Survey Suggests High Summer Travel; Virginia Tourism Industry Worried About Gas Prices

A survey from the tech company GasBuddy found more Americans are planning to travel this summer, but the Virginia tourism industry is still concerned that the steady increase of gas prices could still cause issues.

“Against a backdrop of gas prices that have continued to set new records ahead of Memorial Day, Americans have been resilient in their desire to hit the road, but we’re certainly seeing increased hesitancy due to rising prices at the pump,” Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said in a statement.

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Commentary: Biden Needs to Take the Blame for Inflation

Last week, President Biden gave a speech listing everyone and everything allegedly responsible for record high inflation. His list included corporate greed and price gouging, Vladimir Putin, and “ultra-MAGA” Republicans. The president said that his policies, and the nearly $7 trillion in spending he authorized, have nothing to do with inflation.

None of this holds up under scrutiny. While President Biden claims that corporations are ripping off Americans, the costs of their supplies have been increasing at a record rate. In reality, many companies that Biden claims are stiffing consumers have actually lost money because they don’t want to alienate their customers by raising prices too quickly.

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U.S. Will Soon See Average Gas Prices Above $6 a Gallon, Energy Analyst Says

The average price of gasoline nationwide could reach $6 per gallon this summer, far above historic levels and near California’s current prices, an analyst at JPMorgan said Tuesday.

“U.S. gasoline prices to break above $6,” Natasha Kaneva, JPMorgan’s head of global oil and commodities research, wrote in a note to investors titled “Cruel Summer,” according to Bloomberg. “Typically, refiners produce more gasoline ahead of the summer road-trip season, building up inventories. But this year, since mid-April, U.S. gasoline inventories have fallen counter seasonally.”

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Vance Reacts to Ryan’s Vote to Send $40 Billion to Ukraine

Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee Thursday raised against a bill that will send $40 billion to Ukraine, citing problems that the United States has domestically. 

“I don’t think we should be spending any more money, unless it’s on America’s problems here at home,” J.D. Vance said Thursday. “I would make any additional aid for the Ukrainians conditional on sending money to the American southern border, on actually trying to fix this terrible shortage of baby formula and hospital supplies.”

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Biggs, Lesko Slam Biden for Ending American Oil Lease Sales

Amid surging gas prices and 40-year high inflation, a congressman Thursday reacted to the news that the Biden Administration has canceled domestic oil and gas lease sales. 

“Biden just canceled massive oil and gas lease sales in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico amid historic gas prices. Just wait for him to blame Putin for all of this!” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) said on Twitter.

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Portman Slams Biden After President Blames Republicans for Record Inflation

A U.S. Senator from Ohio Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden for record gas prices and sky-high inflation after Biden blamed Republicans, despite the fact that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House. 

“The Biden admin & its policies are responsible for the soaring inflation we see today. Inflation has risen every single month since [Biden] took office. The admin’s reckless spending policies combined with increased regulation have caused the worst inflation in 40 years,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said. 

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Inflation Hits 10.9 Percent in Metro Phoenix, Highest of Major Metro Areas and Substantially Above National Average

Inflation is soaring under the Biden administration, and it’s even worse in Phoenix. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation in metro Phoenix jumped 10.9% from February 2021 through February 2022, significantly more than the national average increase of 8.5% and higher than any other major metro area. This is one of the highest levels reported for Phoenix, the Common Sense Institute found.

The 8.5% inflation rate is the highest in the U.S. in 41 years. In 2020, the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency, it was only 1.5%. It began spiking as soon as Joe Biden entered office. The main goods driving the spike nationally are food, gas, and housing. 

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Commentary: Biden’s Budget of Taxes, Taxes and More Taxes

Inflation is running rampant, federal spending is out of control, gas prices are at an all-time high and Americans are pessimistic on the future outlook of the economy. So what is President Joe Biden’s solution?

He has released a budget proposal that includes 36 tax increases on families and businesses totaling $2.5 trillion over the next decade. Alarmingly, this includes 11 tax increases on the oil and gas industry, taxes that will put a burden on households.

The budget doesn’t even include all the tax increases being pushed by Democrats because the budget omits the cost of tax increases within their stalled multi-trillion dollar Build Back Better Act. Instead of detailing these tax increases, the Biden budget includes a placeholder asserting that any new spending will be fully offset.

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Blumenthal Falsely Claims Oil Companies to Blame for High Gas Prices

A U.S. Senator from Connecticut is falsely scapegoating oil companies for skyrocketing gas prices nationwide. 

