America's Safety Comes First

"U.S. TARGETS TERRORIST FINANCING WITH NEW ROUND OF SANCTIONS" -Alan Rappeport, New York Times Alan Rappeport of the New York Times reports on the newly imposed sanctions by the U.S. on 8 individuals and a business affiliated with the Islamic State in Yemen and with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Rappeport writes the sanctions come with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin's unveiling of the new Terrorist Financing Target Center in Saudi Arabia focused on finding individuals and entities that are using the international financial system to fund terrorism and other destabilizing activities. The center was first established as the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology earlier this year by President Trump during his trip to the Middle East. "President Trump has made attacking terrorist financing a priority in his first year in office," Rappeport remarks, "and the Treasury has been increasingly working with Persian Gulf countries to freeze the assets of people who are plotting attacks." Click here to read more ------------ On tax reform, professors Casey Mulligan and Tomas Philipson write in the Wall Street Journal of Obama-era economists' hypocrisy. Today, they favor the current corporate tax rate even though they argued against it merely five years ago. ------------ In foreign policy news, columnist Ned Ryun praises President Trump in American Greatness for convincing Malaysia to cut off exports to North Korea and buy U.S. military hardware, arguing "the Trump White House is digging in and rebuilding that trust and [the] national interest one ally at a time." ------------ In the Washington Examiner, the Heartland Institute's Justin Haskins writes that President Trump's recent executive order on healthcare "will empower individuals and small businesses in associations to purchase health insurance plans across state lines, potentially providing millions of people with access to cheaper, high-quality health insurance policies." ------------ Fortune reports that "the Trump administration is about to make history" with the announcement Tuesday that the Interior Department "will sell leases for nearly 77 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling—the largest offering ever" as part of President Trump's efforts to increase U.S. energy production. ------------ In the Wall Street Journal, Michael Kratsios, from the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, writes on President Trump's Memorandum promoting the safe operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). After first responders, electric utilities, insurance companies, media organizations, and government agencies all recognized the immense benefits of UAS in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, the Presidential Memorandum signed today will encourage innovation in UAS in both governmental and commercial sectors.