Strong U.S. jobs report seen in July; wages likely rose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers likely maintained a strong pace of hiring in July while raising wages for workers, signs of labor market tightness that could clear the way for the Federal Reserve to announce next month a plan to start shrinking its massive bond portfolio.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, the Labor Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday will probably show that non-farm payrolls increased by 183,000 jobs last month after surging 222,000 in June.
Average hourly earnings are forecast to have risen 0.3 percent after gaining 0.2 percent in June. That would be the biggest increase in five months. But the year-on-year increase in wages will probably slow to 2.4 percent as last year’s sharp rise drops out of the calculation.
Average hourly earnings increased 2.5 percent in the 12 months to June and have been trending lower since surging 2.8 percent in February. Lack of strong wage growth is surprising given that the economy is near full employment.
“This will be another encouraging labor market report for the Fed in their anticipated plans for gradual monetary policy tightening into the second half of the year,” said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Economists expect the Fed will announce a plan to start reducing its $4.5 trillion portfolio of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities in September.
Sluggish wage growth and the accompanying benign inflation, however, suggest the U.S. central bank will delay raising interest rates again until December. The Fed has raised rates twice this year, and its benchmark overnight lending rate now stands in a range of 1 to 1.25 percent.
Wage growth is crucial to sustaining the economic expansion after output increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter, an acceleration from the January-March period’s pedestrian 1.2 percent pace.
The unemployment rate is forecast to have dropped one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.3 percent, a 16-year touched in May. It has dropped four-tenths of a percentage point this year and matches the most recent Fed median forecast for 2017.
Still, some slack remains in the labor market, which economists say is restraining wage growth.
“We still have a lot of potential workers who are working part-time; there is still slack in the labor market which hasn’t been fully worked through,” said Mike Moran, head of economic research, the Americas, at Standard Chartered Bank in New York.
July’s anticipated employment gains would be close to the 180,000 monthly average for the first half of the year. The economy needs to create 75,000 to 100,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population.
SOLID DYNAMICS
Republican President Donald Trump, who inherited a strong job market from the Obama administration, has pledged to sharply boost economic growth and further strengthen the labor market by slashing taxes, cutting regulation and boosting infrastructure spending.
But after six months in office, the Trump administration has failed to pass any economic legislation and has yet to articulate plans for tax reform and infrastructure as well as most of its planned regulatory roll-backs.
“Labor market dynamics remain very solid and we think that payroll gains in the coming months will continue to be strong enough to reduced the unemployment rate,” said Harm Bandholz, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit Research in New York.
The jobs composition in July likely mirrored June’s. Manufacturing payrolls are forecast increasing by 5,000 jobs. But employment in the automobile sector probably fell further as slowing sales and bloated inventories force manufacturers to cut back on production.
U.S. auto sales fell 6.1 percent in July from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted rate of 16.73 million units. General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co have both said they will cut production in the second half of the year.
While further job gains are likely in construction, homebuilders probably laid off more workers in July. Investment in homebuilding contracted in the second quarter at its fastest pace in nearly seven years.
Retail payrolls are expected to have increased for a second straight month in July as hiring by online retailers more than offset job losses at brick-and-mortar stores.
Companies like major online retailer Amazon are creating jobs a warehouses and distribution centers. This week it held a series of job fairs to hire about 50,000 workers.

Grand jury issues subpoenas in connection with Trump Jr., Russian lawyer meeting: sources

Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya speaks during an interview in Moscow, Russia November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Kommersant Photo/Yury Martyanov

