Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- August 6, 2109

Whew! The headline: "2020 sweepstakes: Dem candidates compete to give away billions in taxpayer dollars." Whew! As long as they're talking "billions" and not "trillions" Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffett have nothing to worry about.

Tariffs: President Trump probably missed school the week they were learning about the Stamp Act of 1765.

Top stories for this week won't be hard to find.

Top US non-energy story of the week: President Trump signs agreement allowing more beef into EU; of the 45,000 tons of non-hormone treated beef allowed into the EU every year, the US will supply 35,000 tons. This is a huge, huge story. Ranchers can turn on a dime. Anticipating this, or reacting to this, ranchers can immediately stop injecting hormones into export-bound cattle. Meanwhile, US demand for beef continues on its merry way.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer signed the deal one day after the latest round of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China failed to reach an agreement. Mr. Trump responded with a threat to impose a 10% tariff next month on $300 billion in Chinese goods. Many of Mr. Trump’s top advisers opposed the move.

The U.S. and the EU reached the agreement, which allows more U.S. beef into the bloc, in June. The deal was subsequently approved by member states in July. Of the 45,000 tons of non-hormone treated beef allowed into the EU every year, the U.S. will now supply 35,000 tons. The 45,000-ton quota was set in 2009.

Soybeans: meanwhile, US tariff income is being sent directly to soybean farmers. There's a reason we're not hearing much from the farmers this year.

President Trump: multi-tasker extraordinaire.

On his way to El Paso. Which tells me that Texas is in play for the 2020 presidential election.

Death penalty: I'm not reading the mainstream media, so I may be missing something, but I haven't heard (m)any folks wanting something less than the death penalty for the individual responsible for the hate crime that resulted in 20+ dead; many more injured. 

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Dueling Summits
Both With Colorful Overtones

Beer summit: president helps settle dispute between policeman and Harvard professor.

Meatball summit: president instrumental in A$AP Rocky's release from Swedish prison. Kanye West celebrates.