Convicted felon Donald Trump is promoting his “drill baby drill” mantra to increase domestic oil production, promising to roll back Joe Biden’s environmental restrictions. In language reminiscent of Sarah Palin’s 2008 appeal to the Tea Party, Trump told Big Oil he would eliminate these directives in return for a $1 billion political pledge for his re-election and legal woes.
Not so fast. Big Oil, not government policy, is the prime player in setting gas prices at the pump. Who is Big Oil? Five of the Top Ten companies are American, led by #4 Exxon-Mobil and #5 Shell, trailing #1 Saudi Aramco, #2 China Petroleum and #3 PetroChina.
Gas prices below $2/gallon under Trump were caused by lower demand generated by COVID-19 worldwide quarantines and working from home. Trump played no role in this price relief. Simple economics.
The U.S. now produces more oil than anyone, ahead of #2 Saudi Arabia and #3 Russia, and has been since the 2009 fracking revolution expanded output. According to Forbes Magazine, 2023 was the first time oil was the top US export.
Usually the US imports more oil than it exports, but in 2023 that also changed. The Obama administration removed export restrictions in place since the 1973 OPEC embargo, and Big Oil took full advantage. The US exports to 173 countries and imports from 86, with Canada providing over half our current imports.PROPOP 24
Why does Big Oil both import and export? Because they seek the best deal on the open market. Factor in different types of oil — sweet vs. crude, light vs. heavy. Blended oil requires mixing. Crude involves other byproducts like kerosene. And don’t forget transportation costs, where tankers can be cheaper than controversial pipelines.
Stock buybacks, once illegal, now reward Wall Street oil execs but reduce money for drilling. Don’t expect corporate elites to lower their lucrative compensation packages to help lower the price at the pump. Trump won’t rattle the cage of donors feeding him $1 billion.
With all these factors, “drill baby drill” might sound appealing to the masses, but it is Big Oil, not public opinion, that manipulates output and price. From Palin to Trump, such rhetoric will provide little relief for your wallet.
Should government mandate price controls? How can any patriotic MAGA advocate such socialist attacks on free enterprise? So Marxian.
ED ENGLER, Sebring, Fla.
I wasted my time reading Barry Friedman’s column in the 9/15 edition of TPP, wherein he writes that he cannot understand why his friends in Tulsa, who operate an upscale restaurant, strongly support Donald Trump’s political career. In my opinion, Friedman needs a refresher course in history.
After Adolf Hitler’s army was routed in 1943 at Leningrad, Russia, and during the time the Allies were bombing German cities and during the time of food rationing, Hitler gave a public speech in Munich to a cheering crowd, who applauded his rambling statements, which blamed all of the problems of the German people on a vast world Jewish conspiracy. Sound familiar?
There is nothing to try to understand about the German situation! Hitler was a madman who appealed to people of a similar mind. The military-industrial complex in Germany, a.k.a. the conservative capitalists, supported Hitler to the very end.
Donald Trump is not a madman, at least not yet. But he is a dangerous, evil, cruel psychopath.
The possession of a good character is not a prerequisite in order to obtain a vote from a Republican. They elected crook Nixon twie, the actor phony Reagan twice, and coward Bush II twice!
Birds of a feather flock together!
STEPHEN LANDUYT, Quincy, Ill.
In the 9/1 column, “Make Kamala Earn Our Votes, Ted Rall writes, “We are sluts of democracy — we give it away for free.” The terms, “sluts” and “whores” are mostly slurs at women.
Men who enjoy sex, especially a lot, are considered cool. But for women there is a double standard. Women who enjoy sex, especially a lot, are considered dirty and disgusting.
Do men give it away for free? How disgusting.
Using these terms, especially in an article about the first woman who might be our president, is insulting to all women.
S.D. ROSENBAUM, New York, N.Y.
How can “war” exist as its own thing, when all “war” is is the ability to get away with doing it. “War” is so lame.
The U.S. government did the Iraq “War” for 20 years because it could get away with it, and Iraqis could not “defend themselves” the way the Israelis are now “defending themselves,” because Iraq could not get away with it. Iraq did not have the “war” capabilities to attack the U.S. mainland the way Israel is attacking Gaza and Lebanon.
It is all quite obvious what’s going on with this recent “warring” in the Mideast. As with the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq for 20 years, the U.S. was in no hurry to do any ceasefires, because neither “war” could do any real damage to the U.S., same is true for Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.
At this point, Israel wants “war,” because they can get away with doing anything in Gaza and Lebanon. The fighting factions in both Gaza and Lebanon are defenseless going up against Israel’s modern military. Animals are more civilized than us humans. Giraffes have more combat integrity than humans. Giraffes only fight with other giraffes that are the same size.
The exploding pagers and walkie-talkies was nothing more than embarrassing and goading Hezbollah and Lebanon into more “war,” so Israel could destroy and butcher even more people.
The golden opportunity that the Israeli government has to “war” upon whoever, is worth more to them than the remaining hostages. The Israeli government is willing to sacrifice the remaining hostages because this window of opportunity to “war” upon defenseless people in Gaza and Lebanon is something they cannot pass up.
FRANK ERICKSON, Minneapolis, Minn.
Thank you for the 8/15/24 TPP, especially Kali Joy Gray’s “Why you shouldn’t vote for Trump, according to J.D. Vance.”
Now is the time for a per share fee on stock market transactions. Also helpful would be a cap on gas prices in United States. Big oil uses our natural resources without a remuneration to citizens.
WILLIAM SHAW, Jackson, Mich.
1. I don’t have to plug it in or charge it up. If the power goes out, I can read it with a lantern. nn2. I can browse through it without scrolling.
3. I don’t get eyestrain from reading a screen.
4. When I’m finished with it, I can use it to kindle fires in the woodstove.
5. Internet service in my mountainous area is both expensive and iffy. I would hate to lose my printed TPP, and wouldn’t mind paying more to keep it coming.
Thank you.
BETTY CROWDER, Honeydew, Calif.
From The Progressive Populist, November 15, 2024
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