August 4, 2017
By Karen Freifeld and John Walcott
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A grand jury has issued subpoenas in connection with a June 2016 meeting that included President Donald Trump’s son, his son-in-law and a Russian lawyer, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, signaling an investigation is gathering pace into suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
The sources added that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller had convened the grand jury investigation in Washington to help examine allegations of Russian interference in the vote. One of the sources said it was assembled in recent weeks.
Russia has loomed large over the first six months of the Trump presidency. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia worked to tilt the presidential election in Trump’s favor. Mueller, who was appointed special counsel in May, is leading the probe, which also examines potential collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia.
Moscow denies any meddling and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign, while regularly denouncing the investigations as political witch hunts.
At a rally in Huntington, West Virginia, on Thursday night, Trump said: “Most people know there were no Russians in our campaign. … We didn’t win because of Russia. We won because of you.”
Mueller’s use of a grand jury could give him expansive tools to pursue evidence, including issuing subpoenas and compelling witnesses to testify. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported a grand jury was impaneled.
A spokesman for Mueller declined comment.
A grand jury is a group of ordinary citizens who, working behind closed doors, considers evidence of potential criminal wrongdoing that a prosecutor is investigating and decides whether charges should be brought.
“This is a serious development in the Mueller investigation,” said Paul Callan, a former prosecutor.
“Given that Mueller inherited an investigation that began months ago, it would suggest that he has uncovered information pointing in the direction of criminal charges. But against whom is the real question.”
A lawyer for Trump, Jay Sekulow, appeared to downplay the significance of a grand jury, telling Fox News: “This is not an unusual move.”
U.S. stocks and the dollar weakened following the news, while U.S. Treasury securities gained.
It was not immediately clear to whom subpoenas were issued and the sources did not elaborate.
Some lawyers said it would put pressure on potential witnesses to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation.
“When someone gets a subpoena to testify, that can drive home the seriousness of the investigation,” said David Sklansky, a professor at Stanford Law School and a former federal prosecutor.
In 2005, a grand jury convened by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald returned an indictment of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a top aide to then-Vice President Dick Cheney.
“A special counsel can bring an indictment and it has happened before,” said Renato Mariotti, a partner at the law firm Thompson Coburn and a former federal prosecutor.
DAMAGING INFORMATION
News last month of the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer who he was told had damaging information about his father’s presidential rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, fueled questions about the campaign’s dealings with Moscow.
The Republican president has defended his son’s behavior, saying many people would have taken that meeting.
Trump’s son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort also attended the meeting.
One of the sources said major Russian efforts to interfere in the election on Trump’s behalf began shortly after the June meeting, making it a focus of Mueller’s investigation.
Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president, said he was not aware that Mueller had started using a new grand jury.
“Grand jury matters are typically secret,” Cobb said. “The White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly. … The White House is committed to fully cooperating with Mr. Mueller.”
John Dowd, one of Trump’s personal lawyers, said: “With respect to the news of the grand jury, I can tell you President Trump is not under investigation.”
A spokesman for Manafort declined to comment.
Lawyers for Trump Jr. and Kushner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
‘NOT THINKING OF FIRING MUELLER’
Trump has questioned Mueller’s impartiality and members of Congress from both parties have expressed concern that Trump might dismiss him. Republican and Democratic senators introduced two pieces of legislation on Thursday seeking to block Trump from firing Mueller.
Sekulow denied that was Trump’s plan.
“The president is not thinking of firing Bob Mueller,” Sekulow said.
One source briefed on the matter said Mueller was investigating whether, either at the meeting or afterward, anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign encouraged the Russians to start releasing material they had been collecting on the Clinton campaign since March 2016.
Another source familiar with the inquiry said that while the president himself was not now under investigation, Mueller’s investigation was seeking to determine whether he knew of the June 9 meeting in advance or was briefed on it afterward.
Reuters earlier reported that Mueller’s team was examining money-laundering accusations against Manafort and hoped to push him to cooperate with their probe into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. It is not known if the grand jury is investigating those potential charges.

Made in China Cartoons

Cotton, Perdue on bill cutting immigration: 'It's pro-worker, it's pro-growth and it's been proven to work'

Tucker Carlson

Republican senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia joined Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Wednesday to explain their bill calling for a merit-based immigration system that would cut legal immigration as much as 50 percent over the next decade.

"People out there in the real world get this," said Perdue. "It’s pro-worker, it’s pro-growth, and it’s been proven to work, in Canada and Australia."

TRUMP, GOP SENATORS CHAMPION BILL TO CUT LEGAL IMMIGRATION LEVELS
"The law of supply and demand applies to the labor market, just like it does every other market," Cotton said. "There’s just simply no doubt that people who come here who are unskilled and low-skilled, have a direct impact on the wages of Americans."
Cotton and Perdue spoke to Tucker Carlson after they joined President Trump at the White House to boost the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy, or the RAISE Act, which both men first proposed in February and which Trump hailed as "the most significant reform to our immigration system in a half century."
"The president campaigned on immigration as the single distinctive issue that separated him not just from Hillary Clinton, but from 16 other Republicans," Cotton said, "and the American people expect him to deliver on that."
"I can’t understand why anybody who wants a pro-growth effort in America [would] oppose this," Perdue added. "today, the system is so broken that only one out of every 15 who come into America come in with a skill. This is a broken system and it penalizes people who’ve been here and who just got here."

Sessions' job safe, White House officials say, as lawmakers look to shield Mueller

New White House chief of staff John Kelly recently called Attorney General Jeff Sessions to assure him his job was safe, Fox News has learned from a senior White House official and another source within the Trump administration.

Kelly called Sessions on Saturday to emphasize that the White House supported him and wanted him to continue leading the U.S. Department of Justice, the sources said.

