Biden's America

[Born N Bled Red]

4 minutes ago, teachercd said:

Saw that over here...a 4.54 and then a 4.29

 

The wide disparity over short geographic areas (even within the same company) makes me believe market studies have been done and those companies are maximizing profits (ie. gouging) by charging much more at more heavily trafficked areas that have shown they will accept higher prices. I've even seen same company opposite ends of the same street with 10-15 cent price discrepancies. 

[knapplc]

Just now, Born N Bled Red said:

 

The wide disparity over short geographic areas (even within the same company) makes me believe market studies have been done and those companies are maximizing profits (ie. gouging) by charging much more at more heavily trafficked areas that have shown they will accept higher prices. I've even seen same company opposite ends of the same street with 10-15 cent price discrepancies. 

 

Most gasoline in Lincoln is supplied by Whitehead Oil. They take advantage of that monopoly whenever they can, and the local politicians never say anything.

 

One of the descendants of Old Man Whitehead ran for City Council or Mayor a few years ago, and got absolutely trounced. People from all sides hate gas-gougers.

[Archy1221]

2 hours ago, teachercd said:

Saw that over here...a 4.54 and then a 4.29

Wish we still had mean tweets instead of that.  

[BigRedBuster]

11 hours ago, Archy1221 said:

Wish we still had mean tweets instead of that.  

And, what should the administration be doing to bring down gas prices?

[Dr. Strangelove]

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

And, what should the administration be doing to bring down gas prices?

Biden should pull the "make gas cheaper" lever Trump installed in the Oval Office, obviously.

 

 

[Archy1221]

59 minutes ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

Biden should pull the "make gas cheaper" lever Trump installed in the Oval Office, obviously.

 

 

No kidding.  

[Stumpy1]

17 hours ago, Born N Bled Red said:

 

The wide disparity over short geographic areas (even within the same company) makes me believe market studies have been done and those companies are maximizing profits (ie. gouging) by charging much more at more heavily trafficked areas that have shown they will accept higher prices. I've even seen same company opposite ends of the same street with 10-15 cent price discrepancies. 

A lot of the disparity is because of where the fuel comes from, especially with Casey's.  

[BigRedBuster]

1 hour ago, Archy1221 said:

No kidding.  

Do you have an answer?

[BigRedBuster]

29 minutes ago, Stumpy1 said:

A lot of the disparity is because of where the fuel comes from, especially with Casey's.  

This is true.

 

I do some work in economic development in my area.  We tried getting a large truck stop to come to town.  They were very interested.  That is until they realized our location requires more truck transportation for fuel which would make it more expensive.  Fuel in our area tends to be a little higher than if you go down the interstate either west or east.

[JJ Husker]

17 hours ago, Archy1221 said:

Wish we still had mean tweets instead of that.  

 

5 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

And, what should the administration be doing to bring down gas prices?

 

3 hours ago, Archy1221 said:

No kidding.  

 

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

Do you have an answer?

[Archy1221]

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

Do you have an answer?

Do what Orange Man Bad did.  

[BigRedBuster]

1 minute ago, Archy1221 said:

Do what Orange Man Bad did.  

 What was that?

[ZRod]

4 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 What was that?

I believe it was something called a global pandemic.

[BigRedBuster]

7 minutes ago, ZRod said:

I believe it was something called a global pandemic.

Did Trump really do anything for gas prices?  LINK  I mean...until early 2020?  Hmmmm......

 

Seems to me, gas prices went up from when he took office.....well....until early 2020.

 

I'm hoping @Archy1221 can clarify this for me.  

[Born N Bled Red]

31 minutes ago, Archy1221 said:

Do what Orange Man Bad did.  

 

Here is what Trump did for gas prices. His actions are the reason we are where we are now. Of course, anyone that bent a knee to Trump will acknowledge this, nor would they take time out of spouting their Trump loving talking points to do a minute of research. Who knew alienating allies and cozying up to dictators could have such long term affects and repercussions even after TFG left office, you lose a friend's trust, you lose that friend. 

 

Price of gas: How Trump's manipulation of oil policies reaped profits for Putin and fossil-fuel benefactors | The Milwaukee Independent

 

It was a double-whammy for two of then-President Donald Trump’s biggest patrons, Vladimir Putin and American fossil-fuel billionaires and their industry: the price of oil was too low.

Between the pandemic-induced collapse in demand for oil and the price war Saudi Arabia was then fighting with Russia — two of the world’s largest producers — Putin was being pinched badly. And in America, from Pennsylvania to Texas, oil producers were outright losing money on the oil they pumped. Gas prices were at record lows, gutting the profits even of refiners.

