Gas Prices and GQP Disinformation

[MineralMan]

I have a relative who I can't unfriend on Facebook. He lives in California, and regularly posts photos of gas prices where he lives, along with the Biden "I did this" photo sticker people keep putting on gas pumps.

California has super-high gasoline prices, because it adds high taxes to every gallon sold in that state. Blaming Biden for that is a GQP strategy, but has little to do with the actual reasons for those prices.

There is no explaining of this that makes any impact on people like my relative.

[HUAJIAO]

1. It is all an emotional, ignorant, hate-filled reaction to impotence.

[multigraincracker]

2. The price of a barrel of WTC

is dropping like a rock. Those cheap Chinese stickers will fall off soon.

[ForgedCrank]

4. Damn, I sure hope so.

I have long commutes and the fuel prices are killing me right now.
This is welcome news right now. I hope it filters down to the pump prices soon.

[ClimateHawk]

3. Why are right wingers so dishonest?

They just blame anything bad on a democrat without looking for a more likely explanation. There's no nuance or critical thinking going on in their minds. No wonder they're angry all the time. It must suck to be them.

[paleotn]

6. They yell at who their told to yell at.

No thinking required.

[paleotn]

5. Biden has little control over oil markets short term....

Politicians, in general, can tweaking it around the edges, but have little real control over where demand, supply and prices go from one month or year to the next. It's economics, particularly free market capitalism. So they've got a problem with free markets? Bunch of GD commies! The economy is rebounding nicely, causing some short term supply issues. So, do they want us to go back into deep recession so they can pay less at the pump? That is if they still have a GD job.

If they want to blame a politician, blame Trump's disastrous response to Covid. The pandemic is what collapsed oil and gas demand. Producers aren't going to keep pumping into a collapsed market and lose money hand over fist. They ratchet back production. But adjusting the "spigot" doesn't happen overnight. It's not like flipping a GD light switch. ARRRG!! If demand outpaces supply and there's money to be made, rest assured production will increase, driving prices down to some equilibrium. Just not today, tomorrow or even next week.

By this time next year, once prices have stabilized for some time significantly lower than they are now, ask your relative if they're still pissed at Biden about gas prices?

[MineralMan]

7. Exactly, but the right is telling its followers just the opposite,

and they won't investigate for themselves on anything but right-wing websites. Circular logic gone very, very wrong.

[ms liberty]

8. My husband has a spreadsheet of every gasoline fillup since 1990

For every car we've had since he started. It's very instructive in popping this argument, and he uses it regularly.

[moose65]

10. Wow

I love spreadsheets! Is his a shareable Google sheet?? 😃😃

[ms liberty]

12. Lol! I doubt it; he's one of those people who does complex math quickly, in his head

So he remembers it, too. He keeps it on his laptop rather than his phone, and he's also one of those really meticulous organized types so the spreadsheet gets updated a couple of times a month for all the vehicles.

[Norbert]

9. I had a MAGAt tell me gas prices never dropped until IQ45 was president

I try telling him dim donald inherited low has prices Obama had in his 2nd term as president.

He would have none of it. I would have had better success explaining it to my ball-point pen.

I keep forgetting these people do not deal in reality.

[onenote]

11. The lowest average gas price during Trump's presidency was higher than the lowest during Obama's

Some data:

February 2009: $1.923/gallon
January 2017: $2.349/gallon
Lowest price: $1.764/gallon (February 2016)
Highest price: $3.906/gallon (May 2011)

February 2017: $2.304/gallon
January 2016: $2.506/gallon
Lowest price: $1.84/gallon (March 2020)
Highest price: $2.901/gallon (April 2018)

So, what does this tell us? Well, it tells us that the lowest price during the Trump administration ($1.84/gallon) was still higher than the lowest price during the Obama administration ($1.764/gallon), even though the lowest price during the Trump administration was attributable to the pandemic-driven collapse of demand and not anything positive done by Trump. It tells us that while the price was higher when Obama left office than when he took office, the price also was higher when Trump left office than when he took office. It tells us that during the course of any presidency, the price of gas will fluctuate due to events largely, if not completely, outside a president's control such as a pandemic, or 9/11, or the great recession...or decisions made by OPEC and its allies.

If, as is being predicted, the price of gas drops by 10 percent (as much as 30 cents) in the next few weeks, will MAGAs give Biden credit? Of course they won't. But they also shouldn't be giving Trump credit for anything either.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

13. Try posting current gas prices in the EU...and how much oil America exports.

Maybe that could help him in the factual persuasion.