The assurance comes despite tweets and comments about Sessions from President Donald Trump that came after the attorney general recused himself from the Russia collusion investigation.
Meanwhile, two members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee are readying legislation intended to help special counsel Robert Mueller – who is leading the Russia collusion probe – keep his job as well.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., plan to introduce the legislation Thursday. It would allow any special counsel for the Justice Department challenge his or her removal in court, with a review by a three-judge panel within 14 days of the challenge.
The bill would be retroactive to May 17 -- the day Mueller was appointed by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties to Donald Trump’s campaign.
“It is critical that special counsels have the independence and resources they need to lead investigations,” Tillis said in a statement. “A back-end judicial review process to prevent unmerited removals of special counsels not only helps to ensure their investigatory independence, but also reaffirms our nation’s system of check and balances.”
Mueller was appointed as special counsel in May following Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey.
Mueller, who was Comey’s predecessor as FBI director, has assembled a team of prosecutors and lawyers with experience in financial fraud, national security and organized crimes to investigate contacts between Moscow and the Trump campaign.
Trump has been critical of Mueller since his appointment, and his legal team is looking into potential conflicts surrounding the team Mueller has hired, including the backgrounds of members and political contributions by some members to Hillary Clinton. He has also publicly warned Mueller that he would be out of bounds if he dug into the Trump family’s finances.
Mueller has strong support on Capitol Hill. Senators in both parties have expressed concern that Trump may try to fire Mueller and have warned him not to do so.
“Ensuring that the special counsel cannot be removed improperly is critical to the integrity of his investigation,” Coons said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., another member of the Judiciary panel, said last week that he was working on a similar bill that would prevent the firing of a special counsel without judicial review. Graham said then that firing Mueller “would precipitate a firestorm that would be unprecedented in proportions.”
The Tillis and Coons bill would allow review after the special counsel had been dismissed. If the panel found there was no good cause for the counsel’s removal, the person would be immediately reinstated. The legislation would also codify existing Justice Department regulations that a special counsel can only be removed for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest or other good cause, such as a violation of departmental policies.
In addition, only the attorney general or the most senior Justice Department official in charge of the matter could fire the special counsel.
In the case of the current investigation, Rosenstein is charged with Mueller's fate because Sessions recused himself from all matters having to do with the Trump-Russia investigation.
Fox News’ Serafin Gomez and the Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.

Senate Confirms Multiple Pentagon Positions, Rick Perry Considered to Lead DHS

The Senate unanimously voted on the confirmation of eight nominees on Tuesday, including Wall Street executive Richard Spencer to Navy Secretary.
Spencer is a former Marine Corps aviator and investment banker.
Ellen Lord, the CEO of Textron Systems, will serve as the Pentagon’s Acquisition Chief.
The approval of these nominees brings the total number of Pentagon confirmations in the Trump administration to 15.
Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Rick Perry is reportedly being considered to replace General John Kelly in the Department of Homeland Security.
Sources familiar with the administration’s deliberations say Perry is among the people being looked at for the role.
However, an official in the Energy Department says Perry is focused on his current mission, but is honored to be mentioned.
Earlier this week, the White House downplayed rumors President Trump could move Attorney General Jeff Sessions from his position to the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS Spokesman Being Considered for WH Communications Director Role

New Chief of Staff John Kelly is reportedly considering an official from his former department for the role of White House communications director.
Administration sources say Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan is at the top of the short list for the spot.
Prior to serving at Homeland Security, Lapan led press operations at the Defense Department and the Marine Corps.
Lapan says he hasn’t spoken with anyone in the administration about the job, and noted he would need time to consider the proposal if he was offered the role.
This comes after former Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci was removed from his position earlier this week.

Conservative Cartoons

Ingraham on Republicans: 'A lot of them don't want Donald Trump to succeed'

Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham lashed out at establishment Republicans Tuesday night, telling Fox News' "Hannity" that "a lot of them don't want Donald Trump to succeed."

"A lot of them don't like his policies," said Ingraham, who singled out Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake as being part of "a significant Chamber of Commerce wing of the Republican Party."

Flake made headlines Tuesday with the release of his book, titled "Conscience of a Conservative," in which he described the GOP as being in "denial" about the consequences of electing Trump president.
'CHAOS IS NOT A GOOD PRINCIPLE': FLAKE SAYS GOP 'IN DENIAL ABOUT TRUMP
"Republicans play the safe gentlemanly game of politics," Ingraham told host Sean Hannity. "They agree with the Democrats on a lot of these key issues, and they don’t agree with Donald Trump on a lot of key issues, so they’re not willing to fight for him."
The Lifezette editor-in-chief theorized that Trump's critics have yet to get over his surprise victory in last year's election.
"He crushed them and they never got over it," Ingraham said. "The day after the election, they began plotting what they hoped would be his demise."

US may get tougher against China trade policies

The Trump administration is signaling it intends to take a harsher stance on trade issues than it has during its first six months.

The U.S. is considering using rarely invoked U.S. trade laws to fend off China’s demands that foreign companies share their technology in return for access to the country’s vast market.

