LIKE a lot of polemical flash points in the contemporary world – especially in the Democrat Party’s Looney Tunes version of the United States – economics and even money itself have become either cartoon shorts for a news cycle or post-truth theatres of phony war. Having foolishly driven the US into inflationary crisis, Joe Biden – meaning the handlers who tell him what to ‘decide’ – yesterday announced a release of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve “to lower gas and oil prices for Americans.” This will have little effect – and is not really intended to – on pump prices in the fuel-thirsty holiday season. The goal is narrative, not economic.
Guess who stored provisions for America’s rainy day
As a prudential measure in a world economy then shutting down and to boost a domestic industry weakened by a glut, in March 2020 President Trump ordered the SPR to be filled to the brim. He also requested that at least 30 million barrels of the top-up be American-made. At the time, crude globally was priced to sell. The Trump plan was scuppered by congressional Democrats who didn’t want to support fossil fuels. As Bloomberg reported in June, this year:
It was a missed buying opportunity. At the time, buying $3 billion worth of West Texas Intermediate crude would have brought in 122.5 million barrels for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at $24.49 each — and likely require finding additional storage space. If sold at today’s price of about $73.60 per barrel, that crude would generate slightly more than $9 billion, for a profit of about $6 billion.
The Strategic Trump-was-Right Reserve is flooded to overflowing. Like Tuesday’s SPR symbolism, however, Donald Trump’s consignment would not of itself have tempered inflation or stopped the price of fuel from doubling since November 2020. The US consumes 18 million barrels of oil every day. That means the ‘extra’ supply now making its way circuitously to motorists throughout America will be used up by Sunday. Even the strategic reserve ‘only’ holds 605 million barrels. It was never meant to fuel the US but only to manage markets and forestall short-term economic collapse in a national emergency.
If Joe Biden was an old-fashioned ‘gas’ station attendant and America a Mack, he just filled her up with a thimble. Three things make the stunt contemptible in addition to conventionally ridiculous. First, when climateer Democrats deep-sixed President Trump’s $3 billion buy-US drive last March, they celebrated – “crowed,” actually – about the damage they had done to the energy sector. Does that sound like the conduct of people concerned about the long-term affordability of fuel? Recollect that in the first hours of his first day in office the newly sworn-in President shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline. Second, that replacement pipeline: for cash. The $2.2 trillion “recovery” bill – signed into law without Trump’s “bailout for big oil,” as Chuck Schumer called it – a $1.9 trillion “rescue” stimulus a year later and last week’s $2 trillion Build Back Better binge have drowned the economy in greenbacks. But this is not being acknowledged as problematic by Biden’s carers as they pretend to combat inflation five weeks from Christmas.
We were energy independent one year ago, now we are at the mercy of OPEC, gasoline is selling for $7 in parts of California, going up all over the country, and they are taking oil from our Strategic Reserves. Is this any way to run a country?” – Donald Trump
The third reason this pantomime is so shameful is its tiresome dishonesty. Mr Biden today blames the oil industry for the price blowouts that he and the Democrats caused. “I will not stand by while oil companies engage in profiteering at the expense of American families,” he lied on Twitter. But late last night, American time, ‘he’ tweeted that US diplomats had convinced China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the UK to draw down their own reserves to increase supply. Why would the President direct the FTC to investigate American oil companies for hoarding if he had already accepted deficient supply was an international dilemma?
What we have here is a hoax for economics that rhymes with Biden-headed hoaxes on Russia, race and ‘insurrection.’ Democrats responsible for a nationwide disaster frame their enemies for it, lie about its origins, make-believe they’re solving it and turn somebody into the cops. “More oil now, less oil later: Biden’s tricky message on energy,” says the Washington Post. A fraught adjective for a President during an oil shock but a classic of hypocrisy.
Maybe Australia can sell our ‘supposed’ fuel reserves held ‘somewhere’ in The USA???
What we’re seeing is a tremendous effort to bankrupt the population and the gov’ts so that it’s much easier for the central bankers to take control
15 Western Economies to flatten the curve
The goal is narrative, not economic.
Rather like when the Vic ALP order a flow of water from the desalination plant.
It is the Fed that has responsibility to keep inflation under control and they are saying inflation is transitory.
In this Phillip Lowe in a recent speech made clear on why this is the case. Around the world people could not spend on services in the pandemic so they switched to goods. Supply chain problems led to short term price increases.
Gradually people will switch back to services again. This will ease supply chain problems.
As for oil Biden is worried about why the margin has widened between wholesale and retail prices. The US catches our problem!
Reserves are irrelevant.
Non Compos Mentis
It is the Fed that has responsibility to keep inflation under control and they are saying inflation is transitory.
Good to see that the Mandy Rice-Davies response is still useful.
Now, how about withdrawing your two baseless, evidence-free, assertions about me and apologising.
I have not said anything baseless.
Non Compos Mentis
I have not said anything baseless.
ROFLMAO. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
One of the important things that identifies Non Compos Mentis as a so-called “progressive” is his complete inability to take personal responsibility for his own actions.
When caught out, he will blather, evade, obfuscate, squirm and, eventually, lie.
Pretty much, yes.
It’s astounding how much oil is used in a day.
As for spending, both sides in the US are now degenerates. Same in Australia.
you claim to have gone to University yet are completely ignorant on most subjects and showed no understanding of basic statistics.
you kick own goals all the time. You have shown no sign of education at all.
you neither put up or shut up
Non Compos Mentis
You made the evidence free accusations, you put up or shut up.
PS: Compare apples and apples is hardly a core element of basic statistics, but seemed to be the most important part of your so-called “tutorial”. But do carry on.
Mate you have constantly shown your ignorance on every topic you write on.
you have a huge black eye from all the mistakes you have made.
no-one who has gone to Uni would have made them.
comparing apples to apples is a core element. Another own goal
Non Compos Mnetis
you have a huge black eye from all the mistakes you have made.
Stop looking in the mirror. That huge black eye that you see is from your near constant illiterate writing style. Poor punctuation, sloppy sentence construction. No-one who has gone to university should write so poorly. If you actually are an academic, I pity your poor students, trying to make sense of your babble.
And don’t hope that I am going away. You have absolutely no substantive evidence to back up your assertions as to my educational level, but I will keep asking you to provide what you cannot provide until you admit that your whole case is based on ignorance and intellectual snobbery.
To borrow some words from Paul Keating, “I intend to do you slowly”.
So how do we explain you then, Homer Paxton?
Your mindless shilling on behalf of a cause that does not care for you or your efforts is hardly the mark of an educated man.
But given most Universities only Indoctrinate these days, you may well be an academic powerhouse…