Reschenthaler plays the blame game
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U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler’s newsletters are filled with attacks on President Biden.
His recent newsletter addressed gas prices. He stated that when Donald Trump left the presidency, the national average gas price was $2.39 per gallon. Reschenthaler claims it is solely Biden’s fault that gas prices are so high. He ignores the fact that when Trump left office we were in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We had double-digit unemployment. Many of those workers who were still employed were working from home. Fewer people were taking vacations. The lower demand for gas dictated the lower price.
Also, there was no war in Ukraine, no sanctions on Russian oil, and OPEC was not throttling production to keep prices higher.
Reschenthaler also refers to “Biden’s war on the oil and gas industry.” Biden has not been very successful with his alleged “war”. The U.S. had record oil production in 2023 and they are projected to exceed those levels in 2024. The U.S. has been energy independent since 2021. The U.S. is a net exporter of oil and a net exporter of energy. The gap between U.S. energy production and U.S. energy consumption is at its highest level in history
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The oil and gas industry is also reaping record profits. Reschenthaler doesn’t have an issue with those record profits, or the fact that our government continues to subsidize the oil and gas industry to the tune of $20 billion a year. Just blame Biden for high gas prices.
However, there are several things that Reschenthaler doesn’t blame on Biden. Currently, the U.S. has an unprecedented 25 consecutive months of national unemployment below 4%. The 2023 U.S. trade deficit with China was the lowest since 2010 and lower than any year during the Trump administration. The most significant infrastructure bill in generations is upgrading our highways, bridges, airports, and harbors. The CHIPS Act will support domestic computer chip production and reduce our dependence on Indonesian chip production. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 24% in 2023 and has hit record highs in 2024. Wage growth has exceeded the inflation rate for the last 12 months. Currently, the U.S. has the lowest inflation rate of the G-7 countries.
For that, blame Biden!
Daniel Jones
Washington