Secretary Mattis Arrives in Singapore to Talk North Korea with Asian Leaders

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, right, meets U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for a bilateral meeting at the Istana or Presidential Palace in Singapore on Friday, June 2, 2017. On Friday Mattis indicated that the Trump administration is aiming for continuity in Asia policy, sticking broadly with the approach its predecessors have taken by emphasizing diplomacy and cooperation with allies. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair)

Defense Secretary James Mattis travels to Singapore as he hopes to convince Asian countries for greater cooperation in dealing with North Korea.
Mattis arrived early Friday ahead of his policy speech at an international security conference on Saturday.
Sources indicate he will stress the threats Pyongyang poses and reiterate the importance that Asia Pacific countries work together to counter its nuclear program.
Officials say he’ll also meet with several Asian counterparts during his visit in hopes of reinforcing international order, while also seeking a peaceful, prosperous and free Asia.

‘Convicted Terrorist Shows More Integrity Than de Blasio’

New York, NY – Claire Hardwick, OAN Political Correspondent
While Oscar Lopez Rivera has decided to not accept the national freedom hero award, Nicole Malliotakis said this terrorist has shown more integrity than the New York City Mayor.
In the final days of his presidency, President Obama suspended the sentence of Oscar Lopez Rivera, the one time leader of the F.A.L.N. and a convicted terrorist.
The Puerto Rican Day Parade Committee chose to honor him with the National Freedom Hero Award, causing politicians, first responders, law enforcement, and sponsors to drop out of the parade
Nicole Malliotakis, a NYS Assemblywoman and GOP candidate for NYC Mayor, said this decision put the Puerto Rican People in a very tough position.
“I believe the majority of people from Puerto Rico believe that Oscar Lopez Rivera doesn’t represent them, and they are also very upset this is taking away from what is supposed to be a celebration about a beautiful island, its culture, its beautiful people, music food, all of the things Puerto Rico has contributed and the individuals we have celebrated,” Malliotakis said.
But despite all of this, Malliotakis said Mayor de Blasio still chose to march with him and give him this award.
And it was Rivera, a convicted terrorist, who had to decide to do the right thing for the Puerto Rican people.
“I think it is completely outrageous and shows how far city government has gone astray when we have both the speaker of the city council as well as the mayor who have spoken and said it is okay for an individual who was the leader of an organization that claimed responsibility for over 100 attacks in our nation, most of which occurred right here in nyc, to be the honoree is a sad situation,” Malliotakis said.
Malliotakis said the people of New York have not forgotten the F.A.L.N terrorist attacks, and they will will not forget de Blasio’s total lack of leadership on this decision.

President Trump Signs Bills for Officers and Vets

President Trump signs two bills including one that encourages law enforcement agencies to hire veterans.
The “American Law Enforcement Heroes Act of 2017” and the “Public Safety Officer Benefits Improvement Act of 2017” were both signed Friday at the White House after congressed passed them in May.
The heroes act authorizes the Justice Department’s community policing program to use funds to hire veterans.
The Benefits Act aims to reduce waiting times for the families of officers killed in the line of duty to receive survivor benefits.

National Debt Ceiling Cartoons

Paris Agreement on climate change: Pence says Trump 'fighting for American jobs'

Vice President Mike Pence praised President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, telling Fox News' "Hannity" Thursday that the president was "fighting for American jobs."
Pence spoke to Fox News' Sean Hannity hours after Trump announced the U.S. was "getting out" of the deal, which the president described as "very unfair at the highest level to the United States."
US WITHDRAWS FROM PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENT AS TRUMP CALLS IT 'UNFAIR'
Pence described the 2015 agreement "a bad deal from the moment it was signed by the [Obama] administration."
"This is an agreement that puts an enormous burden on American consumers [and] on the American economy while allowing countries like India and China to virtually get off scot-free for a decade or more," Pence said.
The vice president also noted that the agreement amounted to "an international treaty that was never submitted to the Senate, probably because it never would have had a chance there."
Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement was greeted with dismay by many world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who reportedly called Trump to tell the president that the deal could not be renegotiated.
However, Pence insisted that the United States could re-enter the accord "under terms that will put the American economy and the American people first."
The vice president stressed that Trump had decided to withdraw from the deal after "after listening to all sides," including European leaders who had pressed the president to stay in the agreement during Trump's foreign trip last week.
"The president has demonstrated his commitment not just to keep his word, but to put American workers, American consumers, American energy, and the American people first," Pence said. "The American people get it ... This is a President who is fighting for the American people, fighting for American jobs ... America is back because they have a President in President Donald Trump who is fighting every day for them."

