U.S. inflation was/is driven by supply side impacts as a result of policy (Build Back Better).  The U.S. recession was/is now driven by demand side impacts that are the result of increased supply side costs.  This is the natural economic truth being denied by all levels of political leadership.

Joe Biden policy makers, specifically the U.S. treasury secretary and the federal reserve chairman, have claimed -falsely- that current inflation was/is being driven by demand. In essence, and ironically, their position means consumers are to blame for high prices.  This has been their story and they have stuck to it.  However, remember monetary policy can only impact the demand side of the economy.  Monetary policy cannot impact the supply side, that aspect is led by Joe Biden policy.

The Federal reserve, having denied (pretended) the supply side causation, has effectively raised interest rates (0.75%) into an economic environment where consumer demand was already contracting.  CTH has been asserting this fundamental position all year.   Here is the evidence:

US Manufacturing PMI fell dramatically to 52.4 in June 2022 from 57 in May.  This drop is well below the market and economic expectations of 56, and now points to the slowest growth and steepest drop in factory activity in almost two years.  Contractions in output and new orders are pushing the index down.

Production and new sales declined for the first time since the depths of the pandemic in mid-2020 driven by weak consumer demand.  Inflation and a drop in wholesale and retail purchases have lowered purchase orders.  The gears inside the economy are slowing to a halt.

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In a 6-3 ruling [pdf HERE] the Supreme Court has ruled that New York state cannot require an individual to prove a “special need” in order to carry a firearm for self-protection.  The ruling, likely to have ramifications for other gun restricting states, affirms the constitutional right of an individual to carry a firearm, and blocks the efforts of states to make the individual prove they have a need for one.

Writing the majority decision Justice Clarence Thomas concluded there was no historical requirement that law-abiding citizens show the kind of special need for self-defense required by the New York law to carry a gun in public. Indeed, as Thomas wrote, there is “no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.”  [Ruling Here]

SCOTUS BLOG – The state law at the heart of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen required anyone who wants to carry a concealed handgun outside the home to show “proper cause” for the license. New York courts interpreted that phrase to require applicants to show more than a general desire to protect themselves or their property. Instead, applicants must demonstrate a special need for self-defense – for example, a pattern of physical threats. Several other states, including California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, impose similar restrictions, as do many cities. (read more)

Leftists, particularly those who have recently become drunk on power from their COVID dictates, are apoplectic about the supreme court limiting the power of government to control the constitutional rights of the individual.  It’s quite remarkable to watch the far-left lash out against the institution that has the role in our government to protect the constitution.

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… And if they don’t, they are Russian sympathizers.

Delivering remarks from the stage built next to the White House, earlier today Joe Biden demanded that congress and states suspend gasoline taxes for 90-days in order to offset the massive price increases his energy policy has created. {Transcript Here} Additionally, Biden says any political opposition to his demand means his opponents support Russia:

“for all those Republicans in Congress criticizing me today for high gas prices in America, are you now saying we were wrong to support Ukraine?  Are you saying we were wrong to stand up to Putin?  Are you saying that we would rather have lower gas prices in America and Putin’s iron fist in Europe?  I don’t believe that.” {Direct Rumble Link}

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It will be worth watching how California Governor Gavin Newsom responds to this instruction.  California has the largest gasoline taxes in the nation and uses them to fund the majority of their left-wing policies.

Full video and transcript below.

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The conflict of interest is simply off-the-proverbial charts here.   Tom Donilon is a deep DC swamp operator and has been for his entire career.  Donilon is connected to every tentacle of the Obama and Biden administrations.  Donilon is also the Chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute.

We have written about the conflicts {Go Deep Here} and {Go Deep Here}, but this move by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is stunningly fraught with serious conflicts of interest.

Tom Donilon’s literal job description at Blackrock is to “leverage the firm’s expertise and generate proprietary research to provide insights on the global economy, markets, geopolitics and long-term asset allocation,” and the State Dept has just appointed him as Co-Chair of the U.S. foreign policy advisory board.

Specifically, the Biden administration has just put Blackrock Investment Institute Chairman Tom Donilon in charge of U.S-China policy.

How in the proverbial hell can this be permitted?  That’s way beyond a rhetorical question.   The Dept of State has selected a team of Wall Street control agents to guide global U.S. policy.

(STATE DEPT) – Today, Secretary Blinken announced his selections for the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board.

Since its establishment in 2011, the Board has provided independent advice on the conduct of U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy, consistent with each Secretary of State and administration’s evolving priorities for it.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell admitted the obvious in his senate testimony today when asked about U.S. inflation.  However, his testimony directly contradicts the White House claims.

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), member of the Senate Banking Committee, walked through the inflation timeline and asked Chairman Powell about the cause of the escalated inflation in 2021.  Powell admitted the massive rise in inflation had nothing to do with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. WATCH (02:16 Prompted):

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The New York Times reported this.  There is a certain irony in the New York Times outlining the consequences of the U.S. led sanctions are essentially that western governments and NATO countries are essentially punishing themselves with continued sanctions against Russia.  Then again, the WEF coalition doesn’t really seem to care as long as they can continue chasing their Build Back Better agenda.

