Biden attacks the oil industry https://www.washingtontimes.com/new...ignal&utm_campaign=pushnotify&utm_medium=push President Jack Kennedy attacked price rises by steel industry led to bear market of 1964. History never repeats itself but it sure does rhyme.
Where was the conservative Washington Times when tRump had his China sanctions tantrum - that Biden has, for the most part, kept in place? Yet more costs pass through to end user, not mention corporate welfare to soybean farmers that lost market share - maybe to never regain.
That's about the worst attempt at whataboutism I've seen yet. We're at 40 year+ inflation, record gas prices, employers can't find people willing to work, Biden has literally assaulted our domestic oil industry on multiple fronts..,and we're comparing this to something that didn't phase a booming economy?
The problem is that he only verbally assaults.i know you wished wild west capitalism and completely free markets made their way back. Not going to happen ever again. What I am suggesting is to start reigning in industry HARD. not just words but with action. Expropriate entire plants and nationalize them based on national security. Answer me this : oil prices are at 118 not 200. Oil is freely available at current market prices. WHY do we see 6 dollar per gallon gasoline prices at the pump? Who is earning the insane spread here? It's the refinery industry period. They have for decades collaborated and agreed on pricing under the table. If you disagree with Biden's attacks then answer who is currently making a killing? If it was free markets then some competitors would lower gasoline prices to grab market share. The REAL problem is the filthy industry swamp in washington, infested by lobbyists and bribed politicians who are all sleeping in the bed of the energy industry. Clean that up and you have functioning markets. You clean that up by hitting the energy industry hard to either shut down and stop operating in the US entirely or to innovate, invest at least into expansion given the industry has operated for decades below demand. A lot of US industries operate like they run their business to the ground as long as they can extract max profit. No investment in maintenance or improvements. Check out the banking industry. Trailing the entire western world. Look at ISPs. Mobile phone operators. Natural gas or electricity providers. Are you SERIOUSLY telling us that the problem lies with Biden or Trump? They are puppets. The real problem is a corrupt and totally moronic and dysfunctional Washington DC and relationship to corporates. The US almost puts Nigeria to shame in terms of corruption at the highest levels.
Risking to repeat myself for the millionth time, there are degrees. There is not only capitalism and communism. Many western leading market economies operate "social market economies" where corporates are highly regulated and have to follow strict mandates unless they want to run the risk of losing their operating licenses. Those economies perform fantastically well and deliver much better value to their middle classes. Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Japan, Australia, New Zealand,...are you suggesting they all are at the brink of collapse? They perform better from the middle class perspective on almost every conceivable metric than the United States.
In many ways yes, at least the middle class receives a lot more social benefits than in the US in exchange for paying high taxes. Health care is free, education pretty good at a fraction of the cost or entirely free. Social welfare catches those who fall through the cracks. A serious attempt at making changes to protect our environment. Though I did not list Canada on purpose as they make other serious mistakes imo. What about all the other countries I listed?
So, let me ask you again, where is all that money going at 118 dollar oil prices and current gasoline prices. Who is earning the spread in between and why are gasoline prices so elevated? It's because an entire industry sector has not innovated and is at the brink of total collapse because not a penny was invested for multiple decades. A complete money grab by shareholders and the elites at the expense of hundreds of millions of consumers. It's a dumb excuse to state that it's because the administration is pushing an EV agenda and hence refineries see no vision of a prosperous future and hence don't invest. Over the past 40 years half the time administrations were run by Republicans and yet nothing changed at ALL. EV was not even on the map 10 years ago hence this is a foolish argument to make. Truth is that the industry has infiltrated politics for decades and ensured they get everything they want and the consumer gets nothing. Risk in the US for decades has been offloaded to the tax payer while investors get filthy rich without taking commensurate risks.