It is not shocking news that gasoline prices are the highest they have ever been in the history of the United States.If you are left of center on the political spectrum, it is Putin’s fault you are being robbed and you do not need to read any further.  However, if you are open to factual narrative, you may wish to understand how Americans arrived at this point and what is forecasted for the future.

One of the basic tenets of economics 101 is that energy prices are the lifeblood of a strong economy. High energy prices are going to be a key contributor to runaway inflation.  This is exactly why Americans are paying, on average, $460 dollars more per month than they did 18 months ago for the same products and services.

How did we get to where we are today? According to Biden the root causes of inflation are the greed of “big meat,” “big oil” and the latest, “big shipping.”  He is careful to separate energy from other commodities by repeatedly informing you that Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine is to blame for the price you are paying at the pump.

Let us examine the factual reasons you are paying record prices for regular gasoline.

•         When Biden was sworn into office the average price was $2.09 per gallon
•         On January 20, 2021, besides canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, President Biden restricted domestic production by issuing a moratorium on all oil and natural gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
•         On January 27, 2021, Biden issued an executive order announcing a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters and reconsideration of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices. By the end of January 2021 gas prices had increased to $2.32
•         On February 19, 2021, Biden officially rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, which is detrimental to American fossil energy, while propping up oil production in Russia and OPEC and increasing the dependence of Europe on Russian oil and natural gas.  By the end of February 2021 gas prices increased to $2.50 per gallon.
•         On March 28, 2021, Biden’s Treasury Department released its “Green Book” that provides Biden’s FY 2022 revenue proposals, including $150 billion in tax increases directly levied against the oil and gas energy producers.
•         On June 1, 2021, Biden’s Department of Interior suspended drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge until the agency completed an environmental analysis of the impact and a legal review of the Trump administration’s decision to grant those leases. By the end of June 2021, average gasoline prices were 45% higher than December 2020, averaging $3.15 per gallon.
•         On October 30, the Department of Labor issued a Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Rule that would require fiduciaries to consider the economic effects of climate change and other so-called ES) factors when evaluating funds for retirement plans. The rule would strongly encourage fiduciaries to draw capital from domestic energy development in oil and natural gas to renewables. At the end of October 2021 gas prices had risen to $3.89 per gallon.
•         On November 4, 2021, Biden committed to “ending fossil fuel financing abroad,” targeting the global fossil fuel industry, thereby disadvantaging them, which increased global oil and gas prices.
•         On November 15, 2021, Biden’s Department of Interior announced plans to withdraw Chaco Canyon from oil and gas drilling for 20 years. This area was a primary source of fossil fuels

·         On February 24, 2022, Russia invades Ukraine. The price of gasoline averaged $3.63 per gallon.

It does not take a rocket scientist to calculate the price of gasoline has increased over 73% from the day Biden took office to the day Russia invaded Ukraine. In a recently released video, Senator Cruz makes a convincing argument that a plan to incrementally increase gas prices was a deliberate act by the Biden administration. Yet the Biden administration continues to take no responsibility for their actions and blames it all on Vladimir Putin and Russia.

Hopefully, you can see that in the course of just a few months the Biden administration took several steps to decrease the availability of gas and diesel and move away from energy independence. This was coupled with dumping trillions of dollars into the economy. Even one of the third graders that the administration is trying so hard to indoctrinate would have realized this was a perfect storm for the development of the inflation tsunami we are currently experiencing.

Now for the worst news. J.P. Morgan and several other brokerage firms are forecasting that gasoline will exceed $7.00 per gallon and diesel will exceed $9.00 per gallon before Labor Day 2022. Your 401k’s, savings accounts and other retirement accounts are taking a major hit and decrease in value daily.

Biden recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Show. When asked if he is worried that the current economy in America will have an impact on the mid-term elections. He responded by saying no, what you have to understand is America has the strongest economy in the world, in the world, in the world.