Today is a watershed moment in American history. Mark it well. Today “Saudi Arabia announced it would be slashing oil production by 2 million barrels a day, White House officials called it a “hostile act” and said the administration was “re-evaluating” the Saudi relationship. It was the kind of bellicose language officialdom virtually never uses to describe the oil-rich monarchy, whose vast wealth has bought it enormous influence in Washington,” to quote the Intercept:
This comes as no surprise. You know Trump’s son-in-law was in bed with Mohammad bin Salman, to the tune of $2 billion. The Saudis and the Russians are both hostile to American interests, yet they have Donald Trump in their pocket and they want nothing more than to get him reelected. They’re starting that process by undermining the Democrats in this manner. The article continues.
Congressional Democrats facing reelection amid soaring gas prices were similarly incensed. Usually, Capitol Hill will trot out bloodless language of “deep concern” in response to the kingdom’s myriad human rights abuses, but this time congressional Democrats struck back, vowing to block weapons sales and even taking the unprecedented step of introducing legislation to withdraw U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The bill’s sponsors linked their efforts to the war in Ukraine, pointing out how keeping oil prices high results in a windfall of profit to bankroll Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion.
Yet experts pointed to the price hikes as more than a geopolitical move. They said it was also a foray by Saudi’s de factor ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, into U.S. electoral politics: a move by the Saudi-dominated oil cartel OPEC against President Joe Biden and in favor of Donald Trump.
“The Saudis are working to get Trump re-elected and for the MAGA Republicans to win the midterms,” Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, told The Intercept. “Higher oil prices will undermine the Democrats.”
Oil prices affect not just the price at the pump but also the cost of virtually everything in our fossil fuel-dependent economy — and are a major driver of inflation. “There’s no doubt that the Saudi-led OPEC oil production cuts are a strategic effort to hurt Americans at the pump and undermine our work to tackle rising costs,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., in an email.
The Republicans are just fine with selling out America to foreign interests. They believe that they’ll be highly placed enough to do quite well serving their autocratic masters, and self-interest is all that it is about for them. They don’t care about our values as a nation. This iteration of the GOP is the most corrupt and anti-American group of people in office in the history of this county.
The GOP is a dying party. They are bereft of policy. Most of the brightest lights in the party have either left or are struggling to hang on politically, for saying and doing the right thing. The people left in the GOP are happy to sell out America to stay in power.
This election is not about Republicans v. Democrats. It’s about Autocrats v. Americans. It is that simple. This election is about our way of life.
Here’s a thought, the saudis by land in our country so they can grow hay for their horses because WE have H20 and they don’t. Perhaps we need to re-think THAT particular situation. Perhaps they need to be charged accordingly for the water they are needlessly taking from our aquifers. Seems quite reasonable-kind of a quid pro quo. Let them go to the world court, if there is even a case–it isn’t as if it would get heard any time soon so who gives a fuck.
The US is the leading producer, and exporter, of oil in the world. Oil companies make more by exporting this than refining it and selling it here. Gerald Ford signed legislation in 1975 prohibiting the export of domestic crude outside of North America.
“Grinnin’ Barry” repealed this near the end of his second term.
Biden needs to use his power to return to this policy.
Of course, that won’t happen as big oil donates (bribes) politicians and that is one spigot they will quickly shut off.
Anyone not believe this is a war? Wake up! VOTE DEMOCRAT!!!! Time to also ramp up green energy…whatever to mitigate the damage. This is especially true when(ok…if…no. fuck it. WHEN the democrats take power…time to radicalize for the common good. Here & abroad. Talk to the women in the gang of five in the House & then the minority democrats in the Senate. God knows how many bills are gathering dust on the turtle’s desk…uh…maybe buried in a casket somewhere? Ask yourself these questions: do you want to live in a world run by the prince & orange marmalade? Or your children? Or anyone you love? There’s a 32y/o woman sitting in prison in Saudia Arabia with a long prison sentence. She’s a US citizen who was visiting. Her crime? The kingdom didn’t like some tweets she made before she visited. I believe she has her doctorate. Any questions? Plus, the planet don’t lie…people do. So good luck with these cretins wanting more money no matter the scientific facts. Yeah. Nevermind. If we lose, we lose everything eventually, barring a miracle from God. VOTE like it’s the only proverbial bullet you have. That weapon will even take these guys down. Then you get to watch them go through some changes. VOTE.
China is more impacted by rising oil prices. I wonder what they are thinking.
Dumb…Mr. Bone Saw is throwing the dice for a party that is out of power and influence of its own. Lest we forget, we still have that Strategic Oil Reserve (thank you, Jimmy Carter, for that bit of foresight!) to compensate for this and Uncle Joe has proven to be a deft enough hand to have both foresee and finagle this development. All the Saudis did was throw away more goodwill they can ill afford to lose.
In the meantime, our mission remains unchanged: GOTV! It’s not only the most tangible action we can take against this nonsense but also the only way we can keep going here.
Yes, we do have the Reserve. What we don’t have is enough refining capacity at present. All the oil in the world won’t change that fact overnight. It also doesn’t help that the largest oil refiner in our country is Aramco which the saudis own.
Something should have been done over MBS’s murdering of an American national but of course we had a weak and ignorant president at that time who only wanted to kiss dictator asses. Now those same dictators are biting us in the ass.
I say again, Spike…do you think Uncle Joe didn’t plan for this? Saudis cutting production isn’t like turning off a faucet. Plenty of behind the scenes moves would have preceded it and US intelligence would have caught those. Given how Russia made oil a big national security risk with the Ukrainian invasion, that angle would have been under a microscope.
Now…if you are done speaking of things you don’t control, we have midterms to win. Like I said, it’s the only way this nightmare ends. Ready to do just that?
Well, I for one have already voted, being a senior, I did the mail in as I am high risk and I stay clear of crowds if I can 🙂