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Decorating the tree

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ECONOMIC EVENTS

 UPCOMING (MAJOR) U.S. ECONOMIC EVENTS...

***2024***
* Wed. Dec. 18 @ 2:00 pm ET - FOMC Rate Announcement + Forecasts and @ 2:30 pm ET - Fed Chair Press Conference

*** CLICK HERE for link to Economic Calendars for all upcoming events.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Nancy's Lump Of Coal For Americans

* See UPDATES below...



What are voters asking?...


How do they feel?...

Source: FoxNews.com

GOP House Leader McCarthy's Resolution on Democrat Congressional abuse of power...





N.B. President Trump's impeachment letter to Congress can be read at this link.



N.B.
  • Both Articles of Impeachment of President Trump were passed by a majority of Democrats today in the House of Representatives
  • No Republicans voted "YES"...they all voted "NO."
  • 2 Democrats voted "NO" on one Article and 3 Democrats voted "NO" on the other Article.
  • So, the only Bi-partisan impeachment vote today was on the "NO" side for both Articles of Impeachment in the House of Representatives. 
  • The timing of the Senate trial has yet to be announced.

The legacy of the Democrats will forever be burdened by their unfair and unconstitutional political "hit job" against President Trump and his 63 million voters.

It was a farce, their Articles of Impeachment were nonsensical, and they made a mockery of the impeachment process, as well as due process and justice, for all the world to witness...and weakened their standing among world leaders as a result.

They, furthermore, have enabled and emboldened the leaders of the countries that are America's enemies, such as Iran, North Korea, Russia and China to continue with their nefarious activities that are at odds with America's security and national interest.


And, don't forget this one...


Congratulations, Nancy, you've torn the country apart on baseless and false accusations for purely political gains and weakened it in the process. You've deemed, not only Trump as naughty, but his 63 million voters, as well. Hence, you've delivered them their lump of coal in time for Christmas, just as you promised before the impeachment inquiry and hearings ever began.


An incredible Congressional abuse of power has been performed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats and a dangerous (low-standard) precedent for future impeachments has been set!

Their legacy has been written. 


Source: NYTimes.com



* UPDATE December 19...

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now threatening to hold off sending their Articles of Impeachment to the Senate because she wants to first approve their trial process. I believe that is unconstitutional, based on what I'm reading. Besides, the Senate did not have the right to tell the House how to conduct its impeachment hearings, so why does she think she has such a right!


Click this link to view video









"A Constitutional extortion mechanism"...

Click this link to view video

So, impeached or not impeached?...or "impeachment lite?"...

Source: FoxNews.com

Source: GatestoneInstitute.org

It seems like Democrats are unsure whether they have a bona fide impeachment case to present to the Senate for a trial...


And, so on and on they, with a little help from their friends, stir the pot...trying to conjure up the perfect brew...hoping for a magic cure to what ails them...


Chameleon Pelosi has invented many roles for herself...from Democrat Speaker of the House...to Senate Majority Leader-wannabe...to, now, the Grinch who stole free speech!


"Prayerful & Solemn Nancy," indeed! 👀



* UPDATE December 22...

Watch this explosive interview today by Fox News Mark Levin of former Circuit Judge, Solicitor General, and Independent Counsel Ken Starr regarding the House Democrats' impeachment process of President Trump.

Click this link to access the video
(and login to your service provider to watch)

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* UPDATE January 18, 2020...


Now that the House finally delivered their Two Articles of Impeachment to the Senate this past week (or, as more aptly stated, "foisted" them upon the Senate), and the Senate will begin their trial on Tuesday, it seems to me that any trial would be cut and dry.


In other words, the House has dealt its hand (the formal Impeachment document) and the Senate should play their own hand in dealing with it by simply considering the "Four Corners of the Document"...just like Special Counsel Robert Mueller did in his testimony before Congress when he defended his report on Trump-Russia collusion last year.

At the most, the Senate should allow the House team managers to present their case, and the President's legal team to present their defence (including the phone transcript between the President and the Ukrainian President)...then take a vote on whether to convict or acquit...PERIOD.

