One of the most evergreen topics for any out-of-power party is the gas prices this time of year.
Here’s a hint – the sitting president has almost nothing to do with fluctuations in spot gas prices (and no, I said pretty much the same thing when gas prices rose to $4, twice, during the Obama years; long-term prices are another matter, but the fracking boom blunted Obama’s efforts there).
Anyway – it‘s a new administration, and a new minority party, and it’s baaaack:
Now it’s evidently Democrats’ turn again. The Daily Beast reports Monday that they plan to make rising gas prices the centerpiece of their summer election-year attacks against President Donald Trump. Already Chuck Schumer has taken to the Senate floor to attack Trump on the issue, blaming the price increases on his decision to pull out of the Iran deal (an Iran deal Schumer supposedly opposes, but good luck figuring that one out).
But as with the attacks against Bush and Obama, the attack on Trump lacks teeth. Economists widely accept that presidents have only minimal control over gas prices. As University of Chicago economist and Obama advisor Richard H. Thaler noted in 2012, while most Americans think presidents can control gas prices, “any respectable economist” will tell you they cannot.
It’s not like there’s no real news out there, I mean…
Ooh, a post about national politics. I’m sure the Emery Collective has something say about gas prices. Or North Korea. Or the national debt. Or megalomania. Or, golly, all of it.
One thing about liberals that you can count on, is that they will always attack conservatives and Republicans about /something/, even if they have to make it up.
Our politicians need to learn they will be bashed by Democrats regardless of what they do, so they should do the right thing and then make Democrats defend their opposition to it.
In the news in the last couple of days I saw that gasoline prices in NY and Cali were ~ $5/gallon. Certainly it’s Trumps fault.
I’ve seen a few shots-across-the-bow indicating an abortive Lefty economic argument against Trumpism. They haven’t been particularly effective. The last one I read was a Michelle Goldberg column that used the trick of referencing, not real economic data from a reliable source, but factoids from opinion columns written by other Lefties.
MP, good gaslighting doesn’t just spring forth fully formed, it evolves.
More “bread and circuses” to arouse the ire of the ignorant and uninformed.
This link is simple explanation for the reason for gas prices as they are:
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=gasoline_factors_affecting_prices
The oil companies have been called out for the profits they make on the sale of a gallon of gas when in fact they make pennies per gallon. Compare that in terms of the percentage per gallon price with federal, state, and local taxes and it becomes obvious who’s pocket really gets lined.
I seem to remember back in ’12 when a gallon went for ~ $1 to $1.50 more than we’re seeing these days. I remember who was POTUS back then, and believe he said prices weren’t high enough in order to force conservation in the name of all things green.