Just a Thought...
A Dangerous Man
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

So Pope Francis just visited Egypt where Christians are being slaughtered, tortured, beheaded, and burned alive...where churches are being burnt to the ground...and what does Pope Frances do...he calls for Christians to "forgive" them. What is wrong with this man for "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you"...can NEVER apply to those who wish anyone who does NOT believe like them dead. If Egypt's Christians do NOT start fighting back there will NOT be a Christian left in Egypt (el-Sisi cannot save them all NO matter how hard he tries)...there will NOT be a Christian left in the entirety of the Middle East...save for Israel of course...and their collective deaths will be on this man's conscience...if he has one that is. I hate to say it but Pope Francis is as big a danger to Christianity as is the muslims who wish him dead as well.

Just a Thought...
You've Been Had
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

So some in the media...and even some on the left... are saying that Obama's $400,000 Wall Street speaking gig will undermine everything he believes in...to that I say bull as Obama is doing exactly what he believes in...as in himself, his lining of his own pockets, and his selfish ambitions alone. You've been had you liberal morons and the monster you created has now come back to haunt.

Federal law doesn’t require healthcare providers to report FGM despite half a million at risk
By Christine Williams /Jihad Watch

Current federal law criminalizes the practice of FGM, but does not specifically require reporting on it, though health care providers are obligated to report instances of child abuse, a category in which FGM falls Female genital mutilation is gratuitous violence against girls and women, and is a violation of human rights; failing to report it not […]
 
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Report: NKorea Launches Failed Missile Test                                                                                                                                     By Newsmax Wires  

  

North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile from an area north of Pyongyang Saturday, a news agency report said, but it failed seconds after it was launched. 

The test comes with tensions high on the Korean peninsula, with this the latest in a series of missile launches by the North and warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration that it was running out of patience.

"North Korea fired an unidentified missile from a site in the vicinity of Bukchang in Pyeongannam-do (South Pyeongan Province) early this morning," Yonhap reported, quoting a statement issued by South Korea's military.

"It is estimated to have failed."

In Washington, a U.S. defense official confirmed to AFP that North Korea had test fired some kind of missile.

The report added that the missile "apparently exploded seconds after liftoff".

According to a Reuters report, the U.S. military said on Friday it tracked the North Korean ballistic missile launch but the missile did not leave North Korean territory and did not pose a threat to North America.

Harvard Study Proves That Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt Businesses, Increase Unemployment

By Pamela Geller / THE GELLER REPORT

Of course. Raising the minimum wage just raises an employer’s expenses, resulting in layoffs. This is just more evidence of how leftist policies are destructive to the economy and hurt the people. If it weren’t for the enemedia’s relentless propaganda, this would be obvious to everyone.

“Harvard Study Finds Restaurants More Likely to Close, Less Likely to Open After Wage Hikes,” by Sam Dorman, Washington Free Beacon, April 27, 2017:

A Harvard University study found that raising the minimum wage increased the likelihood that restaurants, especially of lower quality, would close and made it less likely that new restaurants would open.

The study “Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit,” conducted by Dara Lee Luca and Michael Luca, studied 35,173 restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area over the course of eight years (2008-2016). Luca and Luca saw 30 percent of these restaurants close, and claimed to “find suggestive evidence that higher minimum wage increases restaurant exit.”

Read entire article here: http://pamelageller.com/2017/04/harvard-wage-unemployment.html/

Trump Signs Executive Order Aimed at Expanding Offshore Drilling

Leah Barkoukis / Townhall Tipsheet

President Trump signed an executive order Friday that could open areas in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans to oil and gas drilling.

In announcing the “Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy,” Trump said the executive order will direct a “review of the locations available for off-shore oil and gas exploration.”

The move seeks to reverse restrictions on offshore drilling put in place by former President Obama.

“Today we're unleashing American energy and clearing the way for thousands and thousands of high-paying American energy jobs,” he said at the signing.

"Our country is blessed with incredible natural resources, including abundant offshore oil and natural gas reserves," he said. "But the federal government has kept 94 percent of these offshore areas closed for exploration and production …[which] deprives our country of potentially thousands and thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in wealth."