“Oil companies are exploiting Russia’s war in Ukraine to drive up gas prices to obscene levels. It’s time to end this corporate profiteering,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Thursday. “We need a Big Oil Windfall Profits tax to take excess profits & deliver them to Americans getting stuck with the bill.”

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Ohio’s Gas Prices Remain Higher Than $4 Per Gallon

Nearly a month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for which Democrats blame skyrocketing gas prices nationwide, gas in Ohio remains at more than $4.00 per gallon on average. 

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price for a gallon of gas in Ohio has climbed three cents in the past week, from $4.01 per gallon to $4.04 per gallon. That’s only about 10 cents less than the state’s record high of $4.15 per gallon, recording in May of 2015. 

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Analysis: The Biden Admin’s Drastic Gas Price Increases Date Back to His First Day in Office

Person filling up red car with petrol/gasoline

pump prices have climbed throughout his tenure.

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has destabilized global energy markets, causing an historic supply crunch, high gasoline prices have been the norm throughout Biden’s first 14 months, federal data showed. Experts have blamed the high prices on the administration’s energy and climate policies disincentivizing domestic fossil fuel production.

Since Russia’s invasion, gasoline prices have increased more than 20%, from $3.53 per gallon to $4.24 per gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration. However, pump prices increased a whopping 48.4% between Biden’s January 2021 inauguration and Feb. 21, three days before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.

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The Republican National Committee Registering New Voters at Gas Stations as Prices Surge

Mobil gas prices

The Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a voter registration initiative at gas stations across the country, drawing attention to rising gas prices under President Joe Biden’s leadership.

“We are registering voters across the country who are tired of Biden’s Gas Hike!” the RNC said Monday on Twitter. “Coming to a gas station near you!”

The effort began with a Saturday event in Arizona, according to The Hill. “Arizonans are frustrated with paying the record-high gas prices we’ve seen recently, this is an issue that affects almost every single Arizonan,” said the communications director for Arizona’s RNC, Ben Petersen, according to The Hill.

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Commentary: Biden’s Handlers Are Preparing to Eject Him and Kamala

I sense a disturbance in the force. In fact, I’ve been feeling the tremors for a while. Back in January, I wrote a column for American Greatness called “The Coming Dethronement of Joe Biden.” In it, I noted that Biden’s appalling performance as president would sooner or later—and probably sooner, given the ostentatious nature of his multifaceted failure—lead to his removal as president. 

I should have added that it wasn’t Biden’s performance per se that would lead to his downfall. The problem, rather, was the way his performance was undermining his—and therefore his minders’ and puppetmasters’—political power. As Saul Alinsky, community organizer to the stars, noted, the “issue is never the issue.” Accordingly, the people who put Joe Biden in power—I cannot name them, but I know they are the same people who keep him in power—do not care about inflation, rising gas and food prices, COVID lockdowns or mask mandates, the porousness of our Southern border, the threat of war with Russia, or the myriad other issues that worry ordinary voters. I am quite certain, in fact, that the word “voters” brings a vaguely contemptuous smile to their faces.

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Georgia Gov. Kemp Expected to Sign Law Suspending Gas Tax

After a swift and unanimous passage through both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is expected to sign into law a bill that will temporarily suspend the state’s tax on gasoline. 

HB 304 would take effect on May 31. Kemp is reportedly expected to sign the bill, which will alleviate prices at the pump to the tune of 28 cents per gallon. It had not been signed as of Friday afternoon. 

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Americans’ Spending Slows Dramatically Amid Surging Inflation and Gas Prices

American’s spending slowed in February amid surging inflation and gas prices, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Wednesday.

Retail sales grew 0.3% in February, a significant dip from January’s 4.9% monthly increase, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday. January’s spending increase marked the largest jump since March 2021 after Americans received the final $1,400 government stimulus check.

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Drilling Permits Spiked Under Biden Administration Before Dropping Significantly

After a massive rise in the number of drilling permits approved in 2021, the total number has plunged to some of the lowest levels ever in 2022, all on the watch of the Biden Administration.

Politico reports that after the previous high of 643 permits that were issued by the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in April of 2021, just 95 permits were approved in January of this year. The sudden shift reflects the wildly different approaches taken by the Trump Administration and the Biden Administration when it comes to domestic energy production.

While President Donald Trump supported unlimited domestic production in order to establish national energy independence, Biden pledged to reduce the production of fossil fuels in order to combat “global warming,” and instead has tried to promote so-called “green” energy alternatives. But the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including the impacts on the global energy market, has forced Biden to consider restarting domestic production in order to offset rising gas prices.

