"Washington (CNN) - Illegal Southwest border crossings were down 40% last month, according to just released Customs and Border Protection numbers -- a sign that President Donald Trump's hardline rhetoric and policies on immigration may be having a deterrent effect.

"Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly himself announced the month-to-month numbers, statistics that CBP usually quietly posts on its website without fanfare.

"According to CBP data, the 40% drop in illegal Southwest border crossings from January to February is far outside normal seasonal trends. Typically, the January to February change is actually an increase of 10% to 20%.

"The drop breaks a nearly 20-year trend, as CBP data going back to 2000 shows an uptick in apprehensions every February."

"In many ways, the House Republican proposal released last night not only accepts the flawed progressive premises of Obamacare but expands upon them. Ronald Reagan once said, 'Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.' The AHCA does all three.

"Many Americans seeking health insurance on the individual market will notice no significant difference between the Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) and the American Health Care Act. That is bad politics and, more importantly, bad policy.

"Rather than accept the flawed premises of Obamacare, congressional Republicans should fully repeal the failed law and begin a genuine effort to deliver on longstanding campaign promises that create a free market health care system that empowers patients and doctors."

"House Republicans on Monday released their long-awaited healthcare bill, but the plan would only repeal major parts of Obamacare starting in 2020 -- when the political world will be engulfed in the next presidential election.

"This implementation timeline raises major questions about whether, if Republicans were able to overcome the current legislative hurdles and pass this plan into law, its version of repeal would actually ever go into effect.

"House conservatives have already raised alarms about a number of elements of the plan, even describing it as Obamacare 2.0. Though the plan aims to repeal a lot of taxes, spending and mandates within Obamacare, it also preserves much of the law's regulatory structure and also includes a new form of federal subsidies toward the purchase of health insurance. ...

"Though the political temptation for a transition period on Obamacare is understandable, the problem is that delaying the implementation of repeal doesn't give states and health insurance markets enough time to adjust to the new system before Republicans have to face voters in 2020. Under the proposed plan, Democrats can run on their apocalyptic warnings about repeal in 2018 and then run in 2020 on whatever implementation hiccups are likely to occur in states as they work through the new system."

"Critics say Trump's wiretap claim is baseless, but what is truly lacking in solid evidence is the claim that there was some sort of collusion between Trump or his aides and Russian officials to hijack the election. Yet that's all Trump's foes (and much of the press) want to talk about.

"Remember, too: Team Obama has a record of abusing power for political gain, as when the IRS targeted conservative groups.

"At this point, it's hard to know for sure if Trump Tower was actually bugged, and if so, who authorized the tapping and why. But given Team Obama's record -- and the never-ending bid to overturn the election -- there's little doubt why Trump might think the worst."

"The U.S. government has quietly spent millions of taxpayer dollars to destabilize the democratically elected, center-right government in Macedonia by colluding with leftwing billionaire philanthropist George Soros, records obtained by Judicial Watch show. Barack Obama's U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Jess L. Baily, has worked behind the scenes with Soros'€™ Open Society Foundation to funnel large sums of American dollars for the cause, constituting an interference of the U.S. Ambassador in domestic political affairs in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

"The cash flows through the State Department and the famously corrupt U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID), which is charged with providing global economic, development and humanitarian assistance. USAID has allocated about $5 million to leftwing Soros groups in Macedonia since 2012, documents show, and at least $9.5 million has been earmarked by the agency to intervene in the Balkan nation's governmental affairs for 2016-2011. State Department figures have been tougher to come by and Judicial Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the numbers. Judicial Watch also fired off a public records request to USAID because the preliminary figures, obtained through various sources in both the U.S. and Macedonia, appear to be incomplete.

"Here's how the clandestine operation functions, according to high-level sources in Macedonia and the U.S. that have provided Judicial Watch with records as part of an ongoing investigation. The Open Society Foundation has established and funded dozens of leftwing, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Macedonia to overthrow the conservative government. One Macedonian government official interviewed by Judicial Watch in Washington D.C. recently, calls it the 'Soros infantry.' The groups organize youth movements, create influential media outlets and organize violent protests to undermine the institutions and policies implemented by the government. One of the Soros' groups funded the translation and publication of Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals' into Macedonian. The book is a tactical manual of subversion, provides direct advice for radical street protests and proclaims Lucifer to be the first radical. Thanks to Obama's ambassador, who has not been replaced by President Trump, Uncle Sam keeps the money flowing so the groups can continue operating and recruiting, sources in Macedonia and the U.S. confirm."

