After watching their approval rating sink lower and lower as gas prices rise higher and higher, the Biden White House coined the term “Putin’s price hike” to assign blame for rising prices. Maybe that didn’t quite work the way the White House wanted, because there’s now a pivot away from “Putin’s price hike” to “big oil greed”:
The White House has moved away from "Putin's Price Hike" and is back to blaming oil and gas companies for record gas prices. pic.twitter.com/pUjtcO3J9q
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 16, 2022
“Putin’s price hike” apparently wasn’t selling as well as Team Biden would have liked, so now we’re back to the tried-and-true “corporate greed.” The gas price increase can’t possibly be at least in part due to the policies of this administration that has set a goal of doing away with fossil fuels, can it?
The White House picking who to blame for gas prices each morning: pic.twitter.com/IStkUmBvDF
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 16, 2022
Earlier this month there was no mention of “big oil greed” in the White House’s statement, but “Putin’s price hike” was in there:
Today’s economic data tells the tale of two recoveries.
Our jobs recovery remains strong. New unemployment claims remain low, as jobs are created at a record level. The rate of people on unemployment insurance is the lowest since 1970 – more than 50 years. And, private sector job growth is strong, boosted by the steps we took in the American Rescue Plan a year ago this week.
At the same time, today’s inflation report is a reminder that Americans‘ budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin’s price hike. A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin’s aggressive actions. As I have said from the start, there will be costs at home as we impose crippling sanctions in response to Putin’s unprovoked war, but Americans can know this: the costs we are imposing on Putin and his cronies are far more devastating than the costs we are facing.
I know that higher prices impact a family’s budget, which is why I am fighting to bring down the everyday prices that are squeezing Americans. Last week, in coordination with our allies, the U.S. secured a release of 60 million barrels of oil from our strategic reserves. My Administration is pushing for investments so we can manufacture more in America, strengthen our supply chains, and move goods to market at lower cost. I’m promoting competition to make sure big corporations are offering consumers fair prices, and I’m pressing Congress to pass my plan to lower the cost of essentials like prescription drugs and energy.
Finally, I want to be clear: we can do all this, and reduce the huge federal budget deficit that I inherited from my predecessor. Earlier this week, we learned that after reducing the deficit last year — for the first time since 2015 – CBO reported that we are on track to cut the deficit this year by over $1 trillion – the largest one year reduction in the deficit in US history.
And now the pivot to “big oil greed” is underway.
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