On Tuesday, President Biden enacted yet another policy that’s set to send American oil and gas prices to historic and harmful levels for American families. And no matter how much Biden and his pals in the liberal media lie, these skyrocketing prices are his doing. But ABC’s World News Tonight answered the White House’s call for aid as they took toed the administration’s line of blaming gas companies. And CBS Evening News only highlighted a “Democratic” solution.
“In the meantime, gas prices already the highest in U.S. history. The national average, $4.23 a gallon tonight. That's up 59 cents in a week,” announced ABC anchor David Muir at the top of the segment. And he lauded how Biden was “warning … American energy companies about not taking advantage of American families at the pump.”
In the report, business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis noted the “critics who say the U.S. should produce more oil and gas domestically” but parroted the misleading White House line that oil companies need “to start drilling with the permits they already have.”
In reality, