Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2018 - 11:55 pm:

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1) Let's talk about what the President can and can't do for this Omnibus Bill. There's a lot of discussion both ways so let's examine how money gets allocated & spent in the US Government:

[snip]

I've worked for Government for 30 years and I've never seen ANYONE making the moves [President Trump is] making right now. He's a Genius.

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Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2018 - 12:23 am:

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[President] Trump signs the omnibus spending bill and says that if you read it for 20 minutes, you’ll see why.

Reading it for 20 minutes shows you that the military is being fully funded for the first time in years.

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Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2018 - 08:38 am:

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Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich. Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense. Build WALL through M!

-- President Donald J. Trump, 6:33 AM - Mar 25, 2018

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Posted on Monday, March 26, 2018 - 08:52 am:

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U.S. Will Be the World’s Largest Oil Producer by 2023, Says IEA
Influence on global oil markets is also expected to rise, with U.S. oil exports more than doubling
By Sarah Kent and Timothy Puko - Wall Street Journal
March 5, 2018

The U.S. is likely to overtake Russia to become the world’s largest oil producer by 2023, accounting for most of the global growth in petroleum supplies, a top industry monitor said Monday.

U.S. crude production is expected to reach a record of 12.1 million barrels a day in 2023, up about 2 million barrels a day from this year, said the International Energy Agency, which advises governments and corporations on industry trends. American oil output will surge past Russia, currently the world’s largest crude producer at about 11 million barrels a day.

Of the 6.4 million new barrels of oil that will be pumped every day between now and 2023, almost 60% will come from the U.S., the IEA said. “And I can tell you our expectations may well need to be revised upwards if prices are higher,” Mr. Birol said.

American influence on global oil markets is also expected to rise, with U.S. oil exports more than doubling to 4.9 million barrels a day by 2023, according to the IEA. Until 2015, the U.S. didn’t export any crude oil by law, but in 5 years it is expected to be among the world’s biggest exporters.

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Posted on Monday, March 26, 2018 - 06:36 pm:

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Pruitt Leads the Way on Regulatory Rollback
By Ken Cuccinelli, Mar. 26, 2018

This month, the Environmental Protection Agency released its EPA Year in Review for 2017–2018. To call it impressive would be a gross understatement. With Administrator Scott Pruitt leading the charge, the agency has shown unrivaled commitment to carrying out the president’s agenda of deregulation.

Before taking over at the EPA, Pruitt was as a leading opponent of regulatory overreach by the agency. As Attorney General of Oklahoma, for instance, he dissolved the Environmental Protection Unit and instead created a Federalism Unit to fight President 0bama’s aggressive regulatory agenda. He brought more than a dozen lawsuits against the EPA, fighting such rules as the Cross State Air Pollution Rule and the Clean Water Rule, and successfully challenging the Clean Power Plan.

[snip]

From his first days at the agency, Pruitt took steps to facilitate cooperation with the states on environmental policy. Federalism is an essential principle of American governance, and Pruitt has put this principle into practice. During his first year, Pruitt traveled to 30 states to discuss the EPA’s work, personally meeting with 34 governors — Democrats and Republicans — as well as over 350 stakeholder groups. This level of personal involvement is nearly unparalleled, even inside an administration with such a clear focus on deregulation. And it is paying dividends.

The EPA Year in Review booklet is nearly 40 pages long, outlining the regulatory rollback, increased transparency, and government reform measures accomplished in the last year alone. This includes finalizing 22 deregulatory actions and savings of more than $1 billion in regulatory costs, which previously fell on Americans’ shoulders.

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Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - 01:31 pm:

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Secretary Wilbur Ross: "The way people should judge this president is by what he achieves. Not by what they fear he might not be able to do."

-- Fox Business, 8:49 AM - Mar 27, 2018

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Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - 01:42 pm:

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Did you know in 2017, U.S. liquefied natural gas exports were up 4X compared to 2016? #NewEnergyRealism

Source: https://go.usa.gov/xQC9s @EIAGov

-- US Energy Dept., 11:04 AM - Mar 27, 2018

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U.S. liquefied natural gas exports quadrupled in 2017
US Energy Information Administration (EIAGov), March 27, 2018



U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reached 1.94 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2017, up from 0.5 Bcf/d in 2016. As LNG exports increased, shipments went to more destinations. U.S. LNG exports in 2017, all of which originated from Louisiana’s Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal, reached 25 countries.

