Army Bob: Biden’s energy policies fueling inflation

by Robert M. Traxler

Increase oil cost, increase inflation. Thank you, President Biden.

Inflation is a tax on all Americans; it is the most destructive thing that can happen to a nation’s economy, and it can destroy a nation. History tells us that paper money printed by a government is only as good as the trust and confidence the people have in the economic ship of state.

We all have been to stores and have seen prices going up in the last few months; the cost of cat food for Mr. Shadow and Mr. Para, two of our cats, has gone up 16% in the last two months, as have most other things.

OK, I am not an economist; I do miss Ranger Rick, who was well schooled in economic matters. However, common sense tells us that when we pay more for fuel, gasoline, diesel, natural gas, propane and the like, it all adds up.

We have good friends who are going on four generations of small dairy farmers. They grow crops as well, crops to diversify and cut the cost of feed for the cows. When the cost of fuel goes up it has to be factored into the cost of everything they do. It costs more to purchase seed, more to prepare the fields for planting, more to plant the seed, more to fertilize, treat for disease, harvest and transport to market, all costs that are passed onto us.

Fuel to heat our homes has gone up and is predicted to increase by up to 27%. We all have seen the price of fuel for our vehicles up a dollar from this same time last year. We are told the cost of fuel is seasonal and the cost will decrease; uh, what part of “same time as last year’” do the “they” not understand? Do we all want to be like Californians, who are paying over $7 a gallon for gas?

When President Biden assumed office, we were 100% oil independent. Among his first actions was stopping the wall on the southern border and limiting the production of natural gas and oil. He said we did not need it, we could make up the shortfall with wind and solar. We were assured that the cost of energy would not increase; folks you can’t make this stuff up — does anyone believe that if you limit the supply, the costs will remain constant and not increase?

President Biden asked OPEC to increase production make up the shortfall; they told President Biden to take a long walk off a short pier, and the cost of petroleum exploded. A Google search for products made from petroleum will list some 114 plus items, items we use every day, even tires, batteries and hundreds of components for electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar energy storage and production. Many medical devices like heart valves, pacemakers, and medicines are petroleum derivatives.

Just think for a moment about the things we need and use on a daily basis that are made of plastics, rubber and fiberglass, all based on the cost of oil. Oil increases in price, and the prices of hundreds of items we use each and every day will increase.

President Biden has made policies that have damaged our nation, but not to worry — it is not his fault, it is all COVID-19. What the declining pandemic has to do with fuel costs or availability does not matter, blame it on the former president and the pandemic. While they are at it, blame everything on the pandemic and President Trump.

We have outsourced vital medical items and vital electronic production to China and other Asian nations. The environmentalists are tickled pink that we have cut pollution in our nation, but increased it overall in the world, on planet Earth. But who cares?

The left-wing radicals are pleased with themselves. Allowing, indeed encouraging, production moving offshore makes the corporations happy, especially the big tech billionaires who give a small portion of their profits to left wing politicians (vastly more to Democrats than Republicans) and organizations like Black Lives Matter, thus purchasing absolution from the sin of capitalism.

We are told not to concern ourselves with China’s use of slave labor and burning train loads of soft high-sulfur coal, as China has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050. Just how do they do that when coal-fired power plants have a 40-year life cycle, and they are bringing one online every six weeks? It does not matter; we can trust them.

Our economy is based on oil, has been and will be for decades to come; increase oil prices and increase inflation.

My opinion.