The move is prompted by discontent among U.S. businesses, which have grown frustrated with China’s trade and market access practices, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Those practices have helped position China to become a global leader in emerging technologies, such as microchips and electric cars, the New York Times reported.
The U.S. policy shift also may reflect White House frustration that it hasn’t received the help it hoped for from China in addressing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
But a senior Chinese official said Monday there was no link between North Korea’s nuclear program and China-U.S. trade, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, trade ministers from China and other nations -- including Brazil, Russia and India -- concluded a conference in Shanghai on Wednesday, agreeing to promote international cooperation and oppose "trade and investment protectionism," Reuters reported.
A source familiar with the U.S. discussions said the Trump administration planned to employ Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows Washington to investigate China’s trade practices and, within months, raise tariffs on imports from China, or impose other sanctions.
Section 301 was used frequently in the 1980s to combat Japanese imports of steel, motorcycles and other items, but less frequently after the World Trade Organization was founded in 1995, Reuters reported.
The new investigation would focus on China’s alleged “forced technology transfer policies and practices,” the source said, adding that the Trump administration could launch the probe as soon as this week.
One question not yet answered is whether the Trump administration would work with the WTO or seek to impose penalties on China without relying on the international body, the Wall Street Journal reported.
On Monday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, assailing China and the European Union for “formidable nontariff trade barriers” and asserting the U.S. would use “every available tool” to combat those barriers.

GOP Senators: Stay on Health Care or ‘Move On’ to Tax Reform

Losers?

Some GOP Senators are saying it’s time to move on from health care, and onto tax reform, despite pressure to stay the course from the president and White House officials.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Orrin Hatch said it’s time to move onto other legislative priorities. He’d “like to get off health reform for a while,” and let it calm down to come back to it later and then we’ll get that solved.”  Hatch says, “We do need to do tax reform. This country hasn’t had tax reform since 1986.”

Monday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin reiterated he was 100% confident tax reform could be done this year, saying, “we will pass tax reform. This  is about creating jobs about creating wage growth about a simpler and fairer tax system. We’re going to simplify personal taxes, 95% of Americans will be  able to fill out their tax return on a large post card.”

However, many Republicans think the party should continue to give healthcare another shot.  I think they need to go home and tell their constituents it’s time to move on,” said Lindsey Graham, in response to his colleagues.  “Our best ideas haven’t even been presented yet. “

President Trump continues to urge Senators to push forward with Healthcare. Sunday he tweeted “Don’t give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace.. and go to 51 9nuke option), get Cross State Lines & more.”

While Graham said he would not vote on any changes to the Senate, including Trump’s suggested ‘nuke option’ he said “at the end of the day I want to help [President Trump] with an agenda I believe in.  His insistence we continue to focus on health care may save us from ourselves.”

Pres. Trump is Reviewing Pentagon’s Proposed Strategy for Afghanistan

Security forces respond at the site of a suicide attack followed by a clash between Afghanistan’s forces and IS fighters during an attack on Iraq embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 31, 2017. A media outlet linked to the Islamic State group says two IS militants were behind the attack on the Iraqi Embassy in the Afghan capital

As the nation’s longest war continues in Afghanistan, President Trump is reviewing the Pentagon’s proposed strategy to break a stalemate against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
On Monday, a defense official said the department’s working on a process that is being guided by the White House.
They’re reviewing how several aspects of national power like the military, intelligence and finances will contribute to their goals in ending the country’s war.
Defense Secretary James Mattis had promised a plan by mid-July after a request for more troops.
However, officials say he wants to make sure the strategy is right before fulfilling that call.

sanctuary policies cartoons

CNN's Fareed Zakaria: Trump won because of rebellion from 'the white working man'

Fareed Zakaria a piece of crap.

CNN host Fareed Zakaria explained how President Donald Trump rose to power on "New Day" Monday morning.

"The election of Donald Trump is really a kind of class rebellion against people like us, educated professionals who live in cities, who have cosmopolitan views about things," Zakaria said.

Zakaria also blamed racism and diversity on Trump's rise.
"A real sense of cultural alienation, older, white, noncollege education Americans have, a sense that their country is changing because of immigrants. Because maybe blacks are rising up to a central place in society, because gays being afforded equal rights. Because of, frankly, working women. Everybody is muscling in on the territory that the white working man had," Zakaria said.

Portland's sanctuary policies to blame for horrific rapes, says GOP leader

To blame for horrific rapes

Portland's reckless sanctuary city policy is to blame for the rape of two women by a man deported 20 times, Oregon's top Republican official told Fox News Monday.

State GOP chairman Bill Currier told "Fox & Friends" that Sergio Martinez, who was last detained in December but promptly released, should not have been in the country a week ago when he allegedly attacked a pair of women. The horrific attacks shocked the city and stoked fresh criticism of the pro-illegal immigrant policies.

"He was given preferential treatment,” said Currier. “Essentially in Oregon, our governor and the mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, have created a protected class for illegal aliens that commit serious crimes."
Martinez, 31, had a detainer placed on him as a “serious immigration violator” yet immigration officials in December were not notified. Multnomah County officials ended up releasing him back into the community.
PORTLAND MAN ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 65-YEAR OLD HAD BEEN DEPORTED 20 TIMES
Martinez is now being held without bail on charges of robbery, kidnapping and sexual abuse. One of his alleged victims is a 65-year-old woman who was brutally attacked in her home. The other woman was attacked in her apartment’s parking garage. Both attacks occurred last Monday.
Martinez has reportedly told Portland police he is a meth addict. He has been homeless in Portland for the past year.
Portland is widely known as a safe haven for illegal immigrants – no matter how many times they have been deported. The city and, Multnomah County and even the state legislature – all run by Democrats – have passed law declaring themselves a sanctuary for people in the country illegally.
THE SHOCKING DEPORTATION AND CRIMINAL HISTORY OF THE MAN WHO ATTACKED TWO OREGON WOMEN
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Martinez has been deported 13 times since 2008. He has a lengthy criminal record in three states, with charges including battery, felony, burglary and felony illegal re-entry after removal.