Forget allowing any witnesses and more last-minute unvetted/uncorroborated documents that weren't included in the House's impeachment investigation, as they'd be irrelevant to the formal Impeachment document at hand ("Four Corners of the Document") ...PERIOD.

If the House failed to present constitutional grounds on which to impeach the President, based on their own investigation and as described in their own formal Impeachment document ("Four Corners of the Document"), then acquit the President and get back to work!

The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal has made a similar argument, but have stated it more eloquently, here.

Source: wsj.com

President Trump's response to the House Articles of Impeachment was issued today...


* UPDATE January 20...


* UPDATE January 21...

Source: abcnews.go.com

* UPDATE January 22...


How Democrat Trial Managers are preparing for the Senate trial...


For a reminder of what transpired in these two cases, I've written extensively on them here (Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh) and here (Russiagate).


* UPDATE January 25...

If the Democrat House impeachment managers went to the Senate to lie, insult, bully and to try to intimidate the Senators, they certainly succeeded in that objective as they presented their case over the past three days this week...not a smart strategy, in my opinion. We'll see what the Senators think of their abusive behaviour once they're eventually ready to render judgement on the impeachment.

The trial continued today as President Trump's legal defence team presented their opening arguments -- shown in the following 2-hour video -- which were delivered in a, refreshingly, professional and respectful manner.

They will continue with their presentation on Monday.


* UPDATE January 27...

President Trump's legal defence team continued their presentation to the Senate today (which has, so far, shredded the arguments made by the Democrat House impeachment managers and the validity of the 2 Articles of Impeachment), as shown in the following 8-hour video...


Click this link to view video

The following quote by Alan Dershowitz (in reference to Representative Waters' assertion) came from part of today's presentation...


The President's legal defence team will continue their arguments tomorrow.

* UPDATE January 28...

President Trump's legal defence team concluded their presentation to the Senate today, as shown in the following 2-hour video...



This excerpt of White House Counsel Pat Cipollone's final statement today is especially noteworthy and ironic...


There will be a Q & A period of 8 hours each on Wednesday and Thursday by Senators to the Democrat House impeachment managers and to President Trump's legal defence team.

* UPDATE January 29...

John Bolton's "About Face"

Here's what President Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton said about the President's two phone calls with the Ukrainian President in an August 2019 interview.


Well...well...well...and this...



Here's what he's purported to have written in his unpublished book according to this January 27, 2020 NYT article...which is a totally opposite version of what he said in the above interview and tweet.

Source: nytimes.com

Which version of events is correct?

If the NYT's story is correct, can Mr. Bolton's opinion be trusted if he can't even get his stories straight about what he thinks happened during those phone calls and is the crux of President Trump's impeachment trial?

It seems to me he would be a conflicted witness, at best, and an outright liar, at worst, if he was called to testify in the impeachment trial, as Senate Democrats are now demanding.

For your information, Mr. Bolton's full August 27, 2019 interview can be viewed here...


In any event, this January 23 letter from the National Security Council prohibits the release of Mr. Bolton's manuscript until it has been thoroughly vetted and declassified, so, I'd assume he would also be banned from speaking about its contents at this time...and likely not suitable as a witness in this impeachment trial, if he were summoned by the Democrat House impeachment managers.


Furthermore, Today's Federalist article (and video) reveal damaging information pertaining to Mr. Bolton's character and his honesty...it just keeps getting worse for him.

Source: thefederalist.com

So, a self-confessed would-be liar has indicated, at the last minute, that he wants to testify against President Trump. What's his motive for doing such a thing? Well, it's plain to see that he wants to create sensational headlines and generate lots of interest for his upcoming book (whose manuscript is still under review by the NSC) and which, coincidentally, was just posted on Amazon for pre-order...perhaps money is also a motivating factor?

I've heard several Democrat Senators posit to TV interviewers in the past couple of days that, while they're not lawyers, they want to be sure that they have the full picture of all the facts, including the calling of additional witnesses (over and above the 17 witnesses that were interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee (neither Republicans nor the President were permitted to call their own witnesses or cross-examine the 17 during those Committee hearings). Furthermore, it sounds like they'll be guided in their final vote to convict or acquit by whether they were given the opportunity to hear from more witnesses (regardless of their credibility)...simply regurgitating a talking point of their party leaders in the House and Senate.