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It’s Not Just Inflation: Consumers Are Paying More Through Shrinkflation

inside of grocery store; close up of products in the aisle

Americans are seeing the real costs of inflation in their daily lives as they pay record high gas prices, significantly increased grocery costs, and suffer sticker shock at restaurants, hair salons and other places.

Restaurants are charging more, with some posting notices on their doors. Increased prices, they say, are necessary to stay open simply to cover their increased costs for cooking oil and other goods. Some restaurants post signs accompanying empty containers to show that while they’re not increasing prices, their portion sizes are smaller.

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State Senator Jake Corman Introduces Legislation to Lower Pennsylvania Gas Tax

Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) proposed lowering the state’s gas tax levels in order to ease the burden on consumers.

Corman’s legislation, known as the Consumer Gas Prices Relief Act, would reduce the state’s liquid fuels tax by one-third through the end of 2022, cutting roughly 20 cents per gallon off the price.

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Commentary: Under President Trump, We Really Had a Wonderful Life

In the film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” George Bailey is able to see what the world would have been like had he never been born. Everything changes. George wasn’t there to save his younger brother from drowning. And, that in turn, meant that his brother wasn’t there to save the lives of hundreds of men on board a U.S. military troop ship. Everything has a domino effect.

Unfortunately, we get to have a similar experience. We see how one terrible leader imposing his disastrous policies on the American people has negatively impacted every American. We also witness how Joe Biden’s immature foreign policy has produced unrest and war.

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Wisconsin’s Minimum Mark-Up Law Not Helping with Gas Prices

The average price of gas in Wisconsin is over $4.00 per gallon and rising, but it’s not just the war in Ukraine that’s keeping prices in the state high.

Will Flanders with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty wrote an open letter Thursday asking Gov. Tony Evers to roll back the state’s minimum markup law as a way to help drivers better afford gas.

“[Minimum markup] requires that retailers increase the price of their gas by 9.18% over what they pay at wholesale. This means that gas stations are required to pass on price increases to consumers,” Flanders wrote.

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Michigan House Approves Cutting 27-Cent Gas Tax for Six Months

Andrew Beeler of Michigan

The Michigan House on Wednesday voted 63-39 on a bill aiming to suspend the state’s 27.2-cent per gallon fuel tax for six months.

For the first time since 2008, gas prices broke $4 per gallon nationwide.

If passed by the Senate and signed into law, House Bill 5570 would suspend the state fuel tax on gas, diesel, and alternative fuels starting April 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022.

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Florida Rep. Wasserman Schultz Bought Domestic Oil Stocks Just Before Price of Oil Skyrocketed

A congresswoman from Florida purchased large amounts of stock in a U.S. oil drilling company just as oil and gas prices hit record highs, and just before the beginning of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 

According to financial disclosure forms, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-23) purchased up to $45,000 worth of stock in a Houston-based oil drilling company called Patterson UTI Energy. 

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Democrats Call on Youngkin to Activate Anti-Price Gouging Law over High Gas Prices

Amid high gas prices, Virginia Democrats are calling on Governor Glenn Youngkin to enact a state of emergency, which would cause an anti-price gouging law to take effect.

“Governor Youngkin has the power to act and help protect Virginians at the pump, but so far, has failed to do so. Instead, he continues to point fingers and waste precious time,” Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) said in a Thursday press release. “Virginians do not need talking points and failed campaign promises—we need leadership and action.”

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Inflation Expected to Get Worse This Year

Gas prices and inflation hit yet another high this week, raising more concerns about the impact on regular Americans and the future of the U.S. economy.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday reported that the Consumer Price index, a major marker of inflation, rose 7.9% in the previous 12 months.

“The 12-month increase has been steadily rising and is now the largest since the period ending January 1982,” BLS said. “The all items less food and energy index rose 6.4 percent, the largest 12-month change since the period ending August 1982. The energy index rose 25.6 percent over the last year, and the food index increased 7.9 percent, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending July 1981.”

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Bill Would Lift Gov. Wolf’s Moratorium on New Leases for Drilling in Pennsylvania

Republicans in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives this week introduced several measures to boost fossil-fuel production in the Keystone State, including a resumption of new state-land drilling leases.

Gov. Tom Wolf (D) imposed a moratorium on new leases for oil and gas development on state-owned areas in January 2015. A bill authored by State Rep. Clint Owlett (R-Wellsboro) would rescind that order and stipulate that all energy exploration performed under any resulting leases be subsurface. That means that the well site must be built off of commonwealth property and that underground channels would reach horizontally into the public lands, allowing for better environmental preservation than older drilling methods.