He was in the Multnomah County Jail in December and ICE asked the sheriff’s department to notify them when he was released. The county ignored that request – as they do for all immigration detainers.
One month after Martinez was released, Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese launched an investigation into one of his deputies for contacting ICE before having a pre-trial meeting with an illegal immigrant. Around the same time, a judge was accused of letting an illegal immigrant slip out of her courtroom through the employee exit to escape ICE agents out in the hallway.
That judge was later found to have done nothing wrong.
As for Martinez, taxpayers may have to end up paying for his defense. The Portland City Council awarded $50,000 to launch a project aimed at helping immigrants fight deportation and other legal issues.
Fox News' Dan Springer contributed to this report

Lindsey Graham on health care: 'We should be politically horsewhipped if we don't try this again'

Sen. Lindsey Graham tells Fox News the Republicans deserve to be “politically horsewhipped” if they don't try again to repeal and replace ObamaCare -- and on Monday he revealed details of his new plan.

Despite rocky results in the Senate last week, Graham, R-S.C., is urging the Senate to continuing working on alternatives.

Speaking to Dana Perino on “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Monday night, Graham advocated for his own alternative: a plan that he has assembled with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy.
Under the Graham-Cassidy plan, federal dollars spent on Obamacare would be block-granted to states. Additionally, the individual and employer mandate would be repealed; requirements that health insurers would cover pre-existing conditions would be kept; and the ObamaCare medical device tax would be cut. Other ObamaCare taxes would remain.
TRUMP TARGETS CONGRESS MEMBERS' OWN HEALTH PLANS AFTER OBAMACARE REPEAL FALLS FLAT
“I am, like, 1,000 percent with Donald Trump on this,” Graham said. “We should be politically horsewhipped if we don’t try again. The best idea we haven’t even brought up. Take all the money under ObamaCare and block-grant it back to the states,” he said.
“That ends single-payer health care. The government closest to the people is the best government. The health care closest to the people is the best health care. We had Republican governors up in the White House today… we look to Washington to fix ObamaCare, we should’ve looked to the governors.”
“I’m excited about Graham-Cassidy, which empowers governors,” Graham said. “Four states under ObamaCare get 40 percent of the money: New York, California, Massachusetts and Maryland. My goal is to make sure that if you live in South Carolina you get the same amount of money from the federal government as you would if you lived in California with more flexibility. It’ll put Democrats in a box. It will make health care more accessible to you. If you don’t like what’s going on, you complain to your governor or your statehouse guy, rather than a bureaucrat in Washington. I’m so excited about this. Mr. President, don’t let us quit! Make us keep trying. I think we can pass this bill to block grant the money back to the states.”
Whether Graham’s legislation would make it to a vote wasn’t exactly clear but the senator said he remained hopeful.
SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL: REPUBLICANS RELEASE DRAFT OF NEW PLAN
“If we took a really principled position on health care, that we should send the money back home, closest to the patient, and had hearings and votes in the normal course of business, then we could get this done,” Graham said.
“West Virginia, under my approach, gets 43 percent more money than under ObamaCare with more flexibility,” he explained. “So the bottom line is, by 2026, we want to make sure that every state gets the same block granting. And Mr. President, you make sure that we try this before we say we failed. We haven’t even begun to fight yet.”
Asked to discuss a recent White House shake-up that saw Anthony Scaramucci ousted as the White House Communications Director on Monday, Graham deflected. “None of this matters if we’re successful,” he said. “If we fail on health care I don’t care who he hires.”
A couple of Democratic proposals for health care changes have emerged.
Under one by Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Tom Carper of Delaware, the federal government would help pay larger than expected claims for insurers providing coverage on the federal and state online marketplaces established by Obama's law.
Another by Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri would let people in counties where no insurers offer policies on exchanges buy the same coverage that members of Congress purchase. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated last week that exchanges would offer no coverage next year in 40 of the country's roughly 3,000 counties.

Trump administration hits Venezuela's Maduro with sanctions after 'sham' vote

The Trump administration hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with financial sanctions on Monday in the wake of a weekend election that gave the country’s ruling party virtually unlimited powers.

The sanctions follow through on a U.S. threat to take action against Maduro and his socialist government if they went ahead with Sunday's election, which the administration decried as a “sham.”

