Letters: Misplaced blame for gas prices; Target the lies

Misplaced blame for gas prices

Glenn Thompson’s latest missive from Washington blames President Biden for the price of gasoline. In it he displayed the partisan hyperbole that has taken over governance.

Perhaps Mr. Thompson should do some research. No U.S. president can really affect the price of oil. The price is the result of a global economy, not a national or regional market; driven by worldwide supply and demand cycles. Maybe he is proposing to isolate the U.S. from the world market. However, not all oil is the same; we export and import as needed. If the U.S. were isolated from global trading we would likely have a shortage of gasoline and higher prices.

Mr. Thompson seems to think that drilling today equals gasoline tomorrow. Perhaps some facts would help. First, oil and gas companies already have 26 million acres of leases on federal lands; of these, 50% have never been drilled. Second, only 20% of the 12 million offshore acres leased has had any drilling. Third, there are over 9,000 federal drilling permits approved, but not used.

Mr. Thompson blames the sudden increases on President Biden. But he forgets that for the last two years people across the globe were not driving, airlines were not flying, and trucks, trains, and ships were not moving, driving the price down by 50%. We are recovering, usage has returned and global supply is now short.

So, Mr. Thompson where is the blame?

Target the lies

Chris Matthews was famous for saying you should pay attention to what politicians say when they think nobody is listening. This implies, of course, that what politicians say in public is less credible or, in many cases, an outright lie.

The truth of this is illustrated by the recent release of an audiotape that captured Kevin McCarthy’s private conversations with other Republicans a few days after the January 6 insurrection. After witnessing the terrible assault on the US Capitol by Trump extremists, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy privately stated that Trump is responsible for inciting the violence that disrupted the Constitutionally mandated procedure for counting electoral votes. McCarthy sincerely believed these offenses were criminal and he planned to advise Trump to resign as soon as possible. Yet a few weeks later, McCarthy traveled to Mar-a-Lago where he bent his knee and kissed Trump’s ring and then posed next to Trump with a big smile on his face.

By failing to tell Trump what he thought of his impeachable behavior, McCarthy showed his cowardice on the political battlefield. McCarthy knew that Trump lost the election and that he should resign for inciting an assault on the sanctity of our nation’s electoral process but McCarthy is a sycophant who is always compelled to please Trump’s ego.

The lesson is clear, always pay attention to what politicians say when they think nobody is listening and be very skeptical of the nonsense they repeat on social media and in other public venues.

Ethics in SCOTUS leak

Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Minority Leader, was very upset that the preliminary decision on Roe vs Wade was leaked, and the leaker must be found and severely punished because of his unethical behavior. After the way he handled the Supreme Court nominations of Merrick Garland and Amy Coney Barrett to unethically stack the Supreme Court with extreme activist judges, it is not clear why he would expect anyone to act ethically. McConnell is a smart man and certainly knows his statements about his nomination actions were illogical. A further cause that someone might not think ethics should apply to the court is the confirmation hearings where Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh implied that they had not decided Roe vs Wade, and that they felt past court decisions must be highly respected (stare decisis). It appears to many that they were lying in their under-oath testimony. Why would one expect the person who leaked to be more ethical than the Senate Majority leader and Supreme Court Justices.