Get Ready for the Saudi Hijack of Biden’s Re-Election
Now that gas prices are falling, get ready to see them climb again just in time to hurt Joe Biden's re-election chances.
Now that gas prices are falling, get ready to see them climb again.
The forces responsible for it and those in power rooting for it are at this moment planning to use it as a potential October surprise in time to hurt Joe Biden’s re-election chances.
Remember the stickers defacing gas pumps a year ago?
Hopefully we won’t see them again, but don’t be surprised if we do.
Before they start popping up at a gas station near you, though, let’s unpack why so we’ll have a response to those who aren’t aware the President of the United States does not control global gas prices.
In 2022, in time for the mid-term election, President Biden and Congress were forced to release oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve after the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the international fossil fuel puppet master of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), cut crude oil production.
President Biden tried to appeal to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) about restoring production they’d cut when Donald Trump two years before threatened to withhold US military support unless Saudi Arabia agreed to reductions.
Representatives from both oil-soaked nations refused to answer Biden’s calls.
Last weekend, Stanley Reed reported for The New York Times:
Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Sunday that it would extend [their one-million-barrels-a-day] cuts in oil production through June, noting that it was acting ‘in coordination with some’ other states.
One of those “some other states” is Russia.
But here’s where it gets worse.
In 2017, the first year of the Trump administration, the United States approved the sale of the largest oil refinery in America, in Port Arthur, Texas. Trump refused to block its sale.
The buyer?
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
That means Saudi Arabia controls the production of 600,000 barrels of oil per day.
This is troubling considering what was reported in The Wall Street Journal two years ago:
The Saudis have signaled that their relationship with Washington has deteriorated under the Biden administration, and they want more support for their intervention in Yemen’s civil war, help with their own civilian nuclear program as Iran’s moves ahead, and legal immunity for Prince Mohammed in the U.S., Saudi officials said. The crown prince [Mohamed Bin Salman] faces multiple lawsuits in the U.S., including over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The outcome midway through Biden’s tenure was predictable: he got blamed for soaring fuel costs.
There is no reason to assume the same thing won’t happen this year, especially since the United States has a blatantly pro-authoritarian caucus in the republican party that wants to hand Ukraine over to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and would love nothing more than to see someone like Putin become America’s first dictator.
Progressive radio talk show host and author Thom Hartmann published last week in The Hartmann Report:
Because Trump refused to block the sale of America’s largest gasoline refinery to Saudi Arabia in 2017 (completed in 2019 with Trump’s blessing), no matter how much oil Biden releases from the reserves will be irrelevant: if the Saudis shut down their Port Arthur, Texas refinery this October “for maintenance,” US gasoline prices will explode.
The corporate media is still not talking about Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s involvement with Mohammed bin Salman, aka “MBS”, from whom Kushner received $2 billion.
It’s not talking about former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s $1 billion Saudi windfall.
Two years ago, activist/writer Ali Al-Ahmed published an op-ed in The Washington Post delineating Kushner’s relationship with MBS:
For MBS [Kushner] represents another powerful domestic proxy to interfere in American politics.
The crown prince has not forgiven President Biden for speaking ill of him during the campaign, and now, he is out for blood. MBS has picked a side and has carefully cultivated ties with Republican leaders and former Trump officials. MBS expects a substantial return for the billions he is showering on Republican figures.
There’s not even proportionality here. Three million versus 2 billion dollars and massive political sabotage? And another billion from the Saudis for Steve Mnuchin, and who knows how much more went into one of Donald’s untraceable offshore money bins? We’ll probably never know, as there’s not a single congressional investigation into Jared, and the DOJ appears to have no interest in Trump family corruption.
About the imminent spike in gas prices again, Hartmann warned recently:
Unless the administration acts quickly, there will be nothing they can do about it. Gas at $6 a gallon could easily throw the election to Trump, as Biden will take the blame (just like in November 2022) and Fox “News” and rightwing hate media will hang gas prices around his neck like a flaming tire.
Despite owning the largest US oil refinery, Saudi Arabia is no longer the world’s top oil producer.
While this isn’t so great for the environment coming from the most pro-environment president in history, it is one way for us to wean ourselves off foreign reliance as we transition away from fossil fuels.
Sounds like a great time to take advantage of the tax credits for solar and wind energy equipment production and electric vehicles included in the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).