“All options are on the table, and we will consider everything,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at Monday’s White House briefing.
The sanctions freeze any assets Maduro may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with him. They were outlined in a brief notice by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control ahead of a White House announcement.
The monetary impact of the sanctions wasn't immediately clear as Maduro's holdings in U.S. jurisdictions, if he has any, weren't publicized. However, imposing sanctions on a head of state is rare and can be symbolically powerful, leading other countries to similarly shun such a leader. For example, the U.S. has had sanctions against Syria's President Bashar Assad since 2011.
"Yesterday's illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people," Mnuchin said. "By sanctioning Maduro, the United States makes clear our opposition to the policies of his regime and our support for the people of Venezuela who seek to return their country to a full and prosperous democracy."
He warned of further U.S. penalties against Maduro allies.
"Anyone who participates in this illegitimate (constituent assembly) could be exposed to future U.S. sanctions for their role in undermining democratic processes and institutions in Venezuela," Mnuchin said.
Officials had said the sanctions could target Venezuela's oil sector, including possibly its state-owned petroleum company.
But after the announcement, an official said Trump's administration held off due to possible complications, including some involving subsidiaries. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the process and demanded anonymity.
The assembly will draw up a new constitution that many believe is aimed only at securing Maduro's increasingly authoritarian rule. On Monday, Venezuela's government said the election had given it a popular mandate to dramatically recast the political system, despite widespread claims of low voter turnout.
The Trump administration was quick to denounce the vote.
"Maduro's sham election is another step toward dictatorship," Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Twitter. "We won't accept an illegit govt. The Venezuelan ppl & democracy will prevail."
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the new assembly "is designed to replace the legitimately elected National Assembly and undermine the Venezuelan people's right to self-determination."

Sen. Susan Collins Cartoons

Trump strong-arms ObamaCare back to table; holdout Collins says 'job is not done'

Senate Republicans ended July in humiliating and seemingly final defeat over repealing and replacing ObamaCare, but relentless pressure this weekend from President Trump and reports of yet another potentially winning bill has sparked renewed hope of success within the party.  

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., reportedly has a new overhaul plan for the Senate, where senators will returned Monday because Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has revoked the first two weeks of their traditional August recess.

Trump also met privately with several Senate Republicans on Friday, according to Politico, which also first reported about the Graham proposal.
The president then launched into a very public Twitter rant this weekend in which he said Senate Republicans “look like fools” for trying and failing for essentially the entire month to pass an overhaul plan.
“It’s time to move on,” McConnell, R-Ky., said Friday, after the last repeal attempt failed.
The president -- sounding desperate to fulfill a major campaign promise in ending ObamaCare -- also suggested McConnell lower the vote threshold from 60 to 51 votes and that he might yank the subsidies that members of Congress receive to pay for their ObamaCare policies.
“The world is watching,” Trump said in a final, chiding tweet Sunday morning.
Beyond taking away Congress’ subsidies, Trump also hinted at ending subsidies to insurance companies that offer policies under ObamaCare.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told “Fox News Sunday” that Trump will make that decision “this week.”
She also called the subsidies received by congressional members and their staffers a “really sweet deal” and argued, “This is exactly what so many Americans hate about Washington, D.C.”
“The president will not accept those who said it is, quote, time to move,” she also said.
Trump said Friday after the failed votes, as he has before, that he aimed to let the 2010 health care law “implode” under its own weight of rising premium costs and few insurance policy options.
However, he and essentially every Washington Republican have been elected on a promise to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
The GOP-led House passed its overhaul measure this spring, but not without the same kinds of problems faced by the Republican-led Senate, include how to get support from all wings of the party.
They are divided on such key issues as whether Medicaid should be expanded and whether subsidies should continue to be provided to insurance companies, apparently for low-income families to pay for policies.
The Senate has 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats and Independents who vote, or caucus, together.
Democrats say they are willing to work on solutions to ObamaCare but so far have not participated in the process.
The GOP-controlled House and Senate for the past several years have passed dozens of either full- or partial-repeal measures. But they have failed to do so since Trump, a fellow Republican, took office in January.
Several GOP senators have balked at the recent measure and amendments, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins.
Collins said Sunday that the ObamaCare issue remains unsettled and that the Senate must get back to work.
“Our job is not done,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “There are serious problems with (ObamaCare.) ... And I certainly hope the administration does not do anything in the meantime to hasten that collapse.”

North Korea threat: Japan's Abe says he and Trump agree to take further action

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday he and President Donald Trump agreed to take further action against North Korea following its latest missile launch.

Abe told reporters after the call that Trump pledged to “take all necessary measures to protect” Japan and that Abe praised his commitment to do so.