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...for those who missed last night's broadcast (or just want to listen in again) where Craig and Diane discussed the ongoing witch hunt against Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Craig took the 2017 grads to school, and where the week's important news was also discussed...you can listen to it on SoundCloud at your convenience at: https://soundcloud.com/right-side-patriots-260798913/right-side-patriots-42817

Or you can listen in on AMERICAN POLITICAL RADIO archives at: https://americanpoliticalradio.com/archived-media/

Just a Thought...
Taking Out the Trash
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

Oh boo-hoo...an Arkansas convicted murderer had a convulsion during his execution ...who gives a damn...he MURDERED someone! Where is the outcry over the horrific death his victim suffered and the heartache the victim's family has suffered. I am so sick and tired of the left's misplaced sympathies as this bastard...and others like him...lived for decades in a cushy jail cell on OUR taxpayer dime while the victim's family grieved. I think when brought up on murder charges you get one appeal and then you fry or get the needle. Time to take out our trash and stop wasting our hard earned taxpayer dollars on human garbage...period.

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Today, Friday, April 28th from 7 to 9pm on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss the witch hunt against General Flynn, Craig takes the 2017 grads to school, and the week's important news.
 

Hope you can tune in at: https://americanpoliticalradio.com/platinum-plus-player/

Op-ed: 

A Witch Hunt by Any Other Name is Still a Witch Hunt 

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots

"I see no evidence or no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law."     

- House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz   

                                                                                 

And so it sadly seems that one of our own, as in House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), and one of theirs, as in Democratic Ranking Committee Member Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), both believe that President Trump's former National Security Advisor retired Lt. General Michael Flynn might have broken federal law after failing to disclose on his background security check forms both his most recent trip to Russia and payments from Russia, as well as payments from a Turkish businessman.

Apparently it means not a thing to either man that Flynn's attorney, Robert Kelner, said in regards to the Russia trip that Flynn did indeed report his plans to travel to Russia, including his dining with Vladimir Putin, to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)...the very agency Flynn headed until 2014 when he was forced to retire from the military by Obama...and that he had most certainly briefed officials at the agency after his return.

And Kelner saying that during his briefings that Flynn "answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip," is in addition to DIA spokesman Jim Kudla saying that General Flynn most assuredly did brief the agency in advance about his trip to Russia and did so "in accordance with all standard security clearance procedures." In fact, a personal spokesman for the general has said that Flynn also disclosed the Russian trip in question when he last came up for a security clearance review in January 2016.

And yet even with all this Chairman Chaffetz continues to say that General Flynn could be criminally prosecuted because, "He (General Flynn) was supposed to seek permission and receive permission from both the secretary of state and the secretary of the Army prior to traveling to Russia to not only accept that payment, but to engage in that activity...No former military officer is allowed to accept payments from a foreign government, and my guess is this is probably not the first time this has happened.”

Guess Jason Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings, for whatever reason, have willingly...and possibly with malice...turned a deaf ear to the words of Flynn’s lawyer, an official DIA spokesman, and others. And what makes this especially grievous is Chaffetz’s saying that this is “not the first time this has happened”...a harsh accusation with absolutely no proof to back those words up...words I believe Chairman Chaffetz should not have said...words that down the line could see Jason Chaffetz having to answer for.

And the specific words “He was supposed to”...nothing but supposition at best although as a retired military officer now a private citizen thanks to Obama’s firing, I really do not understand why private citizen Michael Flynn needed anyone’s permission to travel anywhere...even to Russia. 

And exactly what Russian payments did said private citizen Michael Flynn fail to disclose...apparently all this brouhaha is, first, about his receiving about $33,000 back in 2015 from the ‘Russia Today’ television network...a network which has been described by U.S. intelligence officials...as in James Comey and his not quite trustworthy people...as a propaganda front for Russia's government...something also that has never been proven. 

"That money needs to be recovered," so says Jason Chaffetz, but seriously I want to know why money earned has to returned and returned to who...Russia... really...I think not.

And second, coming into question is somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 Flynn received as part of his personal take-home in the $530,000 that his company, Flynn Intel Group, garnered for consulting work done for Inovo BV, a company owned by a Turkish businessman who also happens to be a member of a committee overseen by Turkey's finance ministry. 

So let me get this straight...now it seems that according to 'certain' political folks other 'certain' political folks cannot garner monies from the businesses they own or from the services they rendered without it coming into question. Something sure stinks here especially when it is the likes of Elijah Cummings who says that General Flynn's failure to formally report this on paperwork requesting his security clearance amounted to concealment of the money, which could, in his opinion, be prosecuted as a felony. Now just look who’s calling the kettle black...the very man who not only relishes in and is the poster boy for what is known as ‘black privilege,' but who in 2014 saw then House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa releasing a report implicating him in colluding with the IRS and Lois Lerner against the nonpartisan voters rights group ‘True the Vote.’

