This morning’s financial news is quite positive. 

The Dow is back above $26k, the NASDAQ is above $8k and the S&P 500 is just below $2.9k. High numbers for sure.

Most of this is due to the announcement this morning by Trump and Mexico’s president regarding a mutual trade deal. They are going to scrap the NAFTA moniker and call it something like the US/Mexico trade agreement. In order for it to remain NAFTA then Canada would have to sign it as well. And so far there is no committment by Canada to sign. So it looks like we’ll keep NAFTA between us and Canada and we have a new trade agreement with Mexico.

Apparently Jared Kushner had a lot to do with coming to this agreement. Looks like he is earning his pay as well.

Overall I am very happy with the president’s work. This new agreement requires Mexico to pay their factory workers around $15/hr. This makes the US factory worker more competitive in the market place. This is great for the country and very good for the U.S. blue collar factory worker. So far the EU and Mexico. Next up, China and Canada.

Unfortunately, Iran is raising its ugly head right now and threatening shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. So expect something to happen there by the end of the year.

Seems fair. Perhaps we can get our own Ige balloon...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-who-approved-trump-baby-blimp-get-n905096

Seems fair. Perhaps we can get our own Ige balloon...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-who-approved-trump-baby-blimp-get-n905096

Wasn't the mayor of London the attorney who defended the World Trade Center mastermind?

Trump is cancelling raises for civilian employees:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/30/trump-cancels-planned-january-pay-increase-for-federal-workers.html

I am not ok with the "code of silence"

As I hope you would not be. I think the same standard should be applied to the office of the president.

My answer is NO. I would expect them all to sign NDA’s as a condition of their employment. What’s the big deal? Why do you even care? What business is it of yours anyway?

What business is it of mine? As a tax paying conservative voter it is most definitely my business. Our guy gets elected and then we get to throw conservative ideals out the window?

What business is it of mine? As a tax paying conservative voter it is most definitely my business. Our guy gets elected and then we get to throw conservative ideals out the window?

It's not the function of the voters to micromanage every detail of the government, in particular the White House.  We elect a Presidential team to appoint a cabinet to do that.

You're characterizing leaks by the lower ranks as if it's factual.  Can you not see any drawbacks from taking some "unnamed source" as the gospel?.

Leaks undermine the efforts of the government by distracting from important issues or focusing on political mud slinging.

Transparency is something the WH should manage, to make sure 5 versions of the same information isn't being published by the MSM.

Too much information can be worse than not enough information.

It's not the function of the voters to micromanage every detail of the government, in particular the White House.  We elect a Presidential team to appoint a cabinet to do that.

You're characterizing leaks by the lower ranks as if it's factual.  Can you not see any drawbacks from taking some "unnamed source" as the gospel?.

Leaks undermine the efforts of the government by distracting from important issues or focusing on political mud slinging.

Transparency is something the WH should manage, to make sure 5 versions of the same information isn't being published by the MSM.

Too much information can be worse than not enough information.

As a voter I don't have any power to micromanage what he does but I have the right to demand and vote for a transparent government with checks and balances against abuse.

I am not characterizing leaks as anything. I never mentioned the veracity of the leaks.

The issue with the NDA is that it can be used to keep a government employee quiet when there are times maybe they shouldn't keep quiet. I don't think anyone has a problem with requiring white house staff to have unified press releases, that isn't why people are opposed to the NDA.

What business is it of mine? As a tax paying conservative voter it is most definitely my business. Our guy gets elected and then we get to throw conservative ideals out the window?

I don’t think you understand what I was saying. This has nothing to do with conservative ideas or not. This completely transcends conservative/liberal ideals.

The NDA does not in any way, stop someone from leaking information that could be harmful to you and I and the government. It only gives the government the ability to take the leaker to court if the leaker profits in any way from the act. Since the person who signs the NDA has laws that protect them in th event of them being a whistleblower, the NDA only attempts to make the potential leaker think twice before they attempt to profit from leaking. That’s it.

As far as it being your business or not, since you obviously didn’t know that everyone who works for the government in any classified capacity usually has to sign an NDA if they wish to work in that capacity. So now you know. So no, no conservative nor liberal ideas were thrown out the window. I assumed you understood this. My bad.

Unfortunately, even with a NDA signed, the people receiving the intel will pay all fines and provide all attorneys free of charge to the leaker.  Like Stormi, she admitted on an interview that she's not the one paying her attorney.

People should research the governor running in FL (black guy), and look into who is contributing to his campaign AND where these people/organizations live.  I'll give you a hint, majority of the money is coming from outside of FL.  And I'm not talking about $500 or even $5,000, but way more than that.

People should research the governor running in FL (black guy), and look into who is contributing to his campaign AND where these people/organizations live.  I'll give you a hint, majority of the money is coming from outside of FL.  And I'm not talking about $500 or even $5,000, but way more than that.

That race/campaign is going to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Oh, come on, you know what I meant! 

That race/campaign is going to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Oh, come on, you know what I meant! 

Your monkeyshine is duly noted.

 

I don’t think you understand what I was saying. This has nothing to do with conservative ideas or not. This completely transcends conservative/liberal ideals.

The NDA does not in any way, stop someone from leaking information that could be harmful to you and I and the government. It only gives the government the ability to take the leaker to court if the leaker profits in any way from the act. Since the person who signs the NDA has laws that protect them in th event of them being a whistleblower, the NDA only attempts to make the potential leaker think twice before they attempt to profit from leaking. That’s it.

As far as it being your business or not, since you obviously didn’t know that everyone who works for the government in any classified capacity usually has to sign an NDA if they wish to work in that capacity. So now you know. So no, no conservative nor liberal ideas were thrown out the window. I assumed you understood this. My bad.