So, Trump acted. It seemed inexplicable at the time, but in retrospect — knowing now how tied to Putin he was — it makes perfect sense. In the second year of his presidency, Trump had blown up the Iran nuclear deal that Obama had a hand in fashioning, letting us all think it was because he was trying to erase Obama’s legacy. But the real and immediate impact of Trump’s decision was to pull almost 3 million barrels of Iranian oil a day off the world market, boosting profits for Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. fossil fuel industry.

But that was 2018 and by 2020 prices were again sagging — and thus about 40 percent of the total revenue/income to Russia’s economy was sagging — as demand dropped because of the pandemic. Saudi Arabia was making the situation worse for Putin, keeping their oil production high to compete with Russia for worldwide market share, particularly in Chinese oil markets, and in retaliation for Russia refusing to go along with price-supporting production cuts.

Oil prices had fallen as low as $15 a barrel because Saudi Arabia had opened their spigots full-on, according to Reuters:

“Despite the agreement to cut a tenth of global production, oil prices continued to fall to historic lows. U.S. oil futures dropped below $0 last week as sellers paid buyers to avoid taking delivery of oil they had no place to store. Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, fell towards $15 per barrel – a level not seen since the 1999 oil price crash – from as high as $70 at the start of the year.”

So Trump took decisive action. He called up his buddy, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, and essentially threatened that if MBS did not cut production — and thus raise worldwide oil prices, which would help out Putin and U.S. petrobillionaires, the United States would reconsider its seven-decade-long military support for the kingdom.

As Reuters reported on April 30, 2020, in an article titled Special Report: Trump told Saudi: Cut Oil Supply or Lose U.S. Military Support:

“Trump delivered the message to the crown prince 10 days before the announcement of production cuts. The kingdom’s de facto leader was so taken aback by the threat that he ordered his aides out of the room so he could continue the discussion in private, according to a U.S. source who was briefed on the discussion by senior administration officials.”

Oil-drenched Republican Senators Kevin Cramer and Dan Sullivan had drafted legislation to pull U.S. troops out of Saudi Arabia, giving Trump the club he could wield against the Saudis to help out both Putin and the U.S. oil industry that was seeing bankruptcies spread across the country.

As Reuters noted, “Support for the measure was gaining momentum amid Congressional anger over the ill-timed Saudi-Russia oil price war.”

Thus, in the last year of his presidency, Trump oversaw the worldwide cuts in oil production that would lead to today’s prices soaring well past $130 a barrel.

Which brings us to today, with oil prices soaring. When President Biden tried to reach out to our allies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to ask them to restore the production they’d cut under threat from Trump, both refused to take his call, according to press reports. Meteor Blades reported at Daily Kos that The Wall Street Journal laid it out:

“The Saudis have signaled that their relationship with Washington has deteriorated under the Biden administration, and they want more support for their intervention in Yemen’s civil war, help with their own civilian nuclear program as Iran’s moves ahead, and legal immunity for Prince Mohammed in the U.S., Saudi officials said. The crown prince faces multiple lawsuits in the U.S., including over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

“The Emiratis share Saudi concerns about the restrained U.S. response to recent missile strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen against the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, officials said. Both governments are also concerned about the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, which doesn’t address other security concerns of theirs and has entered the final stages of negotiations in recent weeks.”

The outcome is predictable. Saudi Arabia and Russia keep oil production tight to keep oil prices and profits high, while President Biden is attacked from every direction in the U.S. for high prices at the pump.

Republican politicians grandstand on the issue and hammer it daily into the news, blaming the increased price of gasoline on a president who’s trying to both get Iranian oil back on the market and increase Saudi production. The high price of gas and diesel, meanwhile, keep jacking up U.S. inflation, giving the GOP another lead pipe to hit Democrats over the head with.

Neither of Biden’s efforts to lower oil prices are working, though, as the result of Trump’s two gutless actions on behalf of his patrons. The Iranian talks are bogged down — the Iranians can see what happens to a country that gives up its nukes just by turning on the news and looking at Ukraine — and Saudi Arabia wants Biden to come on bended knee and approve of their slaughter in Yemen, something that would be very costly to American moral standing in the world.

The result is more money for Putin’s war machine and the Saudi crown prince, and a significant increase in the chances an oil-industry-friendly Republican Congress will be installed next year and a Putin/Saudi-friendly Republican President will win election in 2024. Trump may be long out of power, but the impact of his corrupt treachery lives on