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Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan Blames Putin for Rising Gas Prices

Tim Ryan

An Ohio U.S. congressman and U.S. Senate candidate has joined many of his Democrat counterparts in blaming Russia and its President Vladimir Putin for skyrocketing gas prices. 

“Today I’ll vote to ban U.S. dollars from funding Putin’s war machine. Now we must do everything in our power to shield working people from Putin’s price hike at the pump by fully restoring America’s energy independence and passing a working-class tax cut,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) said Wednesday on Twitter.

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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Calls for Federal Suspension of Gas Tax amid Soaring Prices

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers joined other Democratic governors and sent a letter to Congressional leadership, urging the federal lawmakers to pass legislation to suspend the federal gas tax.

The legislation, introduced by Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and known as the Gas Prices Relief Act, would terminate the 18 cents per gallon gas tax that individuals pay, temporarily lowering the prices for consumers.

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As Gas Prices Reach Record Highs, Biden Bans Russian Oil Imports

President Joe Biden announced a ban on the importation of Russian oil, coal and gas as a response to the nation’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine just as gas prices in the U.S. reached a record high Tuesday.

Biden said Tuesday that the decision was intended to “inflict further pain” on Russian President Vladimir Putin and defund his war in Ukraine. He also acknowledged it would further raise the price of gasoline for Americans.

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Connecticut AG Warns Against Price Gouging as Gas Prices Approach Record Highs

As gas prices near record highs in Connecticut, the state’s Attorney General is warning gas distributors against price gouging. 

“Gas prices fluctuate constantly, and price changes and price increases are normal. But what we have seen this past week is not typical, and we can expect even more volatility due to the unprovoked and unconscionable Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Attorney General William Tong (D) said in a Monday statement. 

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Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez Responds to Biden Outreach to Venezuela Amid Rising Gas Prices

Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez responded to a report Sunday that the Biden administration was beginning discussions with the government of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro related to oil imports

“Rather than making America energy-independent, Biden wants to buy oil from Maduro — yet another murderous thug. Troubling pattern from this administration as they continue to embolden our enemies,” said Nuñez.

Nuñez was born in Miami and her parents lived under the reign of Fidel Castro. She was elected as Florida’s first Hispanic female lieutenant Governor of Florida in 2018.

Nuñez was referring to a New York Times report which indicated that senior U.S. officials with the Biden administration traveled to Venezuela on Saturday to meet with the government of President Maduro. The purpose of the meeting was to step up efforts to separate Russia from its remaining international allies amid a widening standoff over Ukraine.

The meeting was also related to oil.

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Connecticut Gas Crosses Four Dollars Per Gallon Threshold

Gas prices in Connecticut have reached a decade-plus high after jumping 10 cents per gallon in a single day, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Friday, a gallon of gas in Connecticut averaged $4.07, a jump from $3.97 on Thursday. The last time gas prices reached four dollars per gallon was in August of 2008. The record high for gas prices in the state is $4.39 per gallon, just 32 cents higher than the current price. 

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Gas Prices Set to Skyrocket After Oil Soars Beyond $100 for the First Time Since 2014

The worldwide price of crude oil skyrocketed to more than $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014 as Russia launched a full-scale offensive against Ukraine.

The Brent crude index, the global oil benchmark, hit $101.66 per barrel Thursday morning, surging more than 4% overnight. The U.S. WTI index skyrocketed nearly 7% to $98.69 per barrel Thursday, its highest level since 2014.

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‘We Need to Be Honest’: Biden Suggests U.S. Gas Prices Will Increase Because of His Russian Sanctions

President Joe Biden suggested that Americans may be negatively impacted at the pump as a result of a sanctions package targeting Russia he unveiled Tuesday.

“As we respond, my administration is using every tool at our disposal to protect American businesses and consumers from rising prices at the pump,” the president remarked at the White House on Tuesday. “As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs for us as well and here at home. We need to be honest about that.”

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Tennessee One of the Top States Hit with Biggest Weekly Increase in Gas Prices

The national average price for a gallon of gas rose last week to $3.48, four cents more than a week before, as The Tennessee Star previously reported.

The price of $3.48 is 18 cents more than a month ago and 98 cents more than a year ago, according to a press release by the American Automobile Association (AAA). The national average remains the highest price for a gallon of gas since 2014.

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