January 1, Impeachment Energizing Trump

This Day in History | 1970

President Richard Nixon meets Elvis Presley at the White House. 

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Good Morning Middle Americans!

The impeachment stand-off continues in Washington DC. Meanwhile, President Trump has landed in Florida and will be spending the holiday at his Palm Beach estate Mar a Lago.  The fight between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over witnesses, and documents continues with no end in sight.  But the President’s daughter and White House advisor Ivanka Trump say the impeachment is energizing her father, the president.  Maybe that’s because President Trump’s poll numbers continue to rise, even while he is being impeached. 

Aside from impeachment, we are about to mark another historic moment in our nation’s history. The US economy was growing in 2010, and it will end 2019 with continued growth. This is the first time in US history this has happened.  

The Military has concluded that those hand signals flashed last week by cadets during ESPN’s pre-game show ahead of the Army-Navy game, were not racist after all. 

Finally today, everybody got something. President Trump signed a massive new spending bill yesterday to avoid a government shutdown.  The bill signing also officially created our sixth branch of the Military – the Space Force. 

Read all about it. 

– Fraser Dixon 

Ivanka: Trump ‘Energized’ By Impeachment

(CBS News) – President Trump’s daughter and senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump said Thursday that her father is “energized” by the impending Senate impeachment trial.

“He’s energized, as are 63 million plus voters who elected him to office,” Ivanka told CBS’s Margaret Brennan for an interview set to air later this month on “Face the Nation.”

“This is historic, as you note,” Trump continued. “And in many ways, including the fact that it is the first purely partisan impeachment.” 

See more of the interview from CBS News

The US economy Has Started and Ended a Decade Without a Recession – For the First Time in History

(CNBC) – As of December, the U.S. economy has expanded for a record 126 straight months, the longest time period in the country’s history according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Put another way, the U.S. has avoided a recession for an entire calendar decade for the first time ever.

“It is unusual that this has been such a persistent recovery,” Michelle Meyer, chief U.S. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, told CNBC.

Read more about this historic economy from CNBC here

Navy, Army Probes Finds No Racism Intent in Hand Gestures

(AP) – Hand gestures flashed by West Point cadets and Naval Academy midshipmen during the televised Army-Navy football game were not racist signals, military investigations have concluded.

A Navy probe of the event found that the students were participating in a “sophomoric game” on Saturday and had no racist intent. An Army statement Friday also rejected any racist overtones, saying the hand gestures were “not associated with ideologies or movements that are contrary to the Army values.”

The Navy said officials are, however, disappointed in the immature behavior of the students and “their actions will be appropriately addressed.” There were no details about their exact punishment, but a Navy report on the investigation said the two midshipmen should face “administrative action” for “failure to use good judgment.”

Read more about the investigation here

Trump Signs $1.4T Spending Bill that Includes Space Force

(Fox News) – President Trump late Friday signed a $1.4 trillion spending package that included the launch of the Space Force, the first new military service since 1947.

The signing of the National Defense Authorization Act also avoided a government shutdown that would have started at midnight.

Last December, a record 35-day partial government shutdown ensued over a stalemate on border wall funding when Trump asked Congress for $6 billion. This year, Trump appeared focused on preparing for the potential of a new front in defense.

“Space is the world’s new war-fighting domain,” Trump said Friday during the signing ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. “Among grave threats to our national security, American superiority in space is absolutely vital. And we’re leading, but we’re not leading by enough, and very shortly we’ll be leading by a lot.”

Read more about the massive spending bill and the Space Force here