• The June Jobs Report showed that 224,000 jobs were created in June, Unemployment rose to 3.7%, and wage growth stood at 3.1%. 2^nd Quarter GDP Growth was only at about 2%.  In July, 164,000 jobs were reportedly added, with the unemployment rate remaining stagnant. The August jobs growth showed only 130,000 jobs created – which were predominantly the product of temporary hires for the next Census -, a continuing unemployment rate unchanged at 3.7%, and wage growth at .4% in the month. The slowing growth triggered a second Federal Reserve Interest Rate Cut for the first time in over a decade. The trade war is not helping at all, as the tariffs imposed by Trump reportedly hurt American businesses with a loss of $3.4 Billion.
• It was announced that June 2019 was the hottest ever (up to that point) month ever recorded on this planet.
• Trump argued with his team for about two hours about the effectiveness of his tariffs before eventually compelling them to stop pushing back and then getting their help drafting a tweet announcing an expansion of tariffs to all products.
• According to a recent estimate, we are three decades away from the current rate of how wealth is flowing from the very wealthy have absolute possession of our wealth.
• Trump nominated a former Big Pharma Executive, Alex Azar – a man known for tripling the cost of insulin – to lead the Health Department, claiming on Twitter that the man will “lower drug prices”.
• Labor Secretary Alex Acosta resigned amidst the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal.
• The Justice Department restricted Robert Mueller’s testimony to only what he mentioned in his report, as they explained that they would assume “executive privilege” over any additional information.
• Nissan had to cut over 12,000 jobs, citing a 99% decline in profits.
• The Trump Administration reached an agreement with the Fascist leader of Brazil (Jair Bolsonaro) to allow private development of the Amazon – claiming that it was the only way to protect the vital region – and offered a “biodiversity fund” in part to help reach businesses seemingly stranded in the middle of the rainforest.
• Some Republicans in Congress started floating around a rumor that Trump has indicated he is open to cutting Social Security and Medicare if he wins reelection and if they regain power in Congress.
• The Trump Administration proposed eliminating what they call a “loophole” in the SNAP (Food Stamp) program. This supposed loophole permits families receiving TANF funds (welfare) to be automatically enrolled in the SNAP program. It is estimated that around 3 million people will be cast out of the Food Stamp program as a result of this proposal.
• Trump fired his neocon hyper-warhawk National Security Adviser John Bolton.
• The Trump Administration approved a trophy-killing souvenir of a slain and critically endangered animal to be brought back to the states by a big game-hunting American. The act was supposedly approved to help “preserve” the species.
• Trump recklessly handled classified information (again) by tweeting out a satellite photo of an accident which occurred in Iran accompanied by a statement which offered well-wishes to the Iranian government in getting to the bottom of it while also denying the U.S. government had any role.
• It was reported that since the water crisis began in Flint, Michigan a few years ago, the number of special needs amongst that school district’s students has jumped to 1 in 5.
• A report came out which found that Trump and – in passing – suggested using nuclear weapons to combat hurricanes.
• Forgetting the limitations on his power for a moment during a trade spat with China, Trump issued an “order” via Twitter to U.S. companies, commanding them to not do business with China.
• An American citizen with a Latino name and look was racially profiled and held by authorities three days longer in detention past the date that a judge ordered him freed.
• Trump’s Homeland Security Department announced that they will be changing the Flores Settlement Agreement to permit the indefinite detention of migrant families to be placed in a cell together with their children until their case has been resolved.
• With a temporary victory in the Supreme Court, the Trump Administration revealed a plan to raid funding from the military’s “Blended Retirement System” in order to help pay for the Border Wall.
• It was reported that Trump has come to demand that the Wall be built as quickly as possible, even if it means violating the law and taking private lands against the will of the owners. He suggested that if laws are broken to achieve this goal he will simply pardon those who break said laws.
• The Trump Administration requested that the Supreme Court permit employers to terminate employees on the basis of them being transgender.
• Royal Dutch Shell forced their employees to clock-in and attend a rally of President Trump’s, threatening a loss of pay if they refused to do so.
• The Trump Administration decided it was going to heavily reduce its own authority to protect endangered species.
• While Trump’s national efforts on pollution reflect a rollback on regulations, his pettiness towards California’s stricter policies has led the Environmental Protection Agency head – Andrew Wheeler – to demand that California deal with their “backlog” of pollution cases which apparently number around 130 in order to continue receiving federal funding for highways.