Congress Must Act To Address The National Debt Ceiling

Washington, DC – Kendall Forward, OAN Political Correspondent
With everything going on in Washington, D.C. the national debt ceiling is an issue Congress can’t ignore much longer.
So much so, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asked Congress to raise or suspend the ceiling before leaving for summer recess in August.
The cap on U.S. borrowing is currently set at $19.81 trillion. But, the Treasury Department is running out of ways to keep it below the limit, while floating the bills for the nation’s obligations and past lawmakers’ commitments, in full and on time.
Adjunct Professor at George Washington University, Gary Nordlinger says, “it is without a doubt the most important thing that can happen in the us.” He adds it’s critical to keeping a strong economy, saying “if we don’t have the debt ceiling increase then the United States defaults on the interest on its debts and all of the sudden the dollar goes from being the universal currency of the world to being junk.
He says Congress must come together to act quickly and efficiently in addressing Secretary Mnuchin’s concerns and raise or suspend the ceiling. He’s confident the budget will push through, then Congress must act to pull the reigns back on spending with more fiscally responsible policies.

Groups Urging DOJ to Probe Planned Parenthood on Alleged Secret Tapes

More than a dozen pro-life groups and conservative organizations call on the Justice Department to investigate if Planned Parenthood illegally sold fetal tissue from abortions.
In a letter to the attorney general and acting FBI director, the groups asked the department to look into secretly taped videos that appeared to show the company’s staff discussing the issue.
The groups say the Obama administration turned a blind eye to the wrong doing and call for an investigation into the practices surrounding the scandal.

President Trump Pulls U.S. Out of Paris Climate Agreement

President Trump promises to negotiate a better deal after pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord.
He made the announcement from the White House Thursday.
The President said the agreement allows other countries to gain financial advantage over the United States, so pulling out will help the U.S. compete on a global level.
He said starting now all implementation of the non-binding accord will stop, which will in turn bring money and jobs back to the U.S..
The President worked with EPA Director Scott Pruitt to come to the decision.
President Trump has long said the Obama-era deal adds more regulations that hurt american businesses.

Hillary Clinton Cartoons

Clinton calls out Russia for election loss

President Trump needs to put this piece of trash in prison.

Hillary Clinton came out swinging Wednesday, ripping Russia for her November loss to President Trump and accusing the White House of colluding with Moscow in weaponizing technology to bring her campaign down.
Clinton linked Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections to Trump and said she hoped investigators would be able to unmask a plot to interfere in the U.S. elections.
"I take responsibility for every decision I made, but that's not why I lost,” she said at the annual Code Conference in California. “Anti-American forces are going after our economy and they are going after our unity as a nation."

“Anti-American forces are going after our economy and they are going after our unity as a nation."

Clinton described how a Russian-led misinformation campaign was launched against her using social media networks like Facebook that weren’t able to cut through the “fake news” circulated on the sites.
"What we saw in this election particularly the first time we had the tech revolution really weaponized politically," she said. "It was aimed at me but it's a much deeper, more persistent effort to literally turn the clock back on so much of what we have achieved as a country."
She also didn’t hold back when asked who she thought was responsible for directing the Russians.
“I’m leaning Trump,” she said.
Clinton said she and her campaign repeatedly tried to bring up Russia’s interest in the U.S. election but said her claims were largely ignored.
"Putin wants to bring us down," Clinton said. "It's way beyond me. .... I believe that what was happening to me was unprecedented. Over the summer we went and told anyone we could find that the Russians were messing with the election and we were basically shoo'd away. .... We couldn't get the press to cover it."
Clinton also took issue with a 2010 Supreme Court decision that opened up campaign spending.
“The first time you saw the tech revolution really weaponized politically… you had Citizens United come to its full fruition,” she said. “So unaccountable money flowing in against me, against other Democrats in a way we hadn’t seen. You had effective suppression of votes.”
In the Citizens United v Federal Election Commission ruling, the justices ruled that political spending is protected under the First Amendment. The ruling made it legal for corporations, unions and special interest groups to funnel unlimited amounts of money to candidates – just as long as it was done independently. The high court decision led to a boom in super PACs.
Clinton also claimed she was treated unfairly for accepting millions of dollars in speaking fees from Wall Street firms amid an increasingly competitive race with self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and then Trump.
“I have to say… I never thought someone would throw out my entire career because I made a couple of speeches,” she said. “Men got paid for speeches they made… I got paid for the speeches I made.”