The 6.8% inflation rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday pretty much spiked any chances the Senate will pass President Biden's Build Back Better plan, at least before the end of the year. Last week on radio, ex-President Trump spoke about how much things were better during his administration …
Trump Confuses 2020 With 2003 — In the Hugh Hewett interview on Wednesday, former president Donald Trump, holding forth, engaged in the following:
DJT: Energy prices, we were energy independent, and now we’re going begging OPEC please send us oil, we have no oil, please send us oil. California just hit $7, $7.75 in certain areas of California. Can you believe it?
HH: I can’t.
DJT: It was $1.86 when I left.
Which led us to check statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which is the official source of information about things related to energy prices and supplies.
The last time that the average price of gasoline in California was near $1.86 was October 2003, when it was $1.83.
In January 2021 the average price in California was $3.26. (If he was thinking nationally, then the average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. in January 2021 was $2.42. Not even close to $1.86)
It is worth noting that when Barack Obama left office in January 2017 the average price of a gallon of gas in California was $2.84, or 13% less than when Trump left office.
Note: If he plays fast and loose with the small numbers that have a direct consequence on the pocketbooks of the people he claims to be supportive of, just imagine what he does when the numbers—and consequences—are bigger.
—Gary S. Vasilash