Democrat Insanity Peaks As Biden Shutters Pipelines Then Is Baffled When Gas Prices Rise Submitted by Quoth the Raven from QTR's Fringe Finance: http://quoththeraven.substack.com, The fact that Democrats just can’t seem to grasp the basic laws of economics is both a tragedy for the nation and wonderful fodder if you run a podcast and a blog that capitalize on pointing out hypocrisy, ignorance and idiocy. The latest installment in “Keynesians futilely attempting to understand such complex topics as supply and demand” comes from the Biden administration who, like a witless dog chasing its own tail, has helped create the problem of high oil prices and now can’t seem to figure out where to place the blame. /bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5ceeb663-3339-4696-bd58-c40afdfe6ba2_479x236.png","height":236,"width":479,"resizeWidth":543,"bytes":209295,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="248" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ceeb663-3339-4696-bd58-c40afdfe6ba2_479x236.png" width="503" />The “confusion” about why gas prices are so high might be warranted if Democrats hadn’t made a cornerstone of their political identity an incessant railing and bastardization of the oil and gas industry at almost every opportunity they get. Meanwhile, most Democrats can still be found driving around in their gas powered vehicles, flying first class in gas powered jets and using plastic made from petroleum on a daily basis. Which reminds me: have you ordered your custom “AOC for President” reusable Starbucks cup yet? /bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fdaff88d-e686-4c56-8c7d-5e85c3a5ce19_484x535.png","height":535,"width":484,"resizeWidth":438,"bytes":402976,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="553" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffdaff88d-e686-4c56-8c7d-5e85c3a5ce19_484x535.png" width="501" />But it goes from an example of just ignorance to the definition of lobotomized insanity as one sits and watches the Biden administration, literally weeks after vowing to end drilling, coming out and wondering why the price of gas is rising. I mean, for fuck’s sake. This was the headline yesterday: /bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c2c476ac-e4ad-4a8a-bb35-c4307e139fe5_1133x254.png","height":254,"width":1133,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":39571,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="112" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc2c476ac-e4ad-4a8a-bb35-c4307e139fe5_1133x254.png" width="500" />And this was a headline from a couple weeks ago: /bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1026faf1-4487-4eee-b1bc-3a3f487d9020_803x151.png","height":151,"width":803,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":26989,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="94" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1026faf1-4487-4eee-b1bc-3a3f487d9020_803x151.png" width="500" />Which came about 9 months after this headline at the beginning of the year: /bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c9b2b69b-ee90-47bf-8603-1dd97c40aeb6_947x235.png","height":235,"width":947,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":34891,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="124" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9b2b69b-ee90-47bf-8603-1dd97c40aeb6_947x235.png" width="500" />And then there was this, from a couple ago: /bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/209b6506-4481-4288-959e-caf966bd7a49_865x133.png","height":133,"width":865,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":18583,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="76" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F209b6506-4481-4288-959e-caf966bd7a49_865x133.png" width="495" />Which led to this: /bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/48f268ed-8f84-44a3-8ff5-f729ce9a5d87_1056x224.png","height":224,"width":1056,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":36240,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="106" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48f268ed-8f84-44a3-8ff5-f729ce9a5d87_1056x224.png" width="500" />And who can forget this comment, from Biden’s campaign during the debates leading up to the 2020 election? During the second Democratic debate on July 31, Dana Bash asked the former vice president "would there be any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration?" "No, we would, we would work it out," Biden responded. "We would make sure it's eliminated and no more subsidies for either one of those, either -- any fossil fuel." … On March 15, during the eleventh and final democratic debate, Joe Biden said "no more subsidies for [the] fossil fuel industry. No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period." Given all of the crystal clear examples of why oil and gas prices might be rising, you’d think that President Biden would get the message loud and clear that he’s part of the problem. But instead of simply opening his eyes and realizing that his left hand doesn’t know what his right hand is doing (and that he likely doesn’t know what day, week, month or year it is) - Biden instead has, like Democrats love to do - concocted a ridiculous explanation about “evil” Wall Street and corporate mergers to justify his own idiocy. From World Oil and Gas about 2 weeks ago: /bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b6d28d00-aa99-42a3-8f9e-5e2f8b8bea31_761x203.png","height":203,"width":761,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":27995,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null}" height="133" src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb6d28d00-aa99-42a3-8f9e-5e2f8b8bea31_761x203.png" width="499" />That’s right: instead of just looking at supply and demand, Biden’s administration is instead looking at “gas station franchises” and “retail fuel stations”. The Federal Trade Commission is examining ways to crack down on mergers in the oil and gas industry and investigate whether gas station franchises are driving up gas prices as part of a Biden administration effort to combat higher costs at the pump. FTC Chair Lina Khan is directing staff to identify new legal theories to challenge retail fuel station deals and investigate possible collusion by national chains to push up prices, she said in an Aug. 25 letter to White House economic adviser Brian Deese obtained by Bloomberg News. “I will be taking steps to deter unlawful mergers in the oil and gas industry,” Khan said. “Over the last few decades, retail fuel station chains have repeatedly proposed illegal mergers, suggesting that the agency’s approach has not deterred firms from proposing anticompetitive transactions in the first place.” Because we’re sure your local Lukoil owner raising the price of premium by 9 cents has a drastic effect on Crude oil futures and the quadrillions of barrels OPEC produces every 12 seconds. And while this all makes for a laugh, the implications from this kind of ignorance for the nation on a grander scale could eventually become devastating. Zooming out from this example and putting aside the time, resources, money and “brainpower” (if you can call it that) being used to “figure out” this problem, this type of economic ignorance on a macro scale is what could really get us into trouble. Ignoring the basic tenants of economics and further continuing to embrace Modern Monetary Theory because you are under the extremely misguided and arrogant notion that we deserve to be financially comfortable all the time - whether it means stocks always going up or oil always being cheap - is a recipe for disaster. I pointed that out in my recent article about “the squad” looking to replace Jerome Powell. In the interim, we are going to print the dollar into oblivion, tax the country to a point where what little productivity we have left winds up disappearing and moving elsewhere and we will continue to berate and scold the very corporations that provide us with the products and services that ensure our quality of life on a daily basis. Sadly, it won’t hit home for some Democrats until they aren’t able to get their morning Frappuccino on Capitol Hill. If there would be bipartisan ground that one would hope politicians could meet on, it would be everybody having to pass an ECON 101 course. Because as the quirky hilarity from the left drifts down the slope into becoming more dangerous and less of a punchline, all it does is help forgo the next inevitable crisis. And, every day that passes without a crisis guarantees that it will be an order of magnitude more devastating when it finally does occur. Oh and can somebody please wake President Biden up and show him this chart? I’ve got other things to do today. * * * This has been a complimentary subscriber-only post from my FRINGE FINANCE blog. Zerohedge readers get 10% off, forever, by subscribing here. Tyler Durden Fri, 09/17/2021 - 12:53