That is not the type of NDA Trump made whitehouse staff sign.
His NDA tried to prohibit workers from every saying anything disparaging about Trump or his family for the rest of their lives.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-cant-legally-make-new-staff-sign-ndasyet

These NDAs aren't about legitimate sensitive information. These NDAs aren't even government NDAs, they are private NDAs with Trump himself.

"You can’t govern publicly funded speech interactions with private agreements this way, in all likelihood; the enforcement mechanism would have to be governmental, and that would probably violate the First Amendment. Leaking classified material is already illegal, and President Trump can fire leakers of non-classified material, but NDAs between Trump himself and people like Omarosa would face serious difficulties. In McGehee v. Casey (DC Circuit, 1983), for example, the court said “The government has no legitimate interest in censoring unclassified materials.”"

https://peltthepundits.com/2018/08/trump-omarosa-signed-an-nda-but-is-it-binding

That is not the type of NDA Trump made whitehouse staff sign.
His NDA tried to prohibit workers from every saying anything disparaging about Trump or his family for the rest of their lives.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-cant-legally-make-new-staff-sign-ndasyet

These NDAs aren't about legitimate sensitive information. These NDAs aren't even government NDAs, they are private NDAs with Trump himself.

"You can’t govern publicly funded speech interactions with private agreements this way, in all likelihood; the enforcement mechanism would have to be governmental, and that would probably violate the First Amendment. Leaking classified material is already illegal, and President Trump can fire leakers of non-classified material, but NDAs between Trump himself and people like Omarosa would face serious difficulties. In McGehee v. Casey (DC Circuit, 1983), for example, the court said “The government has no legitimate interest in censoring unclassified materials.”"

https://peltthepundits.com/2018/08/trump-omarosa-signed-an-nda-but-is-it-binding

So, the NDA that "prohibits workers from every [sic] saying anything disparaging about Trump or his family for the rest of their lives" prevents you from learning things that you think are "your business?"

Wow!  Just ..... wow!!

Personal opinions of the President and his family have nothing to do with running a White House.  And if someone is denied a chance to write a book with all the dirty laundry of the Trump family, so what?  I have no interest in what Trump did once he's not in office. 

It's nobody's business.  Don't like the rules?  Don't sign the NDA.  If that prevents you from being hired in the WH, it's called "consequences of your decision."

After Omarosa's book full of lies and exaggerations, I guarantee there are others putting in applications to get a book deal vs. serve the country.

So, the NDA that "prohibits workers from every [sic] saying anything disparaging about Trump or his family for the rest of their lives" prevents you from learning things that you think are "your business?"

Wow!  Just ..... wow!!

Personal opinions of the President and his family have nothing to do with running a White House.  And if someone is denied a chance to write a book with all the dirty laundry of the Trump family, so what?  I have no interest in what Trump did once he's not in office. 

It's nobody's business.  Don't like the rules?  Don't sign the NDA.  If that prevents you from being hired in the WH, it's called "consequences of your decision."

After Omarosa's book full of lies and exaggerations, I guarantee there are others putting in applications to get a book deal vs. serve the country.

Thats not what I said. Please don't twist my words.

The office of the president isn't just some government job where a guy stamps papers and no one cares what weird lifestyle choices they make. The president is the face of the nation as well as the leader. If Trump does something while he is a president that is unethical but not illegal then I don't think the president should have the ability to stop that person from talking. That isn't transparent government.

The NDAs don't even appear to be enforceable. They aren't even government rules! Should all federal agency heads be allowed to implement their own private NDAs with people as a condition of working in their office as well?

I haven't read Omarosa's book, maybe it is full of lies, maybe it isn't. Will have to fact check it if I end up reading it. But if that is reason to discredit her then Trump should be considered discredited as well. Trump lie and lies about lying so often I don't know why he gets a pass but Omarosa's alleged lies do not.

What bothers me about so many issues with Trump is the blind allegiance to Trump. Trump could literally murder someone in New York and a certain number would defend the choice without pause.

Why do conservative values get tossed out the window just because we got our guy in office?

What bothers me about so many issues with Trump is the blind allegiance to Trump. Trump could literally murder someone in New York and a certain number would defend the choice without pause.

Why do conservative values get tossed out the window just because we got our guy in office?

Why do you keep attacking people in this forum for not adhering to Conservative values?  Why do you call Trump "our guy" when we all know you can't stand him.  You might as well change your slogan to "Hawaii Resistance".

It's not blind allegiance, and that's not the first time you've made that accusation.

It's called "doing the job we hired him to do."  You are doing exactly what the Liberal/ANTIFA/Resistance/Socialist/Never-Trumper morons do all over the country.  You pick him apart for things that have nothing to do with the results he's gotten.  You ignore the successes, and you disparage his Tweets.

We didn't elect him because he's a politician.  We elected him because he's a successful businessman willing to try and fix real problems using real solutions.

The Presidents we've elected since Reagan have solved almost zero actual problems. We hear every single candidate promise to solve problems in education, unemployment, trade, military readiness, civil rights, immigration reform, tax reform, health care, etc, etc.  Trump is the first president I've seen since the 1980s to actually keep his promise and not create more problems in the process.

Keep screaming at the sky.  Trump's doing great.

This is the type of person you're aligning yourself with .... where the only real point they can think of is "F*CK TRUMP!"

And on a lighter "note" ....   

This is one reason the Left can't accept President Trump.  They spent so much time and energy guaranteeing he would never become president.

Crow can be a very dry dish.