DID YOU HEAR? VACCINES DON’T WORK WELL AGAINST COVID: It must be true because Dr. Anthony Fauci said it.

CHARTING BIDEN’S INFLATION EXCUSES: It’s getting to the point with the guy in the Oval Office that even Democrats, like those at the New York Times editorial page, are encouraging him not to run again in 2024. Inflation is the driving force behind such conclusions from the party faithful.

Now along comes Issues & Insights with an evocative chart that precisely tracks inflation’s steeply upward path with each of Biden’s continually changing excuses for the worst price increases this country has seen since 1981.

To hear Biden repeat an excuse once is bad enough, but to see this chart brings home the disquieting question of whether the Chief Executive is purposely misleading the American people or merely reading whatever his staff puts on his notecards and teleprompter to mislead the American people. Either way …

ABOUT THOSE STARBUCKS STORE CLOSINGS: The unionization movement within Starbucks is moving rapidly, with multiple recent victories as employees in local outlets vote to go union. The Lid’s Jeff Dunetz details much of the behind-the-scenes story, including why union officials insist the store closures are at least in part a retaliation against the movement.

DEM ACTIVIST GROUP TO OPPOSE BIDEN IN 24: RootsAction is one of the numerous left-wing political activists groups that backs Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Socialist and failed Democratic presidential candidate. And now The Lid reports this morning that RootsAction has officially announced its opposition to President Joe Biden seeking a second term in 2024.

GOD HELP US IF THIS IS TYPICAL OF TODAY’S LAW SCHOOLS: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo) tangled with Berkeley Law Professor Khiara Bridges on the issue of whether men can become pregnant. If you question the Left, you are inciting violence. The next step, and judging by the present Attorney General it may be closer than we think, will be prosecution. The exchange with Bridges is the first 1:45 of the video.

SPEAKING OF JILL BIDEN, SEN. MARCO RUBIO HAS A NEW PROFILE PICTURE: Check it out here. Anybody remember President Gerald Ford’s similar gaffe in San Antonio?

UPDATE: Appears the new profile shot has been taken down. Here’s what it looked like:

ABOUT THOSE INCREDIBLE WEBB TELESCOPE IMAGES: If God can create this, then doing this is no big deal. Just a thought for this momentous day, my friends. Whether you agree with me on this or not, do NOT miss the first images from one of the most amazing inventions ever of man.

DID YOU KNOW FDR’S FBI TARGETED A JEWISH GROUP: I was not aware of this rancid footnote to the New Deal era of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but The Lid’s Jeff Dunetz knows all about it. FDR’s attitude toward the Holocaust has always been a puzzler, and now we see in it a disturbing precedent for the politicalization of the FBI.

PHILLY’S SOROS PROSECUTOR IS A DEADBEAT: At least according to Hans Bader, quoting Big Trial, which points to chronic overdue taxes.

HOW ABOUT THIS AND TERM LIMITS? Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) think congressmen should legislate while Congress is in session and not make campaign fund-raising calls. Sounds reasonable to me, especially if it’s combined with term limits. But that’s just me.

NEED A NEW CRACK PIPE? FEDS GOTCHA COVERED: Daily Caller staffer entered a federally funded health clinic in New York City, filled out some paperwork and in about 10 minutes walked out with a free kit that included a crack pipe, condom and lubricant.

DEEP DIVE ON THAT ROLLING STONE SUPREME COURT AGITPROP: Timing is everything in a lot of endeavors, including when a “journalist” manipulates the sequence of events to suit a Lefty narrative.

HERITAGE SUES DHS FOR BABEL X USE DATA: Odds are if you post on social media or use a smart phone, somebody in the federal government knows all about you. The Heritage Foundation filed an FOIA and is now in federal court asking a judge to order the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop the stall and cough up the documents the public has the right to see.

BIDEN SELLING US OIL RESERVES TO EUROPE, ASIA: Madness.

ROLLING STONE SMEAR IS MORE PROOF ELITE JOURNOS DON’T GET FAITH: Did you hear about the horrendous crime committed by several of the Supreme Court’s conservative justices? They prayed … Oh, the humanity!!! PROMOTED FROM LAST NIGHT.

ASK THIS DEM IF RIGHT MEDIA WORKS: Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Ks.) got rid of a bunch of green “energy” stocks right after the Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross blew the whistle.

NOW CANCEL FAUCI: Looks like NIH has canceled the next phase of those awful tests using Beagle puppies. Now, how about canceling the guy who approved the tests in the first place?

QUITE AN INDEPENDENCE DAY BASH BY THE SUPREME COURT: Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts points to the remarkable week in the High Court just before the holiday as the real Independence Day celebration.

LOOK WHO’S HIGHEST PAID ON MOST EXPENSIVE WHITE HOUSE STAFF EVER: Dr. Francis Collins, the former National Institutes for Health Director who presided over it while he and thousands of other NIHers got millions in secret royalty payments, according to yet another bombshell report from Open the Books. Now he’s getting $300K a year as Acting Science Adviser to Biden.

GREEN IS THE COLOR OF DECLINE: Electric Vehicles (EVs) are dirtier than gas-powered cars and they are racists, too. If you doubt it, check this out from Issues & Insights.

AND DESANTIS RESPONDS: The Florida Governor wins this round.

READY FOR $11 PER GALLON GAS? Hans Bader at Liberty Unyielding says best to be prepared because it’s a real possibility.

ANOTHER NEW WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY COMING SOON? – Allies of the incumbent are angry that the guy who appears to be her soon-to-be-successor was given a “supporting role” during a White House briefing this past week. She’s Black, he’s White, allegations of white supremacy to follow.

NO MORE US FUNDS FOR WUHAN LAB: It got little media coverage but the House Appropriations Committee approved a provision barring any U.S. funds from being used to support China’s Wuhan lab.

There is a key lesson here for the Republicans if they regain congressional majorities in November: If you don’t support a federal activity, any federal activity, STOP FUNDING IT. And remember, when Biden, the Dems and the Media begin screaming, under the Constitution, you have all the leverage because you control the budget.

Approve a budget minus the stuff you oppose, then challenge Biden to sign it or shut down the government. The onus on any subsequent shutdown is then on the Democrat in the White House, not Republican majority in Congress.

And one more thing: Stop thinking of the annual federal budget as an executive branch management blueprint. That kind of budget thinking is a product of the Wilsonian progressive era. The Constitution’s budget is a tool for legislative direction of the executive branch’s administration and enforcement of the law.

BIDEN WHITE HOUSE STAFF STILL BLOATED AMID EXODUS: Leave it to Open the Books to provide the much-needed context to a Biden White House released report to Congress detailing the names, titles and salaries of the largest staff ever to call 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as its main office.

From the summary:

• During President Joe Biden’s first two-years, he spent $100.7 million on the largest White House payroll in American history, based on headcount.
• No White House ever employed 500 staffers. The Biden White House employed 560 (FY2021) and 474 this year (2022). In 2022, the headcount dropped by 86 employees.
• Biden employs 100 more staffers than Trump (374) (FY2018) and five more than Obama (469) (FY2010) at the same point in their respective presidencies.
• There was 39.3-percent turnover in White House staff, year over year. 220 employees from last year are no longer on payroll. This mirrored the exact same turnover percentage as the worst year of the Trump administration (2018).