(Via New York Times) – The ruble cemented its unlikely status as the world’s best-performing currency, rising to new multiyear highs this week. Since collapsing in the weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which triggered sweeping international sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy, the ruble has come roaring back.

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The current White House Press Secretary, Karine Jeanne-Pierre, is hopelessly over her head and does not possess the intellectual or professional skills to articulate clear policy or answer questions.  Her professional inability is brutally obvious, yet political correctness dictates everyone is supposed to pretend not to notice.  In a weird way she is a perfect representation of the Biden White House.  Jeanne-Pierre is the Kamala Harris of Hank ‘tippy guam’ Johnsons.

That said, the White House is using former Pentagon spokesperson, and current National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, as a crutch to support Jeanne-Pierre until enough time passes and the permanent switch can take place without backlash from the media and left-wing cultural police.   Narrative engineering is a tenuous business and relies upon media pretense to continue.

With the shortage of infant formula still visible as an example of Biden incompetence, today the White House began selling a proactive strategic communication message in advance of looming food shortages.  {Direct Rumble Link} Yes, you guess it, the advanced position of the Biden administration is that the future U.S. food shortages are Vladimir Putin’s fault.

Apparently, Russian President Vladimir Putin has the ability to drive up U.S. inflation, explode U.S. energy costs, increase gasoline prices, influence global agriculture, weaken U.S. oil refining capability, disrupt availability of diesel fuel, impede the transportation of U.S. goods, force municipal energy companies to raise prices, cancel airline flights, stop the manufacturing of infant formula and now block the production -and increase the cost- of food in North America.

It’s worth noting how John Kirby says NATO and the western allies can deliver thousands of tons of heavy weapons and arms into Ukraine from western Europe without issue; however, the western allies cannot get thousands of tons of grain and foodstuffs out of Ukraine.   I digress.  The propaganda around World War Reddit is remarkable.

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A major win for parents and school choice today in a 6-3 decision from the Supreme Court [pdf Ruling Here].  The high court ruled that Maine violated the Constitution by refusing to make public funds available for students to attend faith-based schools.  The ruling is broad and makes it clear when any state and/or local government choose to subsidize private schools or provide vouchers for school choice, they must allow families pay for religious schools.

Teachers’ unions, left-wing indoctrination institutions and the media are not happy with the Supreme Court decision.  The ruling now makes it possible for state or local school vouchers to be used for private, faith-based schools.  Those schools also have religious exemptions on the types of material and educators they allow in their education programs.

In the bigger picture the court has again affirmed ‘freedom of religion‘ not ‘freedom from religion‘.  Parents who wish their children to receive a moral and virtuous education should not be blocked by state and local politicians who promote sexualization of children, immoral conduct and alternative lifestyles for kids.  SCOTUS BLOG has background details including the dissent:

SCOTUS BLOG: – […] The dispute before the court in Carson v. Makin began as a challenge to the system that Maine uses to provide a free public education to school-aged children. In some of the state’s rural and sparsely populated areas, school districts opt not to run their own secondary schools. Instead, they choose one of two options: sending students to other public or private schools that the district designates, or paying tuition at the public or private school that each student selects. But in the latter case, state law allows government funds to be used only at schools that are nonsectarian – that is, schools that do not provide religious instruction.

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Fox News host Tucker Carlson, use the opening segment of his television broadcast to spotlight the most alarming threat to our democracy in recent years.  According to Capitol Hill police an extremist movement, with the full cooperation of congressional members, attempted to overthrow democracy by breaking into the Capitol last week in a carefully planned insurrection.   WATCH:

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The definition of the modern “western democracy” in Ukraine is increasingly showcased as the goal for modern totalitarian government.

The inflection point away from representative democracy was first evident in the way COVID-19 was leveraged by “western” governments in the U.S, Canada, Australia and the European Union.  Totalitarian minded leaders within those democracies, including governors in the United States, began operating without any elected representative feedback. Everything shifted from legislative representation to a system of dictatorial fiats with no opposition allowed in the arbitrary rules and regulations.

From forced lockdowns and arbitrary determinations of “essential workers,” various western government leaders were drunk on their new power.  Those who were already predisposed to the benefits of communism (aka Justin Trudeau) and various shades therein, dropped all pretense of believing there were limits to their power and began dispatching opposition views.

It did not take long before we saw things escalate into lockdowns, travel bans, forced business closures, quarantine camps and ultimately forced vaccinations and checkpoints for transit.  Collectively, none of these efforts ever went before a representative body for debate and consent; they were done through brute force and power of a top-down centralized authoritarian government.  It did not seem as if most people realized how ‘western democracy’ changed overnight through the use of the pandemic.

What we see taking place in Ukraine is an outcropping of this newly defined ‘western democracy.’   Using a declaration of emergency power, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has now banned all opposition voices, taken control of broadcast media and now today banned the second largest political party in Ukraine. [Radio Free Europe Link]

Ukraine’s Opposition Platform For Life (OPPL) was the second largest political force in the Ukraine Parliament.  As of today, the party is officially banned by a Ukrainian court at the request of the Zelenskyy Ministry of Justice.   All assets, funds and property belonging to OPPL have been seized and transferred to the state.

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