Elijah Cummings should be the last person to ever be appointed to a committee that decides whether or not to bring charges against anyone.

And as the infamous tit-for-tat political game continues to be played between the two parties, all the executive alphabet agencies and their ‘so-called’ watchdogs, inspector general overseers, and the different oversight committees in Congress, it seems that failure to disclose is a crime of the first degree for some but not for others, and it all depends on whose side you came down on in the 2016 presidential election. Or to put it bluntly and in perspective, the unrighteous indignation over this relatively small dollars and cents amount not having been disclosed by General Flynn is now first and foremost to some yet the major infractions committed by some of those on the left still go unpunished and worse...they are hushed up with help from the media so that in the public venue they are simply made to ‘go away.’

But what will not go away is the fact that Chaffetz and Cummings are still planning to write to the Comptroller of the Army and the Department of Defense’s Inspector General to determine whether retired, now private citizen, Lt. General Michael Flynn broke the law, and whether the government needs to pursue criminal charges simply because he did not disclose these two payments. Personally, I am not sure Flynn actually broke any law at least not to the degree this committee is trying to claim he did. And these accusations are being lobbed at the same time as Flynn’s company’s foreign contacts are being examined by other congressional committees as part of investigations into Russia’s still unproven meddling in the 2016 election, and still unproven ties between Trump associates and the Kremlin. 

And to see someone like Jason Chaffetz...an honorable man or at least I always thought so...taking part in this predominately Democratic witch hunt makes me wonder why he really has decided not to run again when up for re-election, and why one of own seems to have turned on the one man, Lt. General Michael Flynn, who actually understood then and continues to understand now exactly who the enemy we face is...as in the entirety of islam. 

And a witch hunt it is for where was the outrage and the bringing of charges against Hillary Clinton who then candidate Donald Trump said engaged in "criminality" for connections between Clinton Foundation donors and her actions as Secretary of State. And where was the outrage about said Foundation’s total lack of transparency and the fact that some donors, especially from foreign governments not really our friend, may have been trying to buy influence while she was Secretary of State...as in her dubious ‘pay-for-play’ scandal. Sadly, that too seems to have faded from public view no matter that some foreign leaders have freely admitted that they did indeed buy influence for their governments. 

Also, where is the indictment and jail time for Hillary’s involvement in and lies about Benghazi and the murders of four brave Americans. And let’s not forget her infamous email scandal...a scandal whose components surely broke federal laws...another scandal which came complete with outrage and some committees investigating, but which again in the end went nowhere.

And seriously, why was Hillary not indicted and found guilty...why was she not sent to jail...and why was she allowed to even run for president in the first place when a criminal investigation was in progress. The answer to those questions is simply because Hillary was a fellow liberal Democrat who towed Obama’s islamic party line, and one who would not raise the alarm about the true dangers from islam that we face.

Not quite like General Flynn now is it...a man whose rightful and very vocal stance against islam, I believe, was what signaled both his political death knell of sorts and his being the target of this current witch hunt.

And dare we not forget Eric Holder and ‘Fast and Furious,’ along with Loretta Lynch’s little tarmac meeting with a former president who gives new meaning to the word ‘predator’...again outrage and investigations that went nowhere as did the looking into the anything but Reverend Al Sharpton who still owes millions in back taxes and who also has not been arrested or served any jail time.

'Black privilege' coming into play again I suppose.

So where does all this lead us...it leads us to the fact that ‘selective enforcement’ is once again the order of the day as it is again being used against a man whose political views the Democrats do not like (especially since he is one of their own party affiliation wise), and now adding his voice to that is one of our own.

And herein lies the quandary...why is House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz doing what he is doing, and is it tied into his not running for re-election when his House seat next comes up? And could some of his reasoning, if you will, be tied into the fact that he, like General McMaster, is either being mislead about the enemy we face or is it that he truly buys into the propaganda of his religious beliefs for lest we forget that Jason Chaffetz is a practicing Mormon. 

Let me explain and offer these suppositions for you, dear reader, to decide upon.

