President Joe Biden hatched up what he believed would be a can't-miss, crackerjack plan to bring down energy prices early Monday evening — Halloween night.
"The oil industry has a choice," he tweeted on his official @POTUS twitter account.
"Either invest in America by lowering prices for consumers at the pump and increasing production and refining capacity. Or pay a higher tax on your excessive profits and face other restrictions."
If that sounds illogical, you're not alone. Rep. Thomas Massie broke it down the following morning.
"Biden tells oil industry to lower prices and increase volume, or else he's going to raise prices and decrease volume ... by increasing taxes and imposing restrictions," the Kentucky Republican explained.
He added, "In what universe does his threat make sense or help Americans?"
In a word, he resorted to extortion. Trick or treat.
Twelve days before browbeating the oil industry, Biden announced another plan to bring down pump prices, which he broke down into three steps:
1. Releasing another 15 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
2. Refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the years ahead — at a profit to taxpayers.
3. Calling on energy companies to pass savings on to customers.
The United States established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in 1975. Biden said he would refill the "Reserve in the years ahead — at a profit to taxpayers." Does that mean he'll beat 1975 priced? Probably not.
Also, the reserve was established with the goal of mitigating future supply disruptions, such as those caused by hurricanes entering offshore oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico.
It wasn't meant for political purposes — to make the president look good weeks before an important election.
And as far as that goes, his statement on Monday that he would overtax and overregulate the energy sector until it lowered pump prices, was not merely nonsensical — it was also political, coming eight days before the midterms.
Finally, the reserve has a total capacity of 714 million barrels, stored in huge underground tanks located in Texas and Louisiana.
After drawing down an additional 16.6 million barrels during the month of October, the current inventory is 207.8 million barrels — or about 29% of capacity. That's at least a 40-year low in its 48 year-history.
At the same time, the U.S. stockpile of diesel fuel — used in the trucking and rail industry, and to heat our houses as the home heating season is right around the corner — is down to 25 days. That's the lowest level in nearly 30 years — since 1993.
The low inventory is what accounts for diesel prices at the pump to exceed $5 per gallon.
Biden gave away the reason for fuel spikes during his Oct. 19 announcement.
He said, "We need to responsibly increase American oil production without delaying or deferring our transition to clean energy." (emphasis added)
It was his "clean energy policy" that led to his kicking gas and oil producers off of public lands and shutting down construction on the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have been delivering 830,000 barrels of Canadian shale oil per day to U.S. refineries.
Moreover, it was his intention all along to increase energy costs — to prompt our transition to "clean energy."
Because of bonehead moves like these, Biden has been plagued by escalating fuel prices, which in turn directly affect electric utility rates, plus the cost of goods and services across the board, which ultimately gave us a 40-year high inflation rate.
He's been begging other countries — including Saudi Arabia — to pick up the shortages created by his own policies. They all refused.
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote of Biden in his 2015 book, "Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War," that although he considered him a friend, said, "I think he's been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."
During a CBS News interview six years later, Gates said, "I stand by that statement."
We can now add that he's been wrong on nearly every energy policy issue, along with the economy, immigration, crime, border security, and pretty much everything else.
Every person who voted for him must be thinking, "What have I done?"
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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