OPINION: Inflation Gains Momentum But Democrats Could Not Care Less

WASHINGTON, DC, March 8 – Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, promising not to do harm. It becomes clear with every position our leftist lawmakers – led by Joe Biden – that they take an oath of their own. It’s called the hypocritic oath. 

Take the vote in Congress last week when they voted against energy independence. 

The  American Independence from Russian Energy Act was introduced in the House four days after Putin invaded Ukraine, on February 28. It was blocked by House Democrats in a 221-202 vote on March 1. The Ukraine war was causing a spike in the price of crude oil from about $75 a pre-war barrel to prices that are already hovering at about $130 a barrel, and that likely will continue to increase in the coming weeks and months. And, now, President Biden says he will ban Russian oil imports, a move that could send the price of a barrel of oil “to $160 or even $200 a barrel,” according to ABC News.

Meanwhile, gasoline is soaring in price, but House Democrats apparently could care less. Neither did President Biden care when he directed the Interior Department to stop oil leases on public lands and waters. At the time, in January of 2021, the average national price for gasoline stood at $2.38. By January 2022, it will cost, on average, a buck more per gallon to fill your tank. It won’t be long before we see the cost of prices that some estimates say will be as high or higher than $7.00 per gallon.

That’s inflation of a special kind. 

The American Independence legislation would have authorized the Keystone XL pipeline and triggered an almost immediate increase in U.S. oil production. 

According to Kathleen Sgamma, president of the nonprofit Western Energy Alliance, by blocking the bill “from even being considered demonstrates how unserious [Democrats] are about truly addressing the crisis in Ukraine.”  Sgamma told the Epoch Times, “We have the energy resources to starve Putin of revenue and lower prices for Americans if the president would just take action within his power now. For example, the government is holding up hundreds of federal permits in the Permian Basin, America’s most prolific oil region. Most are ready to go but are being held up for more climate change analysis.”

The inflationary impact on the rising cost of petroleum certainly raises the price of gas at the pumps. But it also ups the overall costs of living even if you don’t own a car. It raises supply line costs which are passed on to each of us when we go out to purchase groceries and other necessities of life.

Here’s the most recent inflation analysis at the Trading Economics website: “The annual inflation rate in the U.S. accelerated to 7.5% in January of 2022, the highest since February of 1982 and well above market forecasts of 7.3%, as soaring energy costs, labor shortages, and supply disruptions coupled with strong demand weigh. Energy remained the biggest contributor (27% vs. 29.3% in December), with gasoline prices surging 40% (49.6% in December). Inflation accelerated for shelter (4.4% vs 4.1%); food (7% vs 6.3%), namely food at home (7.4% vs 6.5%); new vehicles (12.2% vs 11.8%); used cars and trucks (40.5% vs 37.3%); and medical care services (2.7% vs 2.5%). Excluding volatile energy and food categories, the CPI rose 6%, the most since August of 1982. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.6%, in line with forecasts. The January figure includes changes in seasonal adjustment factors with the bigger weight given to used cars and trucks and a smaller one for food away from home, but the calculations did not affect unadjusted data.” 

We’re not very likely to see the rate of inflation do a U-turn anytime soon, but even if the rate decreases sometime in the future, prices will undoubtedly remain at or near their newly established levels. In other words, the cost of living will remain at a new higher level virtually forever. 

As the experts at Kiplinger put it in a new report: “Strong inflation is continuing longer than the Federal Reserve expected, likely leading to a bigger Fed response at its next meeting on March 16. The Fed was originally planning on raising short-term interest rates just a quarter-point at its next meeting, but now there is a good chance it will have to do more in order to reassure financial markets that it is not falling behind in curbing inflation. While the inflation rate will likely come down quickly in the second half of 2022, the risk is that consumers’ and businesses’ expectations of large price increases could become baked into price and wage decisions, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.”