REPORT INFLATION HIGHER THAN GOVERNMENT ESTIMATES, go to jail? “Consumer prices rose 9.7% in May from a year ago, according to the national statistics agency, Indec. But virtually all economists say annual inflation surpasses 20%—one of the world’s highest rates—angering government officials who dismiss inflation as a problem. The criminal complaint, initiated by the Commerce Secretariat, is the harshest in a series of legal measures against economists. The credibility of Indec’s data has been questioned ever since former President Nestor Kirchner replaced longtime civil servants with political appointees in early 2007.” For some people, Atlas Shrugged is a cautionary tale. For others, it’s a how-to manual.

PETER FERRARA: Fallacies Of Economic Equality That Promote Poverty.

THE MOST CRIMINAL CITIES on the Internet.

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I SHAKE: WaPo: Michelle Obama Has 1,700 Calorie Meal At Shake Shack.

HOPE AND CHANGE: July foreclosure notices up 16 percent in metro Atlanta.

CHEAT ‘TIL THE COWS COME HOME: Luxury cars insured as farm vehicles?

Quality Planning verifies policyholder data for auto insurance companies. They looked at 80,000 vehicles for which the farm-use insurance discount was claimed. About 8 percent, or 6,382 vehicles, were housed in ZIP Codes where there is little or non agriculture. Porsche Carreras, Mercedes SL550s and BMW Z4 were found on farms that do not exist.

An Audi A4 classified as a farm vehicle was found in Brooklyn, N.Y. ($389 annual savings.) A Cadillac Seville in Los Angeles was listed as a farm vehicle (annual savings $61, some people cheat at all cost.)

Well, you’d hate to admit that you drive a Cadillac Seville. . . .

A GOOD QUESTION: “Can you believe there even is an anti-knife campaign group?”

EURO IN CRISIS: Is The Italian Domino Falling? “This will not be pretty.”

CADILLAC’S MUSCLE-CAR STATION WAGON: “Someone at GM decided that what the world really needs is a CTS-V Wagon because, you know, a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 good for 556 horsepower is just what you need for running to Costco. . . . The CTS-V does zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds and tops out just short of a buck ninety. That’s approaching supercar territory — in a freakin’ wagon.”

Downside: “Interior falls short of the competition. Fuel economy? Bwahahahahaha. You’re kidding, right?”

AT AMAZON, summer grocery deals.

GAFFE-O-MATIC: Video: President Obama Promises “Massive Job-Killing Taxes” If Re-Elected.

A REMINDER: Special Election in California’s 36th Congressional District Tomorrow. And in Wisconsin, the first recall elections, too.

WELL, THAT OBAMA PRESS CONFERENCE sure didn’t do anything to lift up the stock market.

UPDATE: How President Obama explained away a poll showing only 24% of Americans supported raising the debt ceiling “to avoid an economic catastrophe.” “So… the the American people are misinformed if not incapable of absorbing matters beyond the narrow, personal sphere. It’s the ‘What’s the Matter with Kansas?’ answer. You don’t know what is good for you. If you knew, you’d agree with me.”

Plus: “And notice that Obama said: ‘They’ve got a lot of other things on their plate.’ I hope they have room for peas!”

And, from the comments: “The public certainly was not paying close attention in 2008, so you have to admit he has a point.” Ouch.

PLAY GOLF on Saturn’s moons.

WELL, THEY VOTED FOR THE HOPE AND CHANGE, AND THIS IS WHAT THEY GOT: Nearly one in five recent grads is out of work. Could that hurt Obama’s reelection bid? “Here’s a fact that should give economists—and maybe President Obama’s political team—heartburn: Two years after the Great Recession officially ended, job prospects for young Americans remain historically grim. More than 17 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds who are looking for work can’t find a job, a rate that is close to a 30-year high. The employment-to-population ratio for that demographic—the percentage of young people who are working—has plunged to 45 percent. That’s the lowest level since the Labor Department began tracking the data in 1948. Taken together, the numbers suggest that the U.S. job market is struggling mightily to bring its next generation of workers into the fold.”

CHANGE: “Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday appeared to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq as part of the war against al-Qaeda … an argument controversially made by the Bush administration but refuted by President Obama and many Democrats.” They told me if I voted for John McCain. . . .

USING RNA TO program brain cells into heart muscle cells.

FREQUENT FLYER racks up 10 million miles. “Speaking before the flight he admitted that he was once afraid of flying.”

JONATHAN RAUCH, self-hating blogger? There are a few great bloggers out there. Andrew Sullivan is none of them.

INSIDE the world’s largest fusion reactor.

DOUBLE STANDARD? Here’s a sad story about unemployment benefits running out, and the sadness is real. But what about all the self-employed people whose businesses have folded during the Obama recession? They don’t get unemployment benefits to begin with, and their numbers don’t show up as layoff victims. And there are a lot of them.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

Being a currently self-employed technology consultant who is very near the fold, I can say that the current situation is quite distressing. Friends who’ve been “employed” fear for their jobs, but they have a 99-week safety net. I have nothing. But what is most distressing to me is really the ideology that the moves the pols are making are further destroying the self-empowered, entrepreneurial spirit that made this country great. Forget “socialism”…there won’t be any “little guy” left after this, thanks to the costs and risks.

I’ve been working on a plan, and I’m not an economist or a politician, so I have no clue whether it would work or not. But every time I hear the buzzclip that “half the country doesn’t pay taxes” I get angry…if that’s so true, then why don’t we codify that, and give incentive for that lower half to make their own way: no taxes, no fica, no social security, no filing, nothing, on entrepreneurs that make less than $50,000 per annum. Just let them put it in their pocket. End the “War on Drugs”, bringing inner-city entrepreneurialism above board with an incentive to go legal and nonviolent. Basically, bring the black market to the mass market. That, to me, is “spreading the wealth”, a pull-back of regulation that might work.

It doesn’t have to be permanent, but if the government would move that far out of the economy, I doubt few voters would ever again champion “big government”.

It’s better than the President’s plan.

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: We could have had a budget deal, if Obama had listened to his own deficit commission. “In short, Obama sees a need for a permanently bigger government and a lot more tax revenue to fund it. Had Obama agreed with his own debt commission and Republicans, a big agreement was possible. Or he could have proposed real reforms to entitlements. But he declined and there wasn’t a mega-deal. Don’t blame Boehner for that.”

RADLEY BALKO: Why “Caylee’s Law” Is A Bad Idea.

FARTHER AND FASTER: More Electric Aviation Records Fall.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN CHICAGO: Ex-Rezko partner being sentenced Tuesday: Obama Spokesman Denies Cash Bribes.