The gas pump, and money doesn’t mix.
May 4, 2022 by Staff
Filed under Money/Business, News, Politics, Weekly Columns
(Akiit.com) The rising cost of gas at the pump will likely change the summer plans for millions of hard working Americans. March inflation numbers are in and are now at a staggering 8.5% with the cost of everyday goods steadily rising making it harder and harder for struggling Americans to survive. This financial hardship is of course exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic as many Americans have yet to recover from the wage loss associated with shutting down the economy.
The current national average cost for a gallon of gas is over $4, up over 80 cents a gallon, which is a significant increase and is certainly not sustainable for most Americans. With the November midterm elections fast approaching, the question for the Biden administration and Democrats overall is simple one: how will their policy decisions impact the votes of everyday Americans?
Well the answer to that question is simple, without a dramatic shift in policy, Democrats can expect significant losses in the House with the possibility of losing the Senate which would effectively stall Biden’s political agenda, making him a lame duck president. It would be akin to the Obama losses in the 2014 midterms, which were catastrophic for Democrats not only at the federal level, but also at the state and local levels as Republicans, joined by a comfortable margin of swing voters, handed Republican politicians victory at every level.
Americans are tired of struggling and after two years of COVID restrictions resulting in their entire lives coming to a complete halt, people want help and they expect the president to deliver. Unfortunately, over one year into his presidency, Biden hasn’t delivered on his campaign promises and he certainly hasn’t improved the lives of the American people through his policy decisions. Perhaps the only success he’s had thus far is placating his loud, progressive base. However, this will certainly backfire come the 2022 midterms because their radical agenda simply isn’t consistent with what the majority of Americans, Democrat or Republican, want. In fact his administration has completely ignored the calls to “lead from the center” or reach across the aisle, which is exactly what he ran on. To date, the Biden administration’s decision making has revealed that his entire campaign was built not on the truth of bipartisanship, but more of the same. Despite his claim that he would unite a country that was vastly divided under the Trump administration the country is arguably more divided than ever and this has all occurred on Joe Biden’s watch.
The world is in flames with Russia’s unprovoked invasion into Ukraine and as China continues to expand their global footprint economically and militarily all while we’re debating gender terms and wokeness. The new Democratic Party is bad for America and America’s strength and leadership is being undermined by progressives who believe everything should revolve around the way they see their world and their “cultural norms” that seek to dismiss thousands of years of human tradition and values.
The American people didn’t give Biden power because they wanted high gas prices, instead they hoped that the former U.S. senator and two term vice president could work across the aisle with his former Republican colleagues to get America back to work and he has failed at every turn. The president has one job and instead of sticking to it, he’s tried to accomplish everything under the sun to appease a small but obnoxious and vocal left wing minority which is why his poll numbers continue to suffer. In fact, Biden’s approval number’s are so bad that only one other president in history has performed worse at this point in their presidency and that’s former president, Donald Trump.
The majority of American people can’t continue paying for gas to get to work at these prices but they simply just don’t have a choice which is why the politics surrounding this entire issue are so bad for the president. It seems Democrats are either blaming corporate America or Russia instead of talking about what they’ll do to make things better for everyday people.
Republicans have a case for the American people that Democrats haven’t made and that is, under their leadership, gas prices will drop, COVID restrictions will be lifted, permitting people to return back to complete normalcy. They will also lift burdensome restrictions and bureaucratic red tape that create unnecessary hurdles for entrepreneurs and new business owners who make up the bulk of new jobs in this country.
Republicans must immediately begin making their case to the American people that our unwillingness to become energy independent and our dependence on foreign oil, even if small, can have a significant impact on everyday Americans. They need to also work with oil companies on promising to pump more to increase volume, thus lowering prices. The midterms will be here before we know it and the Republicans have an advantage as the American people are now looking to them to turn things around.
Columnist; Armstrong Williams
Official website; http://www.armstrongwilliams.com