He also called on China and Russia to do more to stop Pyongyang.
“We have made consistent efforts to resolve the North Korean problem in a peaceful manner, but North Korea has ignored that entirely and escalated the situation in a one-sided way,” Abe said, according to Bloomberg. “The international community, starting with China and Russia, must take this obvious fact seriously and increase pressure.”
Abe said Japan would pursue concrete steps to bolster defense system and capabilities under the firm solidarity with the U.S. and do utmost to protect the safety of the Japanese people.
The White House said in a statement after the phone call that the two leaders “agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other countries near and far,” Reuters reported.
The call between the two world leaders comes hours after the U.S., Japanese and South Korea militaries spent 10 hours conducting bomber-jet drills over the Korean peninsula.
The training mission was a response to North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches and nuclear program, and part of the U.S. regular commitment to defending its allies in the Asia-Pacific region, the general’s statement said.
"The time for talk is over. The danger the North Korean regime poses to international peace is now clear to all," said United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in a statement.
North Korea conducted test launches of ICBMs on July 3 and July 28, and has claimed that its weapons can now reach the U.S. mainland.
On Saturday, two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, under the command of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, joined counterparts from the South Korean and Japanese air forces in sequenced bilateral missions.

Trump Insider Talk White House Shake-up

Washington, D.C.- Emerald Robinson, Political Correspondent
The announcement of a key change-up in White House late Friday came as a surprise, although it clearly isn’t the first time this administration has made big announcements as the weekend begins. Frank Buckley, a speech-writer for President Trump and administration insider, says it was a necessary change to promote the President’s agenda. “He had his mission and his mission was to be a bridge to the congressional Republicans and they weren’t having it, so good-bye Reince!” said Buckley.
Buckley, who also helped assemble a foreign policy team for President Trump, says bringing in General John Kelly as Chief-of-Staff is a smart move and probably signals a change in the tone of the administration. He says it could be a movement in a more aggressive direction after the President’s disappointment with health care and in his dealing with Congress.
“Up to now in respect to dealing with Obamacare, the message has been ‘ok we’ll put it over to Congress and we’ll let the congressional Republicans deal with it.’ And that didn’t work very well, so now something else has to be tried,’ explained Buckley.
And that something else is getting more Trump loyalists into the White House according to the Trump insider. Buckley says there is not enough Trump “loyalists” in the White House. He added that many of those hired were hired on a temporary basis and phased out after a six-month period. He attributes this lack of loyalists to former Chief-of-Staff Reince Preibus.
Buckley also said White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci is a good move, even after his highly publicized rant this week against Reince Preibus to the New Yorker. Buckley added that sometimes “few obscene words are necessary to describe a situation.”
Buckley warned that the White House has to get it’s act together and find its real allies so that the President can press on with his agenda. Buckley said his hope is that under General John Kelly’s guidance, the White House can do just that.

Nikki Haley: Venezuela Vote ‘A Sham’

American Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley condemns Venezuela over its recent vote to create a constituent assembly, calling it a ‘sham’. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley speaks out against the Venezuelan government, calling its election a ‘sham’.
She took to Twitter on Sunday, saying America won’t accept Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to rewrite the country’s constitution and create an illegitimate government.
Haley said Maduro’s election for a new constitutional super-body is ‘a step toward dictatorship’, and claimed both democracy and the Venezuelan people will prevail.
The U.S. State Department made a statement Sunday evening, condemning the Venezuelan government for the vote.
It claimed the new body seems designed to undermine Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination.

Loose Lips Sink Ships Cartoons

Conway, other Trump supporters laud decision to replace Priebus with Kelly

Top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and other President Trump supporters on Saturday backed the president’s decision to make retired Gen. Mike Kelly his new chief of staff.

“I think General Secretary Kelly will bring some strength and discipline, and put out, without even saying to others, that loose lips sink ships,” Conway, counselor to the president, told Fox News' “Fox & Friends.”

She spoke one day after Trump replaced White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus with Kelly, amid widespread leaks from inside the West Wing and apparently across the administration that have slowed the president’s agenda.
“I think people will think thrice before they try to hurt each other … by using the press,” said Conway, Trump’s campaign manager in the final stretch of his successful 2016 White House bid.
Kelly, a retired Marine general, was the Homeland Security secretary before the announced change Friday.
“I think what the president wants to do is to make a fresh start,” Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s first campaign manager, also said Saturday on “Fox & Friends.”
“And I think he and General Kelly are going to make a great combination. It's time -- and I think the general is going to do this -- to make sure that everybody who’s working in the administration is working for the president’s agenda.”
Lewandowski didn’t accuse Priebus of leaking damaging information but suggested there was “no recourse” against those who did under his watch.
Priebus’ departure follows the ousting last week of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who helped Priebus lead the Republican National Committee before they joined the Trump White House.
As part of the larger White House shakeup, Trump has hired fellow New Yorker Antony Scaramucci as his communications director and has publicly suggested Attorney General Jeff Session also could be fired.
Kelly is considered a battle-hardened commander who would bring a background of military discipline and order to the unsettled White House. 
Kelly's experience as Homeland Security secretary and a veteran of three tours in Iraq -- along with a sobering family tragedy -- suggests he'll be a loyal manager for Trump when he officially starts the job Monday.
"He has been a true star of my administration," tweeted Trump in announcing the move.  The president also called Kelly a "great leader" and "great American." He called Priebus, ousted after a tumultuous six months, a "good man."
As Homeland Security secretary, Kelly has taken the lead on some of Trump's most controversial policies, including his executive orders suspending the admission of refugees and temporarily barring visitors from several Muslim-majority nations. Those orders have been stripped down by courts pending a Supreme Court review this fall.
And he has stood up to Congress.
In April, Kelly bluntly challenged members of Congress critical of the Trump administration's aggressive approach to immigration enforcement to either change the laws or "shut up."
But Kelly has won bipartisan respect from lawmakers as a result of his distinguished military career. He joined the Marine Corps in 1970, carving out a reputation as a highly respected but often outspoken commander who could roil debate and issue unpopular directives on issues ranging from women in combat to the treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center.
Kelly also holds a somber distinction. He was the highest-ranking officer to lose a child in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. Kelly's son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed in November 2010 in Afghanistan.
The general retired from the military last year, wrapping up a three-year post as head of U.S. Southern Command, which spanned some of the more fractious debate over the Obama administration's ultimately failed attempt to close the detainee facility at Guantanamo.