First, here is the breakdown of who stands where on President Trump’s controversial executive order regarding those coming into our country from now six muslim countries:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/29/heres-where-republicans-stand-on-president-trumps-controversial-travel-ban/

Notice that while Chairman Chaffetz supports President Trump’s keeping his campaign promises, he concludes his statement with these words, “... People that have a green card supposedly already have been vetted, so there needs to be some further clarification.” But what Jason Chaffetz forgets is that people can change and muslims simply cannot be trusted...remember taqiyya...so a past vetting might not expose their current views on let us say terrorism and jihad, let alone on the sharia.

So, is Chairman Jason Chaffetz going ‘soft’ on islam like General McMaster...a man who still separates the sum of the terrorists from the whole...I do not know... but I do know that when one is dedicated to their religion they tend to hold said religion’s core beliefs. And where do Mormons stand on islam...this is the statement the Mormon hierarchy issued after President Trump’s first attempt at a temporary ban, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concerned about the temporal and spiritual welfare of all of God's children across the earth, with special concern for those who are fleeing physical violence, war and religious persecution. The Church urges all people and governments to cooperate fully in seeking the best solutions to meet human needs and relieve suffering.”

Sounds like kumbaya left dribble now doesn’t it.

Here is the Mormon stance on islam in general, as written by Mormon scholars Brian M. Hauglid and Kent P. Jackson, in their book ‘What Every Latter-day Saint Should Know about Islam,’ in Religious Educator 4, no. 2 (2003): 9–23.

“We can learn much from our Muslim brothers and sisters. Islam has created a society in which modesty  is valued, in which divorce and premarital and extramarital sexual relations are much less common than in our culture, and in which the strength of immediate and extended families can be an example even to Latter-day Saints. Muslims develop strong communities with interactive neighborhoods of people who care for each other and watch out for the interests of both neighbors and strangers. Their culture teaches the virtues of generosity and hospitality.” 

What I want to know is this utter nonsense what Jason Chaffetz believes down deep... is this what is driving his stance against the one man who actually ‘got it’ in regards to islam being our enemy or can it be that he wants to make an example of Flynn to show that we will call out our own if need be...and in the case of Lt. General Michael Flynn I do not think it needs to be because if he was still National Security Advisor I do not believe we would be in the situation we find ourselves in today.

But maybe we would...who knows...but all I do know for sure is that a true patriot is now the subject of a witch hunt and that one of our own is helping to lead the charge, and that truly does not sit well with me...how dear reader does it sit with you? 

Copyright © 2017 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor 

*********************************************************************************

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Today, Friday, April 28th from 7 to 9pm on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss the witch hunt against General Flynn, Craig takes the 2017 grads to school, and the week's important news.

Hope you can tune in at:

https://americanpoliticalr adio.com/platinum-plus-player/

Just a Thought...
A Truth That Must Be Told
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

ISIS and its likes in the name of islam are today's Nazis...today's SS...the total corruption of humankind and pure evil. If they are NOT stopped...if those blind to their evil do NOT see and understand the enemy we as Christians and Jews face...then the Nazis...the SS...by proxy will win but this time they will come for us dressed as an invading army of allah and all that will be left is a shell of what once was. Think about that you liberal morons next time your party tries to stop our president from doing the right thing NOT just for us but for generations to come, because if you do NOT those generations will never be born.

WaPo Pleads With Obama to 'Rethink' Wall Street Payout for New Speech

Cortney O'Brien / Townhall Tipsheet

Remember when candidate Barack Obama told Americans he did not run for president "to help out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street?"

He doesn't.

Eight years after Obama made those remarks, he seems to have no qualms accepting $400,000 from Wall Street for an upcoming speech at a conference run by Cantor Fitzgerald LP.

The Washington Post's Aaron Blake is imploring him to rethink his decision. In addition to appearing like a hypocrite, the editors point out that if Obama accepts the money it will be poor optics for the Democratic Party - the last thing a defeated and divided party needs right now.

This whole thing comes at a somewhat inauspicious time for the Democratic Party: Just as Democrats' true identity is in flux, as Sanders's anti-Wall Street message seems to be ascendant, and as President Trump at times co-opted that message in the 2016 election.

That brand of populism clearly has very broad appeal, and now Democrats are being put in the position of deciding whether their former president should take $400,000 from Wall Street for a speech. At the least, it risks suggesting the party's anti-Wall Street posture is in some cases just that — posturing.

Blake also points out that Wall Street baggage was one of Hillary Clinton's weaknesses during her 2016 campaign. Because she had accepted thousands of dollars from Wall Street, she drew snickers from opponent Bernie Sanders and debate audiences whenever she claimed to be Wall Street's biggest nightmare.

