The headlines today, “Gas prices rise 16 cents in Chattanooga.” In January, 2021, the average price for a gallon of gas was $2.40. By June of 2022, prices peaked at $5.06 (Newsweek 9/2/23). Then Joe Biden sold 180 million barrels from our Strategic Oil Reserves to “fight oil prices that had spiked on concerns about Russia’s war on Ukraine.” Treasury said that sale cut gasoline prices by about 40 cents a gallon compared to what they would have been absent their release (Reuters 11/3/22).
News stories (NPR 10/27/22) as well as postings on this forum told us politicians “don’t control energy costs.” Presidents can’t affect gasoline prices they chant but the US Treasury said Biden lowered prices by 40 cents a gallon.
Sept 5, Russia and Saudi Arabia extended oil production cuts to the end of the year raising prices sharply (Reuters 9/5/23). On Sept 7, Biden cancelled seven Trump-era oil and gas leases in the Arctic which CNN laughingly claims won’t affect gas prices. Jake Sullivan, Biden advisor, said, “the president is doing everything within his toolkit to be able to get lower prices for consumers at the gas pump” (Bloomberg, Chunzi Xu 9/7/23). Sullivan has made that exact same claim before last year(CNBC 7/15/22)
When fuel prices soar, progressives roar with condescending tales of how Joe Biden can’t affect prices. He can’t that is until they need the US Treasury and Jake Sullivan tell us he can so he gets the credit for lower prices. So who is telling the truth?
Ralph Miller