{{Firstname|Good morning}}, this week we look at the opening of America’s busiest shopping season past the one trillion dollar mark for the first time. We examine the surprise resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene and what her exit could signal for a Congress long defined by performance rather than problem solving. And we turn to Baja California Norte, where corruption, violence, and institutional collapse now threaten North American supply chains and force the United States to step in where Mexico has not.

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Thanksgiving week does more than open the door to family gatherings. It activates the most important consumer period in the United States. The National Retail Federation believes Americans will spend more than one trillion dollars during this holiday season for the first time. That number signals enormous economic confidence. It also places unprecedented pressure on a supply chain that is already strained.

Container imports into the United States softened in the weeks leading into November as retailers adopted a more cautious approach. Tariffs, political uncertainty, and global sourcing challenges have made companies rethink how they prepare for the season. Some front loaded orders earlier this year. Others began shifting production into Mexico as nearshoring becomes a faster, safer, and more strategic alternative to long distance supply lines that are repeatedly disrupted.

The holiday season is a stress test for the entire logistics network. Ports, highways, trucking fleets, and customs infrastructure must move at full speed. Any delay or shortage will be felt immediately by retailers that already face higher costs and tighter margins. In a year like this, a fragile supply chain has very little room for error.

This creates a major opening for Mexico and for states like Arizona that benefit from a stronger North American production base. Nearshoring is no longer a prediction. It is reshaping investment decisions across Sonora, Baja California Norte, and the border region. Nogales and Yuma are becoming essential links that support the movement of goods once routed through Asian ports. A continental supply chain provides speed, reliability, and insulation from global shocks.

For investors and companies planning for 2026, the message is clear. The American consumer remains strong, but the international system that supports that consumer is vulnerable. Those who align early with North American partners will secure an advantage that global competitors cannot match. This Thanksgiving season is a reminder that the future of trade belongs to those who build resilience across the continent.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s announcement that she will resign from Congress in early January delivered one of the most unexpected political shifts of the year. For years she represented the most confrontational and disruptive style of American politics. Her departure prompts a real question that Washington has avoided. Has the nation finally reached its limit.

The timing matters. Thanksgiving week invites reflection. Across the country families sit down, talk, listen, and settle disagreements with patience rather than hostility. Washington, by contrast, remains locked in a cycle of conflict that produces more drama than solutions. Greene’s exit does not guarantee a return to civility, but it creates a rare pause in the constant noise.

History shows that Congress can reset when the moment demands it. After the Second World War, Senator Arthur Vandenberg helped build a bipartisan foreign policy because he believed the United States needed unity abroad. After Watergate, lawmakers passed reforms that restored trust in government. Even recently, both parties advanced a major infrastructure law because the country insisted that basic cooperation was still possible.

Business leaders, investors, and international partners depend on a stable environment. They need clear and predictable policy on trade, immigration, and investment. Years of political volatility have weakened that confidence and slowed the ability of the government to respond to the real issues that shape our economic future.

Greene’s resignation provides an opportunity for lawmakers to choose a different path. The question is whether they have the will to move from performance to responsibility. The country has shown more maturity around Thanksgiving tables than Congress has shown on the House floor. If leaders choose to take this moment seriously, it could become the beginning of a healthier political era. If not, her resignation will remain a symbol of what Washington could have changed but did not.

Baja California Norte is approaching a level of instability that now threatens the economic future of the entire border region. Tijuana, the busiest land crossing for goods between Mexico and the United States, has become the center of a crisis that affects every major sector. The state recorded more than two thousand eight hundred homicides (2,800) in the past year. Extortion continues to spread. Businesses across tourism, industry, and commerce have suffered losses that exceed two hundred billion pesos (10.8B USD). Nearly twenty four thousand formal jobs (24,000) have disappeared. More than three hundred (300) construction companies have closed. Communities are losing faith in their institutions and investors see the danger clearly.

The deeper issue is corruption. Independent studies show that state agencies in Baja California Norte have minimized crime statistics and replaced formal complaints with superficial attention files that hide the real scale of the problem. Residents in Tijuana do not need official statements to understand the truth. They live it every day. Companies see it as well because it disrupts operations and undermines long term investment.

Recent money laundering indictments targeting political and business figures confirm how deeply the problem runs. Corruption is not isolated. It operates as a system, protecting criminal networks instead of dismantling them. This puts the entire North American supply chain at risk. Instability in Tijuana directly affects cross border manufacturing, tourism, and logistics.

This is the moment when the United States responds. As former Chief of Staff of United States Customs and Border Protection, I witnessed how national security decisions are made. When Mexican authorities fail to confront criminal networks, the United States does not wait. It moves to protect trade routes, border communities, and the lawful movement of goods and people. Tijuana is not only a Mexican city. It is a critical artery for the economy of California, Arizona and the entire Southwest.

Thanksgiving week highlights the deep connection between both countries. It also reinforces a simple truth. Security is the foundation of economic opportunity. Baja California Norte must confront corruption or face a future shaped increasingly by external pressure from a neighbor that will always defend its stability.

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