The Democrats are still seeking leadership, and their first legislative gain, since Donald Trump's victory.

New York Times comes out for Leftist thuggery against dissenters on campus

By Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

The thrust of the argument here is that to shut down voices that the Leftist establishment considers odious — which includes mine, although I am not mentioned in this article (no, I am not Richard Spencer) — is aiding the oppressed to have a voice that they are usually denied. This is an argument for […]
 
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Illegal Immigration Totals Fall Below Pre-Obama Level

By Cathy Burke / NEWSMAX

 

The number of illegal immigrants living in the United States in 2015 fell to its lowest level since 2009 – a drop marked by a steady decline in the number of illegal immigrants from Mexico, a new study showed. 

 

The analysis of U.S. census data by Pew Research Center published Tuesday found there were 11 million illegal immigrants in 2015 — about 3 percent fewer than the 11.3 million undocumented people in 2009, at the end of the recession.

During that same six-year period, the number of Mexicans in the country illegally dropped to 5.6 million from 6.4 million, the analysis found.

In 2015, the number of Mexican illegal immigrants was about 51 percent of the total illegal immigrant population, The Daily Caller reported.

"The numbers are not going up, and in fact, the numbers for Mexicans have been going down for almost a decade now," Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew, said in an AP interview, per Vocativ. "And that is counter to a lot of the rhetoric you hear."

According to Pew Research, illegal immigration surged for nearly two decades during the 1990s and 2000s, reaching a high of 12.2 million in 2007, but it later fell and has since has stayed around 11 million.

As Mexicans living in the country illegally has dwindled, the number of illegal immigrants from other parts of the world has grown, however, the report found.

Asian immigrants without legal status rose by to 1.5 million in 2015, from from 1.3 million in 2009. Those living in the United States illegally from Central America, meanwhile, increased to 1.8 million from 1.6 million during that time, according to the report.

Muslim names like Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam banned in China in new counter terror policy

By Pamela Geller / THE GELLER REPORT

 

At least China understands that Islam is the problem. And while I do not agree with this approach or think it will achieve the desired result, China is light years ahead of the West in this. The West is still in delusion and denial. In the West, anyone who opposes jihad terror and sharia is a racist islamophobic anti-Muslim bigot.

Names are not the problem, the ideology and jihad doctrine is the problem. The Muslim world must stop blaming everyone else and purge all Islamic texts and teachings of holy war, hate and bigotry.

Children with banned names will not be able to get admission in public schools

Muslim names on the list have been banned in Xinjiang province

By Malaysia Sun, April 26, 2017:

The new measures are part of China’s fight against terrorism in Xinjiang
BEIJING, China – In a bid to get tough on terrorism – China has now banned dozens of Muslim names for babies belonging to the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province.

According to the new measures introduced by the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s “Naming Rules For Ethnic Minorities,” Muslim names like Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Hajj, Medina and Saddam have been banned.

It said that children with banned names will not get admission in public schools and won’t get access to government benefits too.

Read entire article here: http://pamelageller.com/2017/04/muslim-names-like-islam-quran-mecca-jihad-imam-banned-china-new-counter-terror-policy.html/

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...for those who missed tonight's broadcast (or who just want to listen in again) where Craig and Diane discussed who has the upper hand in regards to North Korea, misplaced indignation from both sides of the political isle, and other news of the week...you can listen to it at your convenience on SoundCloud at: https://soundcloud.com/right-side…/right-side-patriots-42517

Or you can listen in on AMERICAN POLITICAL RADIO throughout the week at: http://bit.ly/2cpXuR

Just a Thought...

A Papal Disgrace

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

So it seems this Pope has put his foot in his mouth again, and while I usually would never speak out against the Holy Father this time I must for this Pope has totally lost his mind as he is equating the plight of the muslims with that of the slaughter, the butchery, the ovens, the extermination of six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis. In fact, they, the muslims, are today's Nazis and their victims...their targets...are not only the world's remaining Jews but the total of the world's Christians as well. Shame on this Pope for his concern for the perpetrators over the victims...shame, shame, shame on him. I wonder if a Pope can be removed from his position...I wonder because he is doing the Holy Roman Catholic church great harm with his islamic sympathizing.

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Today, Tuesday, April 25th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss who has the upper hand in regards to North Korea, misplaced indignation from both sides of the political isle, and important news of the week.