• Trump’s EPA also sought to protect RoundUp – a weedkiller owned by Monsanto – from label requirements which would inform consumers of a potential cancer risk.
• Lowes has become one of the latest companies to exploit the 2017 tax cuts to buy back their own shares for a huge profit while also screwing over their workers with no notice or severance pay upon laying them off.
• The Trump Administration put forward a proposal for changes to immigration rules which would exclude visa consideration for impoverished immigrants.
• In the wake of the shooting in El Paso (where hatred of immigrants inspired that slaughter) and the one in Dayton, Trump half-asked for action to deal with background checks, violent video games, and doubled-down on the need for his version of immigration reform. He also expressed his support for social media companies helping to track down would-be mass shooters.
• The Department of Justice announced that it will be resuming federal executions after a lengthy halt which had been due to the controversy over the lethal injection drugs being cut off.
• Attorney General Barr spoke at an event hosted by the Fraternal Order of Police wherein he proclaimed that “resisting arrest” needed to be a prosecutable crime handled with “zero tolerance”. To emphasize his point, he said that citizens should “comply first…complain later”.
• With the Russians advancing banned nuclear weapons activity, the United Statesformally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
• It was revealed through an extensive investigation by journalists that the Russian Government facilitated the 2016 Conspiracy Theory about slain DNC member Seth Rich supposedly being murdered by the Clinton Campaign.
• After an attack by “Yemen-based Houthi rebels” on Saudi oil fields, the Trump administration blamed Iran without evidence and announced that American soldiers will be dispatched to protect Saudi interests.
• Trump stood by Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro as the fascist in Brazil rejected international aid meant to help battle the fires in the Amazon.
• The 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a “faithless elector” from Colorado who cast his Electoral College vote for Kasich instead of Hillary Clinton. This is a decision in keeping with the original intent of the Founding Fathers.
• Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress and stated that his report did not exonerate the president of obstruction of justice and that the investigating team had deferred to long-standing Justice Department policy which holds that a president can not be charged while in office.
• Facing the prospect of impeachment over his latest scandal which emerged after a whistleblower revealed that Trump leveraged U.S. military aid to “ask” for a political favor from the Ukrainian Government in getting dirt on Biden’s family, the White House accidentally sent talking points about this to Congressional Democrats via email and then quickly requested the Democrats “send them back”.
• Trump had reportedly dangled a sought-after White House meeting for the new Ukrainian President during their controversial call, and insisted repeatedly that Attorney General Barr help the Ukrainian government investigate the Bidens – for a purported relationship with a natural gas company, something that Trump asked eight times for help in investigating - as well as look for the hacked Democratic Party server.
• The impeachment inquiry soon broadened after Speaker Pelosi formally announced it, with a host of potential targets for public and private inquiry surfacing in the name of getting to the truth.
• While looking for the facts about what was and wasn’t said to the leader of Ukraine, it was discovered that the Trump Administration has been coding a series of international phone calls as “classified” even when the context of the call was not intended to be classified. This permitted the President to converse with leaders like Vladimir Putin and the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman without having transcripts forwarded to other officials. Reportedly, the change in handling transcripts began after the embarrassing news about his earlier calls with the Australian and Mexican leaders had surfaced. Additionally, there were reportedly no records of what was said in calls with Putin and with the Saudis – the latter being significant because some of these calls occurred around the time of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi -, and it was even revealed that Trump – back in 2017 – told Russian officials during the controversial oval office visit that he “didn’t mind” the Russian interference.
• An unpaid special envoy to Ukraine – Kurt Volker -, who helped set up a meeting with Rudy Giuliani and the President of Ukraine (at the request of the Ukrainian government) decided to step down.
• Trump reportedly pressured the Australian Prime Minister to help investigate – and discredit - the origins of the Russia probe (with special emphasis on the president’s insistence that there were anti-American spies operating amongst the CIA and FBI) alongside the Attorney General.
• Trump remarked that he would like to find out who leaked information to the whistleblower, calling the person or persons “a spy” and then likened the act of leaking to “treason”, suggesting in veiled language that the perpetrators ought to be put to death. Moreover, he angrily tweeted that House Intelligence Chairman Congressman Adam Schiff is a traitor and that he should be arrested.

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