Does the President Control Gas Prices?

 



                      


 For the past two years, there has been an emphasis on gas prices and how the current president at the time has handled them. At the height of the COIVD-19 pandemic in 2020, under the Trump Presidency, we saw gas prices at an all-time low compared to the previous years. Due to the majority of international and national transportation being put on halt, "fuel demand cratered 40%." (Lenard) The price of gas slowly went up as Biden took office, though soon prices began to skyrocket. 

    Many were quick to blame Joe Biden for the increase in the price of gasoline but were naive to see the different circumstances between his presidency so far and Trump's, with COVID-19 being the main factor. Many were thinking, though, the pandemic is over, why are gas prices now higher than ever than the "average" price Americans were used to? The recent spike in gas prices is due to high demand for crude oil and a low supply available. 

    So is Joe Biden being rightfully blamed for the high prices? Well, yes and no. The main factor that plays into the pricing of gas prices is up to supply and demand, as mentioned before, which directly affect oil prices. The government can have a say as well, and this is done through legislation and policies that can be put into place. Though the government says in the grand scheme of things is a very minuet factor. 




    In a recent tweet from Joe Biden, he states that due to the current gas prices compared to the ones in mid-June, families are able to save a decent amount of money. Personally, to me, it seems that Joe Biden is trying to take credit for the gas prices going down. Is he responsible, though, despite knowing that the government has little say in prices? The main two factors that have brought gas prices down are many states getting rid of their gas tax as well as the price of crude oil dropping. Joe Biden has been trying to take action with different strategies, but in his tweet, it can be seen as all the reasons why prices have gone down are his doing. Also, at the end of his tweet, Joe Biden tries to sympathize with the citizens of America, saying how important this improvement is for all families and like the one he was in, which is insignificant because gas prices are still incredibly high. Despite the sympathy attempt from the president, it seems like a disconnect at the same time, trying to "trick" the citizens into thinking Joe Biden knows exactly how impactful this is in each family. Not that Joe Biden can't sympathize; it just seems as if he is painting this picture that he is suffering from current gas prices. 

Sources

Lenard, Jeff. “When Were Gas Prices Low?” Convenience.org, https://www.convenience.org/Media/conveniencecorner/When-Were-Gas-Prices-Low.


 

Comments

  1. CameronOctober 7, 2022 at 5:08 PM

    I think one of the key items to acknowledge is that the war between Russia and Ukraine is one of the contributing factors to the gas price increase. Russia actually supplies a nice chunk of fuel for Europe and most likely exports to the US. You are right President Biden most likely is trying to take credit for the decrease in price, but it is no more fabricated than blaming him for the increase to begin with. I believe this is a result of the partisan environment the US has. Despite no solid proof, someone started blaming the other and it became mainstream.
    Awesome post!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is World War Three About to Happen?

Image
       Photo by  Jordy Meow  on  Unsplash       Russia has been in troubled waters so far this year, starting off the year with the invasion of Ukraine. Nine months later, with the Ukraine invasion still ongoing, Russia just did something new that has NATO looking at them closer than ever. Early in the morning of November 15th, Russia bombed Poland with a missile killing two citizens of Poland. The missile that struck Poland came down in Przewodow, which is just 3 1/2 miles from the Ukrainian border. It is still unclear if the missile actually came from Russia, but Russia is highly suspected despite Russia's defense ministry denying that the missile originated from Russia.        United States President Joe Biden was quick to call an emergency meeting Tuesday morning after being woken up by the news. Joe Biden called up the "Group of Seven," which consist of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United ...
Read more

How Is Joe Biden Helping an American Prisoner in Russia

Image
Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko on AP News     Over the past two weeks, there was lots of media coverage from and about President Joe Biden in the midterm elections. Now that the midterm elections are over, Joe Biden has decided to turn his attention to the ongoing Brittney Griner trial in Russia.    For those that do not know, Brittney Grinner was taken into custody and arrested in Russia back in February when attending a Russian Premier League for basketball. She was caught with cannabis oil which is seen as an illegal substance in Russia. Her trial started in July, going into the months of August when the Russian court decided that she would serve nine years in Russian Prison. Things only got more complicated due to the fact of Ukraine and Russian conflict that unfolded shortly after her arrest. There was an appeal made in the court where Griner was trying to get the nine-year sentence appealed, but on October 25th, the original sentence was waived fair.  ...
Read more

What is Joe Biden Expecting of China Over the Next Two Years?

Image
  Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash       Recently Joe Biden and the leader of China, Xi Jinping, got together to talk about the future of the relationship between America and China and what the two countries expect from each other moving on in the next two years. President Joe Biden was eager to meet with Xi Jinping for two reasons, he has only talked to the leader of China 5 times since he took  presidency back in 2020, and of those five times they met, it was over the phone or video call, but this was mainly due to COVID-19 restrictions. Secondly, both America and China view themselves as powerhouses in regard to competition, and this meeting would help them to talk about meeting eye to eye going forward.      Joe Biden had a clear outline of the topics he wanted to bring up to Xi Jinping that he wanted to cover and discuss. Joe Biden has always been straightforward with China's leader, leaving no room for assumptions, he told reporters on Monday...
Read more