US, allies prepared to use 'overwhelming force' in North Korea, general says

The U.S. and its allies are prepared to use “rapid, lethal and overwhelming force,” if necessary, against North Korea, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces warned Saturday night.

The statement from Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, U.S. Pacific Air Forces commander, came after the militaries of the U.S., South Korea and Japan spent 10 hours conducting bomber-jet drills over the Korean Peninsula.

The training mission was a response to North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches and nuclear program, and part of the U.S. regular commitment to defending its allies in the Asia-Pacific region, the general’s statement said.
“North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability,” O’Shaughnessy said.
“Diplomacy remains the lead,” he said. “However, we have a responsibility to our allies and our nation to showcase our unwavering commitment while planning for the worst-case scenario.
“If called upon,” he added, “we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing.”
North Korea conducted test launches of ICBMs on July 3 and July 28, and has claimed that its weapons can now reach the U.S. mainland.
The country’s recent actions have drawn condemnation from President Trump, and prompted U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to confer with counterparts from South Korea and Japan to develop a response, Fox News has reported.
Both Trump and Tillerson have criticized China, saying the Beijing government has failed to use its influence to discourage North Korea from developing its nuclear program, Fox News reported.
On Saturday, two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, under the command of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, joined counterparts from the South Korean and Japanese air forces in sequenced bilateral missions.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, then flew to Japanese airspace, where they were joined by two Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self Defense Force) F-2 fighter jets.
The B-1s then flew over the Korean Peninsula, where they were joined by four F-15 fighter jets from the South Korean air force.
The B-1s then performed a low-pass over Osan Air Base, South Korea, before leaving South Korean airspace and returning to Guam.
Throughout the approximately 10-hour mission, the air crews practiced intercept and formation functions, enabling them to improve their combined capabilities and strengthening the long-standing military-to-military relationships in the region, the Pentagon said.
U.S. Pacific Command maintains flexible bomber and fighter capabilities in the Indo-Asia-Pacific theater, retaining the ability to quickly respond to any regional threat in order to defend the U.S. and its allies, the statement said.

President Trump Tweets About Russia, ‘Outdated’ Filibuster Rule

In this photo taken July 26, 2017, President Donald Trump pauses while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.

President Trump calls out ineffective republican leadership in the Senate, following the defeat of the Obamacare repeal bill.
In a tweet Saturday, the President said republicans in the Senate will never win if they don’t go to a 51-vote majority, adding they are just wasting time.
The 60 votes required for many major legislative efforts is said to be a key reason for the failure of the health care reform in the Senate.
President Trump went on to call the rule very outdated.
Earlier Saturday, President Trump also put the alleged Russia meddling theory to rest, after it was revealed the firm Fusion GPS, which was behind the infamous Steele Dossier, also did work for Russia.
The President said on Twitter that Russia was working against him during the 2016 election because he campaigned on cheaper oil prices and a strong military.
He previously claimed Russian officials wanted Hillary Clinton to win because she would have weakened our nation’s defenses.
Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned a victim of the firm and he revealed the company was hired by Russia to run a smear campaign against the President in an effort to lift Russian sanctions.

Iran: U.S. Navy was Unprofessional During Confrontation in Persian Gulf

Sailors man the rails as aircraft carrier USS Nimitz with Carrier Strike Group 11, and some 7,500 sailors and airmen depart for a 6 month deployment in the Western Pacific from San Diego, California, U.S., June 5, 2017.

Iran says a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier acted in an unprofessional way, after it fired warning shots near some of its vessels.
The incident happened on Friday in the Persian Gulf and involved the USS Nimitz and an accompanying ship.
The U.S. Navy says one of its helicopters was on a routine patrol in international airspace when several Iranian vessels approached at high speed.
The Navy tried to establish communications, but didn’t get an answer.
They, then, sent out flares, which prompted the boats to halt.
U.S. officials say the encounter was safe and professional.
The incident comes days after a U.S. Navy patrol boat fired warning shots near an Iranian vessel that reportedly came dangerously close to them during a tense encounter.