Biden says falling gas prices show his 'program is working' - ABC News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Joe Biden on Friday touted falling gas prices, robust new jobs numbers and a low unemployment rate to make the case that his economic program and fight to bring inflation down is "working."
"The unemployment rate is near a historic low of 3.6%. The private sector jobs are at a record high," he said at a White House event about abortion. "Gas prices are still way too high, and have fallen 25 days in a row. And this week we saw the second largest single day decrease in gas prices in a decade. We still have a lot of work to do ... But I am suggesting we are making significant progress. The program is working."
The national average for a gallon of gas stood at $4.72 Friday, down three cents from Thursday and about 12 cents since this time last week, according to AAA.
The average cost for gas peaked at $5.01 per gallon on June 14, according to AAA, and the price of crude oil fell below $100 per barrel this week for the first time since May 11.
Relief at the pump comes as global demand for commodities slows, resulting in lower prices for crude oil copper, cotton, and lumber.
"I think the reason why oil prices are going down now is because the prospect that we do see an economic slowdown," GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan told ABC News Thursday.
If that trend continues, a potential recession could prove politically problematic for Biden and fellow Democrats ahead of the midterm elections in November. Building a strong economy was a priority in the Democratic party's 2020 platform.
"But, if all of a sudden, the worries over the recession fade, we can see oil prices go right back up," De Haan said.
A hurricane making landfall near a refinery, such as one in Louisiana, could also cause prices to rise.
In the coming weeks, what Americans pay at the pump in some states could fall another 25 to 50 cents per gallon on average, De Haan said.
Some stations around the country have already lowered prices to the mid-three-dollar range.
The president's remarks Friday are the latest in a largely unsuccessful White House effort to counter damaging daily headlines about skyrocketing prices at the pump.
What began with attributing the rise in prices to Russia's invasion of Ukraine became a proposal to suspend the federal gas tax for three months. But that plan found little support among Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Some Republican senators called the proposal to halt the 18-cent tax a gimmick, while some Democrats said it might not work.
The president also floated offering rebate cards to Americans in June, but the Washington Post reported a chip shortage would make it challenging to produce the cards.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm then met with top oil executives late last month to discuss how their companies might help ease pain at the pump, but some analysts say it is unlikely the current price drop is related to the administration's lobbying efforts.
The falling price of crude oil and weakened demand have driven the cost of gas down and the industry is also working through higher-cost inventory, according to investment research firm Third Bridge's global lead for energy Peter McNally.
"That is bringing prices at the pump down, not the president telling the corner gas station to do it," McNally said Thursday.
The White House doubled down this week, again calling for Congress to suspend the federal gas tax Thursday and blaming Russia's invasion of Ukraine Friday.
"Wholesale gas prices are down by $1 per gallon," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday. "Retail gas prices have only come down by about 20 cents over the same period. More work needs to be done."
But gas stations are slowly lowering their prices as they try to recapture some of their margins from when prices rose, De Haan said. Stations are behind the curve when their costs rise for up to five days, as raising prices is difficult if other stations do not adjust theirs, he said.
The White House and the Federal Reserve deserve some credit for recognizing inflation as a serious challenge, University of Houston petroleum engineering professor Ramanan Krishnamoorti said Thursday.
The FED raising interest rates last month "certainly slowed down some of the price exuberance we've seen with inflation," he said.
The government's release of 100 million oil barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve year-to-date has also helped. Releasing oil has added supply to the market, likely preventing prices from going higher, McNally said.
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Meanwhile back here in reality gas prices are down...
He's got 'em by the balls now!
They are down quite a bit here as well.
New jobs reports was 372,000. Good news
Yes, we are at full employment, wages are way up and corporations making record profits. The Horror!
And McConnel had the nerve to say people won't go back to work because they still have stimulus money...
Exactly, wage growth exceeds inflation, the stock market is great, income inequality is disappearing, US debt is disappearing and American confidence has never been higher.
I paid $5.34 a few weeks ago in Austin.
All of the Quick Trips here in DFW are between 3.94 and 4.03 today
QT is the Texas equivalent of WaWa.
They make more $$ making sandwiches & bottled water than the gas pumps will ever generate.
Sorry, off topic JBB, I know. You can delete if you want.
