President Biden is once again looting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — which I’m now calling the Strategic Political Reserve — in order to cover up for his utter failure regarding all things energy and energy prices.
The Biden Democrats’ war on fossil fuels has taken a mighty toll on the economy. In fact, one reason the inflation rate has soared to somewhere around 8 percent to 10 percent from about 1 percent when he was inaugurated is skyrocketing energy prices that, combined, are up 39 percent since February 2021.
Despite welcome relief in some parts of the country, gas prices at the pump are still up 48 percent. “Get Ready for the Big Chill” is the headline of an editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal. Average U.S. household spending will increase for all heating fuels this winter — including natural gas (28 percent), heating oil (27 percent), electricity (10 percent), and propane (5 percent). Brrrrr.
I hope Americans wear a lot of sweaters, just like in the days of President Carter.
Then there was Mr. Biden today, announcing another 15-million-barrel drawdown from the SPR, extending his prior sales schedule and even, by the way, telling us these SPR sales are going to continue through the winter.
Well, that’s terrific: We won’t have to worry about some kind of wartime Saudi OPEC oil embargo — because Mr. Biden will have embargoed U.S. oil himself.
Here’s the real pièce de résistance from the president: During his press conference, he said the problem is, wait for it, “making sure there’s enough oil that’s being pumped by the companies.”
By the companies: Like, all this time, the last two years, the oil companies have not wanted to pump oil and gas. Really? What planet was he describing?
Then he went on to say, “Now the problem is these guys are asleep.” No, Mr. President, you’re asleep. That’s the problem. You and your minions have done everything you can to close the fossil fuel spigots.
That is why all these energy prices have skyrocketed. That is a big reason why the economy is in such bad shape.
In fact, Mr. President, hypocritically, you sometimes talk about bringing supply chains home to the U.S., called onshoring, but the only thing you won’t onshore is American production of oil and gas. You’d rather pipe it in from Iran, or Venezuela, or Russia, or OPEC+. You have given up the position of energy and national security power that America dominated to our enemies and rivals overseas, so now they dominate us. That’s what you’ve done.
We’re now producing 11.8 million barrels of oil a day. We should be at 14 million barrels a day. We shouldn’t be looting the SPR. We should be producing, and permitting, and pipelining, and refining, and also exporting LNG: This would not only create more and cheaper energy, it would create high-wage jobs for blue-collar working people.
But no. The president actually stood up at a press conference today and blamed oil companies. This is beyond stupid. Beyond stupid.
The one thing Mr. Biden has done across the board, in just 20 months, is weaken this country. Its energy, its economy, its middle-class working people, its national security: One thing after another. All under the radical, false-flag, unscientific gibberish about some immediate global warming existential risk — which not even the UN climate panel agrees with. Under that fraudulent flag, he has done more damage to this country in less than two years than any president in four decades.
By the way, as an aside, the American Petroleum Institute, a responsible trade group with a long history whose members have helped America get through wars and tough times, represents really the finest energy industry in the world, one that produces the cleanest oil and gas.
Well, the API weighed in by saying that “the SPR was established to reduce the impact of severe supply disruptions, not as a long-term solution to the economic pain Americans are feeling at the pump. We urge the administration to recognize that short-term policy making is no substitute for the long-term strategies needed to encourage energy production.”
Thank heavens there is at least one adult in the room in this energy discussion, and it certainly isn’t Mr. Biden.
That’s why the cavalry is coming, big time.
From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business News.
Larry Kudlow was the Director of the National Economic Council under President Trump from 2018-2021. His Fox Business show "Kudlow" airs at 4 p.m &. and his radio show airs on 770 ABC from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
