Dear reader,
Our message is starting to spread…
Last week, we won the 2019 Anthem Film Festival award for “Best Libertarian Ideals” at the FreedomFest conference.
I got to speak to a few of you there, and I sincerely hope that you enjoyed watching our documentary. (If you haven’t seen it yet, you can buy your digital access here.)
And now we’re taking our message to television…
Tomorrow, July 25, you can watch our full documentary on Fox Business at 3 a.m. Eastern time.
Please set your VCRs or digital recorders if you don’t want to stay up late or wake up early. It’s an incredibly important warning for the nation… and we’d like your help in getting it out.
The absolute best thing you can do to help us get out this message is sharing a link to where folks can get access our documentary – Join.AmericanConsequences2020.com.
We show what the radical positions and promises that politicians will make leading up to the 2020 presidential election really mean… and what ALL Americans stand to lose if our nation heads down this perilous path.
This new reality likely means tax hikes on the middle class, small businesses, and farmers… the elimination of Social Security as we know it today… and even the potential death of your IRA.
Again, if you feel that what is likely coming in 2020 could damage our nation, please share this link: Join.AmericanConsequences2020.com.
And now our own Buck Sexton just returned from an eye-opening trip to South America…
Look to the Scoreboard on Trade
I (Buck Sexton) just returned this week from four days traveling with the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his plane.
It’s my new favorite way to fly. No airport security… and when you land, you have motorcades everywhere you go to cut through the traffic.
Seriously though, it was incredible to see diplomacy at that level up close. Pompeo is a world-class strategic mind and a great guy. Plus, I was able to get some firsthand insights from America’s foreign policy chief on many of the biggest issues facing this country around the world.
We flew down to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a counterterrorism summit (and some remarkably delicious, inexpensive steak), moved on to Guayaquil, Ecuador, then Mexico City, Mexico, and finished up in San Salvador, El Salvador.
While in Mexico, I had the chance to sit down with Secretary Pompeo and run through some of the critical foreign policy challenges that President Trump has tasked him to address. At the top of my list was the current trade standoff with China.
Here’s how that exchange went:
QUESTION:
What can you tell me about the status of the ongoing discussions with the Chinese to get some kind of trade agreement? Obviously, what has been called a trade war has been going on for quite some time. I know the president said there’s been some good stuff recently without a whole lot of specifics. Where are we and what are the stumbling blocks?
SECRETARY POMPEO:
In the end, the stumbling blocks are this central set of issues. It is how is China going to engage in the world. Are they going to continue to steal intellectual property? Are they going to continue to force American businesses that participate and invest in their economy to transfer technology? Do they want the rule of law? Are they prepared to lower their tariffs so that they’re equitable, fair, and reciprocal?
Those are the things that are being negotiated. Those are sort of the set of demands that we put on every country that we trade with.
We hope the Chinese will see that that’s in their 1 billion people’s best interest, but so far, the Chinese Communist Party has said that this is not something that they’re prepared to live with.
The bottom line is, it’s not looking good right now for a trade deal with China. The Trump administration is holding strong despite all the concerns about what the back and forth of tariffs could do to our respective economies.
But Pompeo or any other member of Trump’s foreign policy team would point to the scoreboard of our trade war with China… The U.S. economy is doing very well despite the trade issues. China, on the other hand, has had its biggest slowdown in years.
Whereas it was once considered a reckless folly – and dangerous on a national security level – to challenge Chinese predatory trade practices, President Trump has changed the game. China can no longer expect to get away with all its trade shenanigans. Whether that means Xi Xinping will cave to U.S. demands remains to be seen.
But based on what Pompeo told me and the discussions I had with other members of the administration’s foreign policy team, I wouldn’t expect a trade deal anytime soon. Strap in and get ready for a long fight.
Regards,
Buck Sexton
Now here’s some of the latest news we’re reading…
Very little that you think is safe truly is…
Safe Deposit Boxes Aren’t Safe
When Philip Poniz opened Box 105 at his local Wells Fargo, he discovered it was empty — and that he was totally unprotected by federal law.
The unnerving tale of having my Social Security hacked
In this age of cybereverything, we all live in dread that we’re going to be somehow attacked on the Internet. Nearly everyone seems vulnerable. The Internet is changing how we work, play, socialize, shop — and what we love and fear.
Illustrated: It Took Only 16 Minutes for Thieves to Swipe a 220-Pound, Million-Dollar Gold Coin
In 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint had a wild idea—create the world’s first million-dollar coin. It would be 99.999% pure gold, 220 pounds, and as tall as a car tire. Five so-called Big Maple Leaf coins were purchased by investors.
Bubbles are all around us…
UBS CEO Warns of ‘Dangerous’ Bubbles Spurred by Central Banks
“I’d be very, very careful about growing further the balance sheet of central banks… We are at a risk of creating an asset bubble.”
Mapped: The Countries With the Highest Housing Bubble Risks
With a decade-long bull market and an ultra low interest rate environment globally, it’s not surprising to see capital flock to housing assets. For many investors, real estate is considered as good of a place as any to park money – but what happens when things get a little too frothy, and the fundamentals begin to slip away?
A new apple is coming…
The Cosmic Crisp is debuting on grocery stores after this fall’s harvest, and in the nervous lead-up to the launch, everyone from nursery operators to marketers wanted me to understand the crazy scope of the thing… People kept saying things like “unprecedented,” “on steroids,” “off the friggin’ charts,” and “the largest launch of a single produce item in American history.”
So-called progressive “environmentalists” pass strict laws regarding waste… and then ship it down to their southern conservative neighbors.
Love Thy Neighbor: The Bible Belt Is Becoming A Dumping Ground
Locals were furious after trains carrying 10 million tons of raw Northern sewage sat festering for months last summer, breeding swarms of mosquitoes. “I never dreamed somebody could flush a load in New York City and have it run into my backyard.”
Read our latest issues of American Consequences by clicking here.
And let us know what you’re reading at [email protected].
Regards,
Steven Longenecker
Publisher, American Consequences
With P.J. O’Rourke and the Editorial Staff
July 24, 2019
