"Trump announces he will shrink Bears Ears, Grand Staircase monuments in Utah" - Josh Siegel in Washington Examiners Washington Examiner's Josh Siegel reports that President Donald J. Trump has signed two proclamations that "will shrink Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, framing the decision as a sharp rebuke of former President Barack Obama's use of executive authority." President Trump explained the move as an important stand for local communities against federal overreach. "Families and communities of Utah know and love this land the best, and you know the best how to take care of your land and how to conserve this land for many generations to come," he said.Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke emphasized the move would better preserve public access, conservation management, and opportunities for recreation at the two monuments. Click here to read more. ------------ Writing in The Salt Lake Tribune on the monument proclamations, Utah state leaders Greg Hughes and Wayne Niederhauser gave thanks to President Trump for following through on a promise to voters. "This is great news for the residents of southern Utah who depend on the use of public lands for their livelihoods and the Native Americans who depend on access to Bears Ears lands for their material and spiritual needs," they write. ------------ "Dow 24,000 is so last week — how about 25,000 by the end of THIS week?," asks Shawn Langlois in Market Watch. "Wharton's Jeremy Siegel, in our call of the day, told CNBC following last week's milestone that the blue chips are poised to take out 25,000 in a matter of days, thanks mainly to the passage of Trump's tax reform package," Langlois writes. ------------ In immigration news, Patrick Goodenough of CNS News reports that since October 1, there has been an 83 percent drop in refugee admittance to the U.S. compared to the first two months of the last fiscal year. This news comes as the Administration has decided to withdraw America from the U.N. global compact on migration, which U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley argued "is simply not compatible with U.S. sovereignty," safety, or security. ------------ Benedic Ippolito of the American Enterprise Institute shares an overlooked feature of the Senate's tax reform bill: It could tell us whether Obamacare's individual mandate actually works. Writing in AEIdeas, Ippolito explains that the legislation would repeal a one-size-fits-all federal solution and allow states to try their own reforms—"the natural experiment we need."