To the Editor:
A president who was elected because people thought of him as a moderate centrist who would benefit the middle class has demonstrated he is the real culprit in the crushing inflation that is now terrorizing that same middle class.
Yes, the Federal Reserve, with its loose monetary policies bears a great deal of responsibility. The reality is that Biden is the author of the problems hammering the middle class.
First, his major and massive spending bill flooded the economy with more money in search of fewer goods, the classic definition of inflation. This was wasteful, unnecessary spending and far exceeded the available government income, another classic contributor.
But then his war on fossil fuels was the clincher. Gas prices have gone way up as have the costs of so many goods and services that are dependent directly or indirectly on oil and gas.
There is no doubt that greenhouse gases from burning coal and oil are big contributors to global warming. However, you can’t just decree that we will go off oil and coal and expect the world to fall in line and all the infrastructure to magically appear.
China and India are building coal-fired plants much faster than we are and the rest of the developed world can take them offline. So, while climate czar (and pompous blowhard) John Kerry is flying around the world in his private jet lecturing the world on the evils of oil and coal, those countries are thumbing their noses at him and worsening the problem.
So now as Biden and a number of his ilk are lecturing us that we should be driving an electric car, China and India are stoking up their furnaces.
Even if China and India were being good world citizens, the transition away from fossil fuels will take a long time. Biden can’t just decree it while at the same time declaring war on the energy companies and making their lives miserable.
Yes, the rich can drop $65,000 on a new electric vehicle if they can find a place to charge it. But what about the average family?
Government restrictions on pipelines and drilling for oil are only one problem. We have not added a new oil refinery since the 70s. Our refineries are now operating at over 95% of capacity. What if there is a major hurricane that hits the Texas gulf, or one breaks down?
Capital flows where it will obtain the best returns. If it’s not in oil and gas, these major energy companies, vilified by Biden, will move their money where it will earn better returns.
But maybe the government will nationalize them, as suggested by California Congresswoman Maxine Waters. That won’t work well.
As Ronald Reagan once said: “The government is not the solution. The government is the problem. If the government was in charge of the Sahara, we’d run out of sand.”
How long will it be before we see the gas lines and misery we saw in the 1970s? Will Biden go to Saudi Arabia hat in hand again? I guess he’ll have to drop to both knees next time.
We won a hard-fought battle for energy independence and Biden squandered it. If we elect a Republican Congress, it can blunt some of his crazy plans until we have a real chief executive in the White House.
Maybe we’ll develop a real energy strategy and figure out that nuclear power is part of the answer. But that, too, will take time, courage, and leadership.
– Bill Dahms, Avalon