Hope you an tune in at: http://bit.ly/2cpXuRd

Op-ed:

The Upper Hand Remains Ours

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots

Thanks to President Trump, China appears to be trying to reign in the insane North Korean man-child Kim Jong-un for China’s President Xi Jinping understands well that the U.S. could and most likely will take unilateral action against the North Korean dictator if he keeps up his saber rattling and rocket launching.

And with President Xi saying that China "is committed to the target of de-nuclearization on the peninsula, safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula, and advocates resolving problems through peaceful means," it becomes apparent that Xi knows that to do so would benefit China’s economic pocketbook...but is there actually more to his words and even more at stake than seen at first glance.

And yes...there is more at stake...much more...what with Kim Jong-un now threatening not just South Korea and Japan but threatening also to do a “mighty pre-emptive strike against the U.S.”...that is if his rockets do not keep falling into the sea. And these recent threats have seen China moving its military towards their shared border because Xi is wise enough to know that first, a war on the Korean peninsula would not serve China’s said pocketbook nor its pecking order on the world stage well and second, he also knows that a loony man-child like Kim Jong-un could just as easily turn on China... the very country that made and still finances his dictatorial bed.

In other words, while both China’s government and her people know they would suffer and suffer greatly on the economic front if war did indeed break out, they also know that both prestige and regional influence not only comes into play, but that sometimes those two factors trump even the economic scenario. And that is why President Trump tried to put the ball back in our court when he told President Xi in a recent telephone conversation that “a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them (China) if they solve the North Korean problem!”

 

Translation: Trump made it clear that China must, no matter the cost to them, reign in Kim Jong-un for China not only needs bi-lateral trade deals and investments with the U.S., but with us now flexing our military muscle the dynamics in both the Middle East and the Far East have changed...as in the U.S. is now leading from the front having replaced Obama’s leading from behind.

And that particular dynamic has common sense dictating that if China was smart they would switch sides in the North Korean standoff or at least call for the man-child to stand down...something they now seem somewhat to be doing.

But if truth be told an actual outward switching of sides will not be that simple for China to do what with China being a big brother, a mother, a father, and an overseer all rolled into one in regards to North Korea. And this is but a symbiotic relationship that started when China’s Chairman Mao sent more than a million Chinese troops to fight in the Korean War, and that very act directly afforded Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the ability to keep control of the northern half of the Korean peninsula. But as the years have unfolded, China ever so slowly has started to see and digest the reality that the current regime of Kim Jong-un has done absolutely nothing to benefit China’s growing national interests nor for its growing economy...in fact the man-child has actually harmed China’s long-coveted super-power status in certain key ways.

 

How so...with North Korea having the nuclear bomb...albeit at this time minus a successful delivery system...which in time please know they will get...and with North Korea lying on China’s eastern border...they can and do try to pretend that they are a major power broker. And as such with both threats and accusations they have held the true power brokers at bay...power brokers including China, Russia, and until just recently these United States.

Thankfully, that scenario changed for the U.S. when President Trump recently ordered U.S. warships and aircraft carriers to the waters off North Korea’s coast.

So, if an actual switching of sides by China might not be realistically feasible at this given point in time what with Chinese so-called ‘saving face’ also coming into play...know that in the near future it just might happen. And why...because China can ill-afford having a loon next door going ‘rogue’ without warning, and because the Chinese know that the U.S. dollar is mightier than North Korea’s saber rattling sword.

And how so...first let’s look at a few key number facts* about both China’s and our U.S. economy and see who, if anybody, actually holds the much needed upper hand and why they do so. 

Fact: China, thanks to rapid industrialization, is the world's largest economy with $21.27 trillion in 2016 (with the allowing for adjusted purchasing power parity which is simply the exchange rate between two currencies equaling the ratio of the currencies' respective purchasing power); the European Union is second at $19.1 trillion; and the United States, thanks to Obama’s total economic disasters, is now in third place at $18.5 trillion. But even with this China’s economic growth slowed to 7.7% last year, it continues to show some signs of decelerating further. This has certain trading partners worried, especially those that export a lot of resources to China...trading partners like Brazil and Australia.

But for China this slowdown in growth is not necessarily a bad thing as a slowing down usually does happen after years of rapid growth. And China has had an eight-fold increase in living standards in a mere 30 years...an increase that took the U.S. 122 years and Japan about 80 years to achieve. Or as economist Barry Naughton states, “China’s growth is slowing in part because it has graduated early.”

