Do you know what it’s technically called when “government takes control of the means of production?”  Yeah, that.

This afternoon Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) giving Health and Human Services (HHS) the legal authority to control the supplies needed for the creation of baby formula (how it is made), and the authority to determine distribution equity (who gets it).  Emphasis mine:

White House [DPA Sec. 2] – “[T]he authority of the President conferred by section 101 of the Act to require performance of contracts or orders … is delegated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to all health resources, including the ingredients necessary to manufacture infant formula.”

“(b)  The Secretary of Health and Human Services may use the authority under section 101 of the Act to determine, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the heads of other executive departments and agencies as appropriate, the proper nationwide priorities and allocation of all ingredients necessary to manufacture infant formula, including controlling the distribution of such materials (including applicable services) in the civilian market, for responding to the shortage of infant formula within the United States.” (read more)

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, an über-leftist who ironically self-describes as an abortion absolutist, is now in charge of infant formula manufacture and distribution. You do not need to be a conspiracy theorist to predict which “at risk” group will get priority distribution of limited resources.

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It did not take Elon Musk long to react to the second explosive undercover video of Twitter executives disparaging free speech and even mocking Musk for Asperger’s.   This will not end well for Mr. Alex Martinez, Lead Client Partner for Twitter advertising.

[NEW YORK – May 17, 2022] Project Veritas has published the second part of their series on Twitter. This story features undercover footage of Lead Client Partner, Alex Martinez, an employee for the tech giant, who sometimes speaks on behalf of the company at events. This footage shows a very candid Martinez speaking about how the company’s “ideology” led them to be less “profitable,” among other incendiary comments.

[…] Martinez even made distasteful comments about Musk having Asperger’s. “He has Asperger’s,” Martinez says at one point adding, “so, he’s special.” Going further, Martinez later says, “We all know that and that’s fine. So here, no one’s going to say some f**king crazy sh*t because he’s special.” (read more)

The successful entrepreneur, SpaceX and Tesla CEO, and world’s richest man responded via Twitter.

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The entire premise of the J6 committee is a farce.  The overwhelming majority of Americans fully understand it is a political exercise between Democrats in congress and their hired Lawfare allies.  The goal is to label their political opposition as extremists, block and/or tarnish President Trump and manufacture a false premise to advance the Democrat 2022 election goals.

Despite this reality the effort continues in order to fuel their far-left base and media allies.

Today, the House committee triggered subpoenas against House republican members.  The subpoenas were sent to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (U-DC), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Rep Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Mo Brooks (R-Ala.). All five of the house members had previously rejected investigators’ requests for voluntarily testimony.

The subpoena authority is likely, hopefully, to be challenged in court.  The premise of a House committee issuing subpoena’s to the political opposition of the same House membership appears to violate the function of government on many levels.

WASHINGTON DC – […] The Republican leader indicated he might not comply with the subpoena.

“My view on the committee has not changed,” said McCarthy, who added he had not yet seen the subpoena. “They’re not conducting a legitimate investigation. It seems as though they just want to go after their political opponents.”

The select committee demanded testimony from the five lawmakers in the final week of May.

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It has often been said that if you chase the global climate change ideology to its natural conclusion, we end up in communal groups sitting around a tepid campfire eating some form of sustainable algae cakes and picking parasites off each other…  Prior to Joe Biden that prediction might have seemed like hyperbole. Now, not so much.

Indeed, the Green New Deal energy policy of Joe Biden creates massive downstream consequences.  Unfortunately, the White House doesn’t seem to care. The high prices and scarcity of critical goods are a feature, not a flaw, as they chase their climate friendly Build Back Better agenda.

Following the continuum of intended consequence, now we have diesel fuel shortages beginning to hit the U.S. economy; and with scarcity comes higher prices of an almost astronomical scale. “The national average price of diesel is now $5.54 per gallon, which is an increase of 22 cents from last week, which was when the most recent record was set. Data shows there’s no state that’s currently seeing diesel prices below $5.12 per gallon.” (LINK)

Making matters even worse is a drop in available inventory of diesel fuel which is about to become a crisis for the east coast of the U.S.  Some Truck Stop operators like Love’s and Pilot are already warning their big rig customers they may not have fuel for truckers.

[…] “Love’s is monitoring the fluid situation on the East Coast, we have experienced minimal outages during low traffic hours,” Oklahoma-based Love’s Travel Stops said in an emailed statement. “The company has no plans to restrict purchases of diesel.”

[…] Earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration said total inventories of distillates, which is mainly diesel fuel but also heating oil, fell last week to a 17-year low of 104 million barrels, which is 23% below normal.

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I’ve been pondering this disconnect for several weeks as the messaging from inside the beltway, including their expressed priorities, seem even more disconnected than before.  The DC bubble has always been present; however, lately the disconnect is even more profound.

Perhaps the increased distance in priorities can be explained by federal politicians cancelling townhall meetings and constituent engagement due to the pandemic. Perhaps politicians are holding party positions disconnected from the population they are supposed to represent because they have spent two years physically distancing from the voters.  Whatever the cause, the disconnect is now more severe.

The contrast is even more significant when it comes to the far-left politicians, because they travel amid a very closed communal tribe where outside opinions are considered toxic to their sense of identity.  The term “safe spaces” was literally coined because leftists cannot handle differences of opinion.