[snip]

The increase in LNG exports over the past two years is the result of the continuing expansion of U.S. LNG export capacity. Two LNG projects—Sabine Pass in Louisiana and Cove Point in Maryland—have come online since 2016, increasing U.S. LNG export capacity to 3.6 Bcf/d.

Four more projects are scheduled to come online in the next two years: Elba Island LNG in Georgia and Cameron LNG in Louisiana in 2018, then Freeport LNG and Corpus Christi LNG in Texas in 2019. Once completed, U.S. LNG export capacity is expected to reach 9.6 Bcf/d by the end of 2019. As export capacity continues to increase, the United States is projected to become the third-largest LNG exporter in the world by 2020, surpassing Malaysia and remaining behind only Australia and Qatar.

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Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - 08:13 am:

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Revamped deal widens US access to South Korean car market
By Paul Wiseman/Associated Press, March 27, 2018

The Trump administration said Tuesday it has widened U.S. access to South Korea’s car market while providing American manufacturers protection from South Korean imports.

The United States and South Korea have reached an agreement to overhaul the six-year-old U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, senior administration officials said, confirming an announcement earlier Monday in Seoul. President Donald Trump had called the original Korea pact a job killer.

The new deal doubles — to 50,000 — the cars each U.S. automaker can export annually to South Korea, reduces bureaucratic barriers to American products and extends a 25 percent U.S. tariff on South Korean pickup trucks by 20 years, through 2041.

South Korea escapes America’s new 25 percent tariff on imported steel — but must accept quotas on steel exports equal to 70 percent of its average annual shipments to the United States between 2015 and 2017.

[snip]

The U.S. trade deficit in goods with South Korea — nearly $23 billion last year — widened after the original pact took effect in 2012, one reason Trump has denounced it. Trade in autos has been especially lopsided: South Korea last year exported to the United States 929,000 passenger vehicles worth $15.7 billion. By contrast, the U.S. shipped to South Korea fewer than 53,000 autos, worth just $1.5 billion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

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Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - 08:26 am:

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Kim reaffirms commitment to denuclearization in first summit with Xi
Yonhap News Agency, March 28, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping and reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearization during their first summit, the two countries' media said Wednesday.

The North's leader made an "unofficial" visit to China from Sunday to Wednesday, accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju and key officials, including de facto No. 2 figure Choe Ryong-hae, according to the North's state-run radio.

It was Kim's first foreign trip since he took office in late 2011.

The summit came as Kim plans to meet the leaders of South Korea and the United States in the coming months.

[snip]

[President] Trump has agreed to meet with Kim after South Korean envoys relayed Kim's expression of his commitment to denuclearization.

[snip]

"The issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be resolved, if South Korea and the U.S. respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realization of peace," [Kim] was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

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Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - 08:47 am:

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Making a historic investment in public lands infrastructure
By Interior Secretary Ryan K. Zinke, Wednesday, March 21, 2018



World-class infrastructure is the pride of a prosperous nation. America is the greatest country this world has ever known — she deserves the greatest infrastructure. Unfortunately, our roads, bridges and tunnels have been neglected due to years of inaction. Our public lands have suffered a similar fate. As Secretary of the Interior and chief steward of our public lands, I inherited a maintenance backlog of more than $11 billion in our national parks alone.

While leaders have said the right things on infrastructure in the past, President Donald Trump is a man of action. In his first year in office, he has kept his promises to the American people by cutting taxes, nominating judges and slashing job-killing regulations. And with his proposed 2019 budget, the president is again keeping another promise — to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure.

President Trump is a builder, and as the son of a plumber myself, I’m excited to begin working with him on restoring the greatness of America’s treasures. The president’s budget request for 2019 includes a legislative proposal for a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund, which would address the deferred-maintenance backlog by using funds generated from federal energy leasing and development activities to invest up to $18 billion over 10 years in national parks, wildlife refuges and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools.

Infrastructure is an investment in our nation. A recent study from the Fish and Wildlife Service indicates that for every dollar spent on construction, maintenance and repair contracts in the National Wildlife Refuge System, three times the economic activity is generated. According to the preliminary statistics by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, outdoor recreation, much of it occurring on our public lands, accounted for 2.0 percent of the U.S. economy, or $373.7 billion, in 2016.

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