Kerby Anderson

Gas prices are rising, and Americans want action. What can a president do? President Biden has the answer. Instruct the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the actions of the oil industry.

The president alleges that gasoline producers are ripping off American consumers and claims that there is “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil-and-gas companies.” That’s a very dramatic claim. Where is the establishment media?

Remember this phraseology? “President Trump stated today, without evidence.” At the very least, can’t we get at least one media outlet to say something like, “President Biden said today, without evidence that oil companies are engaged in illegal activities.”

There isn’t any evidence of Biden’s claims, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Energy prices are facing upward pressure for several economic reasons. Some of them have to do with the previous pandemic lockdowns. Others have to do with policies put in place by the president.

The economics are simple: energy demand is outpacing supply. The demand for gas plummeted in the spring of 2020 during the lockdowns. The price of oil took a precipitous nosedive. Once the economy reopened, demand increased. But you can’t turn everything around in just a few months. Supply has still not caught up with demand.

The most concerning part of this is that President Biden is unleashing federal police powers on energy companies. If previous presidents misused their presidential power in this way, I suspect such a demand would be greeted by more than a collective yawn from the media and most political pundits.

Blaming oil companies is a political distraction that focuses attention away from economic forces that need to be explained and government policies that need to be changed.