The professional leftist arguments are generally flawed, illogical, antithetical to common values and historically weak.  As an outcome their advocate policy positions are weak and easy to deconstruct when challenged.  To avoid being challenged they rarely hold open discussions with constituents in their districts without extreme vetting measures to avoid confrontation.

Regardless of root cause, most Democrats are severely disconnected from the economic reality of their district citizens.  This is evidenced in a Politico report today discussing the example of Democrat House member Katie Porter of California.

As the article notes, Ms. Porter told the House Democrat Caucus of her experience in the ‘real world’ with people who are grocery shopping.  The perplexed Democrats sat quietly listening to the stories of how price increases for food and gasoline are seriously hurting something called ‘working-class‘ people.

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Two issues likely caused a reversal of position from the White House about political violence and intimidation toward the supreme court justices.

First, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain almost certainly has public opinion polling showing that threats and intimidation toward the supreme court are not okay with the majority of the American people.  Second, there is a strong argument to be made the highest office of the Executive Branch advocating for targeting of the highest officers in the Judicial Branch is a directly impeachable offense.

Regardless of motivation, and after a weekend of threats, violence and intimidation against the court, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki reverses the administration prior position and now speaks against “violence, threats and vandalism.”  Tweet Link:

The people behind the Joe Biden White House generally respond to the politics of any situation, not the legality of it.  They know their tools and allies in the FBI, DOJ and congress will excuse and ignore any illegal behavior.

Therefore, the most likely source of any internal anxiety that would cause a reversal in position is public opinion polling.  This week should bring a flood of abortion opinion polls to the headlines from administration allies in media.

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CNN contracted for an urgent poll of voters [Article Here] to gauge the anticipated enthusiasm bump that Democrats were expecting for the mid-term elections. [SEE POLL pdf HERE] However, unfortunately for the wide-eyed narrative engineers expecting the stratospheric shift in support…. the results show no one really cares.  LOL

The results from the poll show despite about a 50/50 split in response to the question about have you heard of the SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v Wade, there was almost no statistical change in voter opinion from prior polling.

More depressingly for the leftists in media, when it comes to enthusiasm about voting in the mid-terms because of this issue, the enthusiastic crowd is the pro-life happy people. The registered voters who would be grumpy or angry was 20%.  The registered voters who would be happy or joyful was 38%.  Whoops.  But wait, it gets better….

When you compare the results of the internal questions to the last time they were asked, there’s no difference in response.  This issue is such a predetermined opinion, that virtually nothing around it changes.

CNN has sad.   See video below (prompted):

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This is the state of our union.  These are the real Domestic Violent Extremists (DVE’s).

Democrat activists have listed the names and home addresses of conservative Supreme Court justices in an effort to organize violence against the court.  A taller perimeter fence was installed around the Supreme Court building last night to stop any violent efforts by democrat activists, and personal security measures have been increased for the justices.

(Daily Mail) – An activist group called ‘Ruth Sent Us’ has published the supposed addresses of Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thmas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts and are planning a ‘walk-by’ of their homes next Wednesday, May 11.

‘Our 6-3 extremist Supreme Court routinely issues rulings that hurt women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights,’ the group’s website reads. ‘We must rise up to force accountability using a diversity of tactics.’ (read more)

Unfortunately, and in keeping with all prior support precedent for Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, Antifa and other violent groups, the installed president and radical administration officials have aligned themselves with the violent confrontation.  The White House has refused to speak out against the intimidation effort and/or condemn the violence.

This is the state of our union with Democrats attacking the institutions of government.

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Perhaps in the grand scheme of all things facing us, this action by New Jersey may seem a little silly; however, it’s still nuts.

Comrades, starting today it is illegal in New Jersey to have plastic or paper bags in stores for shoppers.  Additionally, restaurants, cafeterias and food trucks are forbidden to serve take-out food in Styrofoam-like products. Also, all retailers must stop selling polystyrene foam products like plates and cups.  Drinking straws require a permit for restricted distribution as monitored by the Department of Health.

To ensure legal compliance within the Garden State, officials in New Jersey have established a snitch hotline for citizens to call the Dept of Environmental Police (DEP) and report dissident violators, while the state ministry of citizen compliance have created a “WARN DEP” app to facilitate easier snitching on your neighbors if you spot them using contraband containers.

“The ban will go into effect [May 4th] nearly 18 months after the law was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy.” ARTICLE

We cannot get to environmental justice without citizen participation, comrades.

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Previously a federal judge overturned the federal mask mandate for transportation, thereby allowing travelers to make their own choices.  The DOJ has appealed that decision after the CDC said it wanted the mask mandate to remain in place.  The status of that litigation is unknown.

Today, the CDC has announced a semi-permanent extension of the federal transportation mask mandate with no expiration date noted. [Announcement Here] That means all travelers on airplanes, trains, busses and ridesharing will be required to wear facemasks again, including inside the terminals and operational hubs of those transportation nodes, pending the outcome of the DOJ appeal to the federal court.

CDC Announcement – “At this time, CDC recommends that everyone aged 2 and older – including passengers and workers – properly wear a well-fitting mask or respirator over the nose and mouth in indoor areas of public transportation (such as airplanes, trains, etc.) and transportation hubs (such as airports, stations, etc.).

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