I just saw a show on Vice about Blue Bell ice cream. About how they intentionally knew their product was contaminated and sent it out anyway. Sent it to hospitals and other places with compromised people.
The people of Texas rallied around the company and would not believe they did that and still ate the ice cream...
My god, you were in Texas, what were you thinking, man?
It is sad that biden thinks the American people are stupid enough to believe the shit he shovels almost daily.
Sad is Americans blaming their own President for the rising prices caused by Putin's war in Ukraine...
Even though the prices were going up before the war started. He doesn't get a pass just because he is president. Keep enjoying your cool aid
Yes, world markets anticipated Putin's war in Ukraine.
Joe could piss down your neck and tell you it is raining and you would try to explain why the rain is yellow. Give it up, fewer and fewer Americans are buying it. 88 percent at last count.
You make our President, Joe Biden, sound like a monster. Joe spent his whole life in honorable service to America, winding up as President of the United States. So, get real!
Not a monster, just an incompetent idiot.
So how do you explain Joe whooping Trump?
He beat the other Democrats and Trump, too!
That doesn't sound like an idiot. He is POTUS.
Exactly, you would think that would have earned him respect from at least the other Dems.
He beat trump because he wasn't trump. Since Trump was also president I am sure you are more than willing to take back everything bad that you have ever said about him.
Joe proves every day he is out of touch with reality and he has trouble stringing a coherent sentence together, even if it is written down for him. His policies are a disaster and the only thing he has ever done since being elected is to try to blame his self made disaster on everyone else. I don't know how you define idiot but Joe quaifies for an idiot by any metic. The only people I would consider bigger idiots are the ones that would vote for him again.
It did. All of the other Democratic candidates, there were about twenty, endorsed Biden...
Doesn’t seem to have lasted very long.
They had to endorse him, you think they would have endorsed the alternative?
That and a buck fiddy , he might be able to afford a small cup of coffee in his economy......
Please be advised that I intend to plagiarize this comment (probably frequently) in the near future.
I regret to inform you that no credit will be given.
All yours.
Haven't had time to keep up with the news lately?
Some of us are.
Yep, the same ones that like to try to convince others how 'enlightened ' they are yet fail miserably.
And people believe former presidents, people will believe the next president....
Great. Biden controls gas prices.
It was $2.39 on average when he was sworn in. His policies are responsible for the 83% increase since he was sworn in.
Funny that when prices are skyrocketing he blames everyone else and when they come down he tries to take credit for it because of a plan that doesn't exist. And the sheep buy it with admiration in their eyes and Joe's.......in their ass.
That's a silly pronouncement in light of facts.
Joe acted to reduce prices and it is working...
Exactly, President Joe skillfully created conditions leading to concerns of a future economic slowdown. Worries of a recession can influence the market and prices.
yep like in shawshank , those prices up and dissappeared like a fart in the wind ....
I know, right? Who does he think he is, Donald Trump?
Only if you are actually mentally incapable of understanding the not so subtle difference between controlling the price of oil and enacting policies to help alleviate a short term oil shortage by increasing the supply resulting in lower prices. Are you incapable?
Biden also took credit back in Dec when oil prices took a nosedive after the omicron variant sparked fears of renewed Covid slowdown.
If rising gas prices are proof that Biden is failing then falling gas prices are proof that he is succeeding.
I'm unimpressed with both theories.
Everyone is probably numb in the ears from hearing about supply chain disruptions. A lot of the supply chain is beyond our borders so there is only so much we can do in that regard beyond examining our tariffs to see if some of them are a bad idea. (There was a time conservatives thought all of them were a bad idea.)
But there is also a labor shortage to be dealt with. There are approximately two job openings for every job seeker.
There are (at least) two things we could do to address this. One would be to ease up on immigration restrictions. Immigrant labor might be particularly helpful to the oil industry. Another thing we could do is make child care affordable or nearly completely subsidized. This would obviously make it easier for many women to enter the work force.
Correctly so.
Wait . . . There was a plan? Since when? I thought high gas prices were Putin’s fault.
His plan was to monitor the situation until it happened to turn around and then try and take credit for it hoping his minions would believe him. .
Interesting how this coincides with SCOTUS putting a stop to the expanding autocratic authority of EPA. Apparently blocking Biden's policy agenda is good for the economy. Still think we need more Democrats in Congress?