Destroying America’s Energy Advantage To ‘Save Democracy’
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Emptying the strategic reserve is at best stupid and at worst corrupt.
Engaging in cynically self-serving partisan behavior to win elections sounds profoundly corrupt. Engaging in cynically self-serving partisan destructive behavior to “save democracy” … well, that sounds profoundly rational. And so it goes.
“We find ourselves in a situation, where keeping gas prices low is key to preserving and strengthening the future of our democracy,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes admitted last night. “And so here we are. Hence, Biden releasing oil from the reserves today.”
There is no policy justification for emptying the emergency strategic oil reserve right now. Just as there is no reason to use emergency powers to force taxpayers to foot the bill for graduate student loans. Just as there is no foreign policy justification for threatening the Saudis to keep production high until the midterms when you keep undercutting domestic production and capacity.
The crass partisanship is even worse than Hayes lets on, since emptying the strategic reserve is a little more than political kabuki theater. The Energy Department is going to release 15 million barrels this week so that families will have some “breathing room,” says the president. But the United States uses nearly 20 million barrels every day. Fifteen million barrels might be useful in a national disaster — which we would be unprepared for right now — but in this environment, it does nothing but give Democrats “breathing room” to pretend they’re doing something.
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