Springtime in the Swamp

It’s springtime, and American families are enjoying the newfound strength in the U.S. economy to travel. As usual, gasoline prices are going up as governmental regulations require our refineries each spring to change the blend of their gasoline to meet federal edicts just at the time of increased demand. It doesn’t help that the Socialist Paradise Venezuela—with some of the largest oil supplies in the world—has been cutting oil production because their economy is imploding due to central planning.

That gives politicians a chance to demagogue about something they don’t care about, since they typically get squired around in SUVs paid for by taxpayers. The 1970s bumper sticker “Cash, Grass or Ass: Nobody Rides For Free” isn’t seen much in The Swamp, because it isn’t true.

This year, some of the biggest hypocrites are staging street theater at a gas station on Capitol Hill so close they might even walk. According to the Daily Beast, this is all part of a campaign even their staff is passing off as a “summer rite of passage.”

E&E News reports Senators Chuck Schumer, Maria Cantwell, Bob Menendez, and Ed Markey are getting together to discuss rising gas prices. This just happens to coincide with the release by President Obama’s favorite think tank….the Center for American Progress…of a “report” blaming the Trump Administration for higher gas prices. George Soros and John Podesta, who founded CAP, are apparently upset at higher gas prices.

The beauty of these four Senators griping about gasoline prices they don’t typically pay for is that all four of them have been at the forefront of opposition to making gasoline prices lower by producing more of it right here in North America.

Do they want to increase oil supplies from Alaska, so that the Alaska Pipeline can run at more than its current 25% capacity? No. They are in fact, all cosponsors of a bill to stop oil exploration in ANWR. This is one of President Trump’s signature actions, included in the bill that cut taxes for Americans, and part of his plan for U.S. energy dominance.

Do they want to increase oil supplies from Canada and North Dakota currently laying fallow due to a lack of transportation? No. They all voted against building the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Obama stopped and President Trump green-lighted.

How about our nation’s offshore regions, where huge areas haven’t been allowed to be explored since before cell phones and where under President Obama’s (and John Podesta’s) plan, 94% of the areas were off limits to oil and gas exploration? The same offshore areas where, under President Trump’s plan, 90% of the area and 98% of the estimated potential oil lies?

Here too, our Fibbing Foursome of Senators has worked overtime to stop more oil and gas production here at home, all in a bid to make gasoline more expensive for American families. When given the chance to vote on a bill to share offshore revenues with coastal states, an important step to encourage more exploration of our nation’s waters for oil and gas, they all voted No.

The truth is, these four Senators have been some of the worst offenders when it comes to making gasoline prices higher for Americans. The one thing that has been saving the U.S. is the historical increases in oil and gas production that have taken place in areas where the federal government can’t stick its nose in people’s business easily, although they’ve worked hard to fight the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of our shale resources that make it possible, and continue to fight pipelines and regulatory relief that would lower costs for the “deplorables” they want off the roads so they can get where they’re going quicker.

Springtime in the Swamp.