"Robots are coming for more Americans' jobs -- and you can blame the Fight for $15 fanatics. ...

"It's hard to blame firms facing a sky-high $15 minimum wage for looking to rein in costs, but the toll is ugly. Job-loss estimates from a $15 minimum in New York alone run as high as 600,000 -- from automation as well as shops closing and just trimming staff.

"Meanwhile, a new Heritage Foundation report predicts a $15 mandatory wage floor will push up fast-food prices 'at least a fourth.' And since lower-income groups rely more on fast food and other products made by minimum-wage workers, they'll be hit hardest. ...

"Great: Humans lose their jobs. Machines take over. And you can thank the US labor movement."

"The truth is that Presidential speeches to joint sessions of Congress are quickly forgotten. Within a week, the nation will be on to other topics. But while the speeches are forgotten, the impressions they leave will live on. Last night, Mr. Trump finally became President Trump. That should scare the crap out of Democrats.

"President Trump's speech was, frankly, a conventional speech to a crowd that favors convention. He sounded the part. He hit the right notes. His remarks on Ryan Owens and having Mrs. Owens there were electric and unifying. It was a moment of non-partisanship in a hyper-partisan age. That moment allowed all but the most cynical partisans to be American, not partisan. The President put the nation ahead of the tribe. That matters. ...

"The President's performance should scare Democrats because they had placed their bets that President Trump is incapable of rising to the occasion. But he did. They cannot now rely on letting President Trump self immolate. They are now going to have to relate to real people in the heartland again, but how can they?"

"The administrative state has been called 'the fourth branch' of government. It involves an alphabet soup of executive agencies that wield legislative, executive and judicial powers and thus run outside of and counter to our constitutional system. The agencies write 'rules' that are laws in all but name, then enforce them and adjudicate violations.

"Boston University law professor Gary Lawson describes how this works in the case of, for instance, the Federal Trade Commission:

"'The Commission promulgates substantive rules of conduct. The Commission then considers whether to authorize investigations into whether the Commission's rules have been violated. If the Commission authorizes an investigation, the investigation is conducted by the Commission, which reports its findings to the Commission.

"'If the Commission thinks that the Commission's findings warrant an enforcement action, the Commission issues a complaint. The Commission's complaint that a Commission rule has been violated is then prosecuted by the Commission and adjudicated by the Commission.'

"Welcome to government by commission."

"Trump administration officials believe that a Department of Homeland Security report that undercut the president's position on his travel ban was drafted with the express intent of leaking it to the press, a source close to the department says.

"The source said the report was drafted by those loyal to the Obama administration inside the department's office of intelligence and analysis. The drafters relied solely on open source material, which meant it could be delivered to reporters without violating federal laws on mishandling classified information.

"'This was not really a leak but sabotage,' the source said. 'This report was commentary. This is insurrection. They all took an oath.'

"The leak to The Associated Press appears to follow a pattern of suspected Obama loyalists still inside the government releasing draft documents that are immediately refuted by the White House, such as a supposed plan to mobilize the National Guard to arrest illegal criminal immigrants."

"A Chinese-American businessman at the center of a Clinton campaign finance scandal secretly filmed a tell-all video as an 'insurance policy' - because he feared being murdered.

"In footage provided exclusively to DailyMail.com, Johnny Chung spills details on how he illegally funneled money from Chinese officials to Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election bid.

"The Chinese-American Clinton fundraiser recorded the 'elaborate videotaped testimony' while in hiding in 2000.

"He smuggled it to trusted friends and family with instructions to release it to the media in the event of his untimely death because he believed he was at risk of being assassinated.

"Chung is believed to still be alive and living in China.

"The video was obtained by author and historian David Wead for his new book Game of Thorns, which traces Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful 2016 campaign and the Chinese government's long-running operation to buy political influence in Washington."

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