Hey, we finally made it to the big time! Last Friday, while I was ferrying my sister back home after another unsuccessful adventure in garage sale-ing, we passed the corner convenience store and saw its gasoline priced at $4.09 per gallon. Later that day, I passed another station posting its gas at $4.19 a gallon.
That $4 ceiling had been elusive for weeks, several stores nudging up to $3.97 and $3.99.
As of May 9, Oklahoma had the lowest average gas prices in the country, right at $3.97, with only Mississippi [$3.99] sharing its position below $4 a gallon. At the first of the week, our local price was $3.79 a gallon, and I bought some at $3.73 in Lawton on my return from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. [Everyone needs a date with Nature.]
That AAA report listing Oklahoma with the lowest gas prices in the country cited the national average at $4.53 per gallon, with California, $6.15; Washington, $5.79; and Oregon, $5.33, at the top end.
The 10 most driver-friendly states stretch across the Deep South [sorry, Florida] and up into Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska and westward to New Mexico.
I would say that our proximity to oil refineries benefits us. But I still get riled thinking about my [very good] days in Borger. Phillips had a refinery abutting the Borger city limits, and Phillips’ gas was always cheaper an hour away in Amarillo.
Gas prices reflect, too, state taxes on gasoline. Oklahoma’s 19 cents per gallon ranks third lowest, behind New Mexico, 17 cents, and Arizona, 18 cents. Texas and Louisiana round out the low five at 20 cents per gallon taxes. California has the highest gas tax, 61 cents per gallon, according to the IGEN venture company.
On April 7, CNBC reported that “Oil giant Shell posted bumper profit of $6.92 billion through the first quarter as the Iran war sent fossil fuel prices soaring.”
With those “bumper” profits looming Shell had already “announced an agreement to buy Canadian energy company ARC Resources in a deal valued at $16.4 billion.”
As if no one in the world is paying attention, Shell CEO Wael Sawan said the company’s “strong results [were] enabled by our relentless focus on operational performance.”
Some might suggest the Israeli/Trump unprovoked attack on Iran and the subsequent closing of the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic had a greater influence on the bottom line than a “relentless focus.”
And, lest we forget, in the summer of 2024 Donald Trump promised the polluting petro people big profits if they would donate to his campaign. They did. He has delivered.
In early April, Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee reported the first month of the Iran War produced a 35% increase to Americans’ gasoline budget. Julia Conley of Common Dreams noted that “Americans spent $8.4 billion more on gas in the first month of Trump’s Iran War.”
Leor Tal, campaign director for Unrig Our Economy observed: “From the grocery store to the doctor’s office to the gas pump, congressional Republicans are financially crushing working Americans at every turn.”
The skyrocketing petroleum prices did crush Spirit Airlines, which went out of business on May 2, throwing 17,000 people out of jobs.
But the only interest American oligarchy has in regular workers is the interest accruing on credit card debts.
On April 6, Kevin Hassert, National Economic Council director, bragged to Fox Business:
“I had the head of one of the Big Five banks in my office yesterday, going through credit card data,” and “Credit card spending is through the roof! They’re spending more on gasoline, but they’re spending more on everything else, too.”
The super rich live in a different world – which their campaign donations help maintain. Many were quick to point out that this increase in credit card spending reflects consumer desperation. They have to risk usurious interest rates just to buy essentials.
On his X account, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Hassert’s glee “shameful.”
“Working class Americans are maxing out their credit cards to pay for groceries and gas,” he said. “The Trump Cartel thinks this is something to celebrate.”
In April, Hassert also bragged to Fox about the government firing more than 300,000 “high paying” jobs. These are agency leaders who were charged with protecting regular Americans from predatory business practices. No, “Trump Cartel” members do not want regulators looking over their shoulders.
And our oligarchs are working to maintain their advantage.
On March 25, Americans for Tax Fairness announced that “Billionaire Families Have Already Pumped $433 Million Into Political Campaigns.” This represents the election campaign spending of only “the 50 highest-spending billionaire families” as of March 1. Eighty percent of that money was earmarked for “Republican candidates or conservative issue groups.”
On his way out the door for his China trip, Trump was asked how concerned he is about “Americans’ financial situation” as he tries to extricate us from his war, Trump answered: “Not even a little bit.”
David Kass, ATF’s executive director expressed an opinion copasetic to many Americans:
“Whether it’s an out-of-control chief executive in the White House or a billionaire wielding his huge fortune to influence elections, anti-democratic behavior is anathema to the American public.”
But it is pure profit for those playing the system and plying unscrupulous politicians to perpetrate the impoverishment of regular people.
