Gas prices haven’t exactly been normal this year, have they? Or really, for the last two years. During that time, prices at the pump have risen, not so steadily at times to nearly double, if not roughly triple, what it was in 2020.
Thankfully for our wallets, the rise has stopped and even reversed itself. Beginning in June, when both gas prices and inflation peaked, we began to see the smallest signs of relief.
Naturally, the very man most of us blame for the overall rise in prices, Democratic President Joe Biden, has taken all of the credit, despite refusing to do so for its prior surge.
Now, you and I might not be inclined to believe the ever more so dementia-ridden White House occupant. However, Donald Trump might be one of the few who actually does.
Why?
Well, of course, he believes it’s all part of Biden’s plan to help out the failing Democrats as the midterms draw ever closer. He also claims that once those elections are over, we’ll see a significant rise in our currently sinking fuel payments.
The accusations were made at a recent GOP rally in Youngstown, Ohio, where Trump was in attendance to help promote the state’s Republican Senate candidate JD Vance.
In particular, Trump aimed at Biden’s decision to tap into the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, giving the US more crude oil and, in doing so, dropping the price of gasoline here at home as it became more readily available. Despite giving Americans much-needed relief at the pump, the problem with doing so is that the reserves are supposed to be tapped into in only certain situations, such as war.
Doing so now, at a time when we are not at war, albeit nearly on the verge of such, gives those like Trump reason to believe the move wasn’t made for the sake of the American people.
Instead, if Biden and his party can claim to have solved the overpriced gas crisis, the idea is that more people might be willing to lay aside their grievances with the left-leaning party and ensure that they keep their majorities in both legislative houses.
Of course, it won’t hurt Biden’s chances of getting to stay in the White House come 2024, either.
According to the 45th president, “He’s (Biden) using that to keep prices down as much as he can just before the election and right after the election, it’s going to double up and go higher than anybody ever believed.”
Now, whether you believe Biden would do such a thing or is even capable of knowingly planning something so dastardly, the very idea is a rather frightening one, to be sure. And one that would make sense for both Biden and his party at present.
There have been few times in our national history when a president, let alone his whole party, has had such abysmally low approval ratings. Even the supposedly ever hated Trump (according to the Dems) had higher approval ratings.
As a result, many have been led to believe that, come November, when nearly half of Congress is put up for re-election, the Democrats will not fare so well. And given their already slim hold on power, it means that at least one legislative house, if not both, may be turned over to the Republicans.
Historians and political strategists note that in an election year following a presidential election in which a new leader is put into place, it’s common for that president’s party to take some losses, as not everyone will be happy with the way that person is running things. This year will be no different.
However, most of those same political strategists have noted that the risk of Democrat loss is far, far greater this year than most. Some even estimate that some 30-40 Dems House seats will be lost to the GOP in the coming months. And while the Senate is expected to lose far fewer left-leaning seats, it’s still likely that the Upper House could be flipped.
Naturally, the party and its face (Biden) will have to do all they can to ensure that the losses are not that great. But does it mean messing with the nation’s gas prices to get there?
Let us know what you think.
