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President Biden and congressional Democrats are rushing to blame rising gas prices on Middle Eastern oil-producing countries in their latest effort to deflect responsibility for pain at the pump ahead of the midterms.
Biden and top Democrats have excoriated Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) publicly for deciding to cut oil production this month. They argue that the decision, coupled with energy markets being scrambled by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, is driving up gasoline prices at a time when the U.S. is besieged by 40-year high inflation.
“I was able to bring gasoline down well over $1.60, but it’s inching up because of what the Russians and the Saudis just did,” Biden told a Maryland audience this month.
Biden and Democrats have blamed a variety of sources over the past months. Last year, as gasoline prices began to climb, Democratic lawmakers accused energy companies of price-gouging to profit off the lingering supply chain crisis.
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“At a time when Americans are paying record high prices for gas, Big Oil is taking advantage of the instability caused by Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine and our ongoing economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to rake in record profits,” House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said this year.
Gasoline prices up nearly 20 cents since last month, according to the American Automobile Association.
(Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
The argument shifted after Russia, one of the world’s largest oil exporters, launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine. In the wake of the war’s onset, Democrats began to argue that sanctions against Russian oil were the reason for rising gasoline prices.
White House officials even coined the term “Putin’s price hike” when referring to the pain consumers were feeling at the pump.
The…
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Source : foxnews