I'm not a lawyer, either, but anyone with an ounce of common sense, who has actually listened carefully to the arguments made by the President's legal defence team, would realize that there are three basic facts of the case:
  1. Democrat House Speaker *Nancy Pelosi failed to follow Constitutional law in her declaration that an impeachment inquiry was beginning without obtaining, first, such a vote by the entire House to authorize it,
  2. the House Intel Committee and the Judiciary Committee did not follow a fair and just process under the terms of the Constitution during their hearings, and
  3. both of their Impeachment Articles are invalid, inasmuch as they do not fall into any of the Constitution's impeachment categories
...and, therefore, no further witnesses will change those facts...especially those with credibility issues whose testimony has not been corroborated or whose claims have, in fact, already been flatly refuted by others.

Such a scenario would set up a last-minute "gotcha" case of "he said...she said"...just like the stunt that Senate Democrats pulled during the Judge Kavanaugh Supreme Court Justice hearing conducted in 2018...what a circus that turned out to be with their witnesses failing miserably in their arguments. Democrats ignored due process and justice and made a mockery of that whole process...and they're trying to pull that stunt in this impeachment trial. I wrote an extensive article about that case here.

Even Adam Schiff (current Democrat House Intelligence Committee Chairman and one of the Democrat House impeachment managers) said in 2005 that John Bolton had a "lack of credibility." And, now he wants to call him as his impeachment witness...and send the whole mess down a rabbit holeThis is utter nonsense!


By the way, Ambassador Volker, who was one of the House Democrat impeachment managers' witnesses, doesn't seem to have a problem with the way President Trump handled the aid to Ukraine...


And...


The "Biden Rule"

By the way, thanks to (then Senator) Joe Biden's former arguments against impeachment witnesses in 1999 who said that the Senate need not hold a 'full blown trial' with witnesses and testimony (President Bill Clinton's trial), he cleared the way for the same arguments to be made in denying further witnesses and documents in this trial...check out all the details in this Federalist article (including Biden's memorandum to Senators).


Source: thefederalist.com

It's time for Senators to get on with the business of either convicting or acquitting the President (based on what was presented by the Democrat House impeachment managers and outlined in their "Four Corners of the Document", and based on arguments presented by the President's legal defence team) as soon as the Q & A period is finished by the end of this week and get back to doing the people's work! PERIOD!

* UPDATE January 31...

After two days of a Q & A session by Senators to the Democrat House Impeachment managers and the President's legal defence team on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by further arguments by the managers and the defence team today, the Senate took a vote today on whether to allow witnesses to testify. The vote failed by 51-49.

Next Monday and Tuesday the Senators will have a chance to voice their comments, and both teams will present closing arguments.

The Senate will take a vote on Wednesday on whether to convict or acquit President Trump.

Stay tuned!...

* UPDATE February 02...

In the meantime...

"The Old Switcheroo" Game

Thanks to *Nancy Pelosi's fumbled impeachment shenanigans, here's a preview of what could happen if Joe Biden is elected President in November 2020. 😮

She's certainly lowered (all but eliminated) the bar on impeachment standards in the House to pave the way for such a scenario!

Something to ruminate (along with your hamburger) during today's Super Bowl half-time show...😏



Source: bloomberg.com

* UPDATE February 03...

'Impeach him, regardless of any valid Constitutional reason'

This nonsensical mantra has been regurgitated non-stop by Democrats and the majority of the media since his inauguration.

In spite of this, President Trump's hundreds of accomplishments, thus far, have been impressive...something he can tout at his State of the Union address before Congress tomorrow.



Click this link to view the video

* UPDATE February 4...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's statement on President Trump's impeachment trial...he will vote to acquit the President...




* UPDATE February 5...

Acquitted!

President Trump was acquitted of both House Articles of Impeachment by the Senate today...







PERIOD!