Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance criticized the energy and fiscal policies of his Democratic opponent and of the White House on Wednesday, blaming them for the steep gasoline prices Buckeyes now endure.
The average price of a regular gallon of gas in Ohio exceeded $5.00 on Wednesday. That’s a 118.91-percent increase over the $2.32-per-gallon average cost state motorists faced when President Joe Biden took office. In Vance’s estimation, “no one else” bears responsibility for this other than Biden and his “extreme allies in Congress like Tim Ryan (D-13).”
The GOP candidate observed that Ryan has supported much of the White House’s environmental and energy agenda as well as its budgetary approach. The renewable energy sources favored by Biden and Ryan cost consumers more and are heavily reliant on taxpayer subsidies; the massive deficit spending that Democrats have pursued over the past year and a half alarm even some liberal experts like former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers because of impact on inflation.
“Ohio families are actively suffering today because Tim Ryan is too weak and too extreme to stand up to the destructive policies of Joe Biden,” Vance said in a statement. “Instead of acting as a check on Biden’s far-left extremism, Ryan has been a cheerleader for Biden’s inflation-causing wasteful spending and anti-energy policies when he’s in Washington, while he tries to tell Ohioans he is fighting for us through dishonest television ads.”
Ryan’s general emphasis on energy policy has been his aim to reduce the use of oil. A statement on his congressional website reads, “To curb our dependence, I strongly believe that the United States must reduce its consumption of fossil fuels and move towards an energy future in which solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable sources produce a greater percentage of our nation’s energy.” The congressman, who has served since 2003, nonetheless does support natural gas development, in contrast to many environmental activists.
Controversial Biden spending policies for which Ryan voted and which have stoked economists’ fears of inflation include the $1.9-trillion COVID-19-relief plan known as the American Rescue Plan as well as the Build Back Better Act, a $4.5-trillion expansion of social programs that passed the U.S. House of Representatives but could not get sufficient support in the Senate.
Vance, an attorney, author, and venture capitalist, opposes those measures and has underscored Biden’s resistance to fossil fuel development since fuel prices began to soar months ago.
“Make no mistake about it, the Biden-Ryan agenda has failed Ohio,” Vance said. “I’m running for Senate to put an end to their left-wing radicalism, stop this inflation and reduce rising energy costs, so middle-class Ohioans can make good lives for themselves and thrive once again.”
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Ohio Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “J.D. Vance” by J.D. Vance. Photo ‘Tim Ryan” by Tim Ryan.
