Gaslighting America Part II - Biden Claims 0% Inflation
Food Prices & Depletion of Strategic Petroleum Reserves Tell a Different Story
Let’s face reality, mid-term elections are coming up in November. Approval ratings for President Joe Biden hit their lowest level at 36% in May according to Reuters. They have to pull tactics to bump up both his approval rating (it is working…for now) & the rating of the Democratic Party or they will lose majority control over the House & Senate.
Last week, President Joe Biden boasted to the press the United States experienced ZERO percent inflation for the month of July 2022. The reality is the inflation went from 9.1% year-over-year in June to 8.5% year-over-year in July. The anticipated inflation rate for the month of July was 8.7%. The 8.5% number is STILL inflation just at a slower rate than last month & the number was certainly not zero. Not many things go up in a straight line. Let’s look at the cycles of United States inflation since measurements began.
While the stock markets reacted by having a rally on the inflation news, were you cheering about your grocery bill last month?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices in July rose 10.9% over July of last year hitting the highest rate of growth in approximately 43 years. The one month increase from June to July was 1.1%. Hardest hit were traditional staple items such as eggs, butter & margarine, coffee, & poultry.
In addition, the cost of shelter increased .1% & the cost of used cars & trucks increased 4.9% over last month. So when the Biden Administration claims it is giving you “A little breathing room” at the fuel pump, inflation in other areas will continue to impact your wallet. Many people can sacrifice some driving here & there, but food is a different story. Food banks across the country are starting to feel the impact.
“Feeding America officials say second quarter data won’t be ready until August, but they are hearing anecdotally from food banks nationwide that demand is soaring.
The Phoenix food bank’s main distribution center doled out food packages to 4,271 families during the third week in June, a 78% increase over the 2,396 families served during the same week last year, said St. Mary’s spokesman Jerry Brown.” Source: CNBC
Photo Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Yes, but fuel prices are down! Let’s discuss the repercussions of artificially lowering fuel prices. The temporary reprieve in fuel prices by depleting our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is not only a political move but it is a threat to our national security as well. A little about the SPR from Wikipedia:
“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an emergency stockpile of petroleum maintained by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). It is the largest publicly known emergency supply in the world, and its underground tanks in Louisiana and Texas have capacity for 714 million barrels (113,500,000 m3).[1] The United States started the petroleum reserve in 1975 to mitigate future supply disruptions as part of the international Agreement on an International Energy Program, after oil supplies were interrupted during the 1973–1974 oil embargo.[2]”
There have been four authorized releases since November 2021:
November 2021 - 50 Million Barrels to Address High Prices
March 1, 2022 - 30 Million Barrels due to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
March 31, 2022 - 1 Million Barrels per day for 180 Days
July 26, 2022 - Biden Administration Authorizes Additional 26 Million Barrels
Directly from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Inventory numbers, here’s where the United States stands as of a few days ago:
Source: SPR
The Sweet & Sour at the top of the chart refers to the Sulphur content in the crude. U.S. refiners prefer medium-sour crude which is more easily refined into gasoline & other highly desired products.
“OilX, a consultant, estimates that by the end of October, the SPR will hold only 179 million barrels of medium-sour crude. To put that into perspective, during the period June 2021 to October 2022, the US is likely to sell about 180-190 million barrels of medium-sour crude from the reserve. Clearly, Washington is running out of firepower to repeat that exercise.” Source: Washington Post
In addition to draining our emergency oil resources at home, President Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia in mid-July was also a failure.
“The White House claims that the trip was successful. It was not. Despite a host of agreements being reached on investment, communication, and space, the Biden administration walked away empty-handed over the trip’s raison d’etre: increasing Saudi oil production. The Saudis only promised they would “consult” with the US on oil issues while insisting they would be unable to increase oil production. The Saudis further demurred by saying they will take the issue to OPEC+, where the Russians, Iranians, and Venezuelans are likely to kill any proposed production hikes.” Source: Forbes
If all petroleum production was halted & all imports were banned, at an average usage of 19.78 million barrels per day, if we were able to refine all of the oil in the reserve, worst case scenario we are looking at 23ish days left. Although, I don’t think this scenario will be highly likely considering…
“Aug 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of Patriot missiles and related equipment to Saudi Arabia in a deal valued at up to $3.05 billion, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.”
Oil for weapons…the story that repeats itself over & over. By depleting our ‘Rainy day fund’ of oil, selling our weapons to the highest bidder, & increasing the price of our basic necessities, America will become as feeble as President Biden looks after he’s fallen off his bicycle.
What do Warriors do in situations like this? We inform ourselves. We prepare by stocking up on necessities before everyone else catches on. We start thinking outside the box when it comes to feeding ourselves (you may want to start a garden). We go to the gym & make our bodies strong. We invest in our survival. We keep fighting. Until next time, Ever Forward!