Fact: as of this past February the U.S. debt to China stands at $1.059 trillion and climbing...as in 27.8% of the $3.8 trillion in Treasury bills, notes, and bonds held by foreign countries. The rest of the $19.9 trillion national debt is owned by either the American people or by the U.S. government itself, and that once thought unimaginable number of monies owed is again thanks to the free-for-all spending of one Barack HUSSEIN Obama. 

Fact: China exported about $482 billion in goods to the U.S.in 2015 (the latest finalized numbers available), more than any other country who exported goods to the U.S., and that is according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. However, we exported just $116 billion in goods to China during the same year, putting our goods trade deficit at $366 billion. 

Fact: China buys U.S. debt to support the value of the dollar. And why...because China ties in its currency (the yuan) to the U.S. dollar, and devalues said currency when needed to keep its export prices competitive. 

And much to the chagrin of so many, it appears on the surface that it is China who holds the upper hand in regards to the above facts for China's role as America's largest banker, if you will, gives her needed bargaining leverage no matter how the media tries to claim it does not. And China quite often, and not so quietly, states that it will sell off part of its U.S. holdings (and that includes its land holdings) if we continue to pressure her to raise the yuan's value. In fact, since 2005, China raised the yuan's value by 33% against the dollar, and between 2014 and 2015, the dollar's strength increased by 25% causing China to allow the value of the yuan to decline. And why did they allow this...simply...this decline allowed China’s exports to remain competitive with Asian countries that did not tie their currency to the U.S. dollar. 

So where exactly does our economic upper hand come in or do we actually have one at all? First, to outwardly gain the economic upper hand within a short period of time some say we can always place tariffs of up to 45% (remember President Trump spoke about that during the campaign) on goods coming into the U.S. from China. However, doing this would actually hurt both our countries as we are a prime export market for Chinese goods, and so in turn U.S. companies would lose access to China's growing middle class. 

And then China, a country who has now for all intents and purposes actually embraced capitalism, can always choose to rid itself of its U.S. Treasuries which would negatively affect U.S. financial markets by its causing so-called downward ‘shifts’ in the dollar or interest rates.

So where does our economic upper hand really lie...it lies with the fact that as China’s economy continues to develop no matter a temporary slowdown, they are now being forced to pay their workers more which in turn sees low-cost manufacturing jobs leaving China for even lower-cost countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, and even (gasp) Mexico. And as per The Washington Post, China has also exhausted most of what economists call 'catch-up' growth from acquiring the technologies of more advanced markets for as countries catch up and get richer, their economic growth just tends to slow...and might I add while our economic growth is finally moving forward instead of just holding steady.

So how and why does all this affect China’s sudden cooperation in reigning in North Korea’s man-child Kim Jong-un...or at least their trying to. First, China is North Korea’s chief economic so-called ‘pipeline’ and that means they supply Kim Jong-un with the oil and coal needed to keep his country operational, meaning if said oil and coal is not supplied then the North Korean economy...no matter how unstable it already is...would totally collapse in full. 

Second, if that collapse did happen the Kim family dynasty would obviously come to an end, which in turn could lead to a unified Korea (which by the way will eventually happen) led by the South, which is home to tens of thousands of American soldiers sitting right on China’s border. And lastly, that would be coupled with countless numbers of refugees from the north flooding into China which would negatively impact their economy...that is unless beneficial economic trade agreements were reached between Beijing and Washington...trade agreements that would bring into China enough cash to balance out all the new mouths they would now be forced to feed.

And how does this new cooperation in turn affect the U.S...it allows the U.S. to have leverage over both any new trade agreements reached as the Chinese now know they need the increased trade and resulting cash flow in case Kim Jong-un does the unthinkable...as in turn on the so-called Chinese hand that feeds them. And that possibility is now starting to loom large what with China now doing what Kim Jong-un never thought they would do...as in suspend all imports of North Korean coal for the rest of this year. 

So in the end when push comes to shove, China does need us more than we need them for the dollar is indeed mightier than Kim Jong-un’s ever threatening sword. 

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*Number facts cited from Real Money, The Washington Post, and The Balance

 Copyright © 2017 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor 

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Today, Tuesday, April 25th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss who has the upper hand in regards to North Korea, misplaced indignation from both sides of the political isle, and important news of the week.

Hope you an tune in at: http://bit.ly/2cpXuRd