuelan’s oil industry as workers grow too weak and hungry for heavy labor. With children dying of malnutrition and adults sifting garbage for table scraps, food has become more important than employment, and thousands are walking off the job. …Venezuela, a socialist autocracy that once was South America’s most prosperous nation, is suffering a collapse almost without precedent.

Or how about getting Sean Penn‘s reaction to this story from the New York Times?

For the past three weeks, Wilya Hernández, her husband and their daughter, 2, have been sleeping on the garbage-strewn streets of Cúcuta, a sprawling and chaotic city on Colombia’s side of the border with Venezuela. Though Antonela, the toddler, often misses meals, Ms. Hernández has no desire to return home to Venezuela. …“I sold my hair to feed my girl,” Ms. Hernández said, pulling back her locks to reveal a shaved head underneath, adding that wigmakers now walk the plazas of Cúcuta where many Venezuelans congregate, wearing signs advertising that they give cash for hair. …“If I can’t afford to go the bathroom, I’ll go on the street,” Ms. Hernández added. “That’s when guys walking by say creepy things.”

I wonder if Noam Chomsky has any comments about this Washington Post story?

A friend recently sent me a photograph…, just a blurry cellphone shot of trash… And yet I can’t stop thinking about it, because strewn about in the trash are at least a dozen 20-bolivar bills, small-denomination currency now so worthless even looters didn’t think it was worth their time to stop and pick them up. …according to the “official” exchange rate, …each of those bills is worth $2. In fact, as Venezuela sinks deeper…into…hyperinflation…, bolivar banknotes have come to be worth basically nothing: Each bill is worth about $0.0001 at the current exchange rate… It’s easy to see why the thieves left them behind.

Last but not least, I wonder what Jesse Jackson thinks about this news from the U.K.-based Guardian?

More than half of young Venezuelans want to move abroad permanently, after food shortages, violence and a political crisis escalated to new extremes in 2017, according to a new survey. Once Latin America’s richest country, Venezuela’s economy is now collapsing… One of the most painful effects of the current crisis has been widespread hunger. In 2015, when inflation and food shortages were well below current levels, nearly 45% of Venezuelans said there were times when they were unable to afford food; in the latest study, that figure had risen to 79% – one of the highest rates in the world. …Norma Gutiérrez, a radiologist in eastern Caracas, is one of those…would-be migrants. Acute shortages in the hospital where she works depress her, and she says the idea of emigrating crosses her mind at least once a week.

By the way, in an example of unintended humor, the Socialist Party of Great Britain has a ready-made answer to all those questions. The misery is the fault of capitalism. I’m not kidding.

[caption id="attachment_53995" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Venezuela's President Nicolas

Economy

Construction Spending Gained Less than Expected in February

Men work on a construction site for a luxury apartment complex in downtown Los Angeles, California March 17, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

Construction spending was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,273.1 billion for February, a 0.1% (±1.2%)* gain from the revised January estimate of $1,272.2 billion.

The February figure is 3.0% (±1.5%) above the February 2017 estimate of $1,235.7 billion. Still, construction spending for the first two months of the year amounted to $176.3 billion, which is 4.4% (±1.3%) above the $168.9 billion for the same period in 2017.

Private construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $982.0 billion, or 0.7% (±1.6%)* higher than the revised January estimate of $974.8 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $533.4 billion in February, or 0.1% (±1.3%)* above the revised January estimate of $532.9 billion.

Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $448.6 billion in February, a 1.5% (±1.6%)* gain above the revised January estimate of $441.9 billion.

The estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $291.1 billion, which is 2.1% (±1.6%) below the revised January estimate of $297.4 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $74.6 billion, 0.5% (±2.6%)* below the revised January estimate of $75.0 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $88.5 billion, 0.2% (±5.4%)* below the revised January estimate of $88.7 billion

Construction spending was estimated at a seasonally

Economy

ISM Manufacturing Index Remains Strong as Firms Await Tariff Impact

Workers assemble built-in appliances at the Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Tennessee August 21, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index (PMI) remained strong at 59.3% in March as firms await the impact of newly imposed tariffs. As of now, global demand has not shown signs of declining and the major problem identified by respondents in the PMI panel is the skills gap.

“Demand remains robust, but the nation’s employment resources and supply chains are still struggling to keep up,” Timothy R. Fiore, Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee said.

New Orders Index registered 61.9%, a 2.3% decline from the overheated February reading of 64.2%. The Production Index registered 61%, a 1% decrease compared to the February reading of 62%. The Employment Index registered 57.3%, a decrease of 2.4% from the February reading of 59.7%.

The only industry to report a decrease during the period was Apparel, Leather & Allied Products.

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 17 reported growth in March, in the following order: Fabricated Metal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Paper Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Transportation Equipment; Petroleum & Coal Products; Wood Products; Machinery; Chemical Products; Textile Mills; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Furniture & Related Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; and Primary Metals.

WHAT RESPONDENTS ARE SAYING…

“Supply constraints, extended lead times, capacity constraints [and the like], particularly in the electronics components markets, continue to frustrate and drain needed resources, have delayed production schedules and, in some cases, caused missed or delayed sales opportunities.” (Computer & Electronic Products)

“International demand is strong for our products in all regions. We are seeing constraints in multiple chemical supply chains due to increased global demand. We are concerned about the impact of tariff and trade wars on demand, but at this time, [there are] no signals that global demand is slowing.” (Chemical Products)

“Production targets continue to be a struggle due to shortages of globally sourced components. Many subtier components are in short supply for multiple OEMs.” (Transportation Equipment)

“In the U.S., we continue to struggle with finding carriers and drivers for shipments.” (Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products)

“Much concern in the industry regarding the steel and aluminum tariffs recently [imposed]. This is causing panic buying, driving the near-term prices higher and [leading to] inventory shortages for non-contract customers.” (Machinery)

“New tariffs are causing concern across the supply chain. Full impact will take a few weeks to reveal itself.” (Miscellaneous Manufacturing)

“Significant price increases in the steel commodity due to 232 [the tariffs]. The price increases will begin to impact our company’s performance.” (Primary Metals)

“Overall, incoming orders are picking up, and supplier pricing is increasing in some commodities.” (Textile Mills)

“Hiring continues to slowly increase from February into March and capital spending was allowed a small increase. Oil market conditions have improved and continue to stabilize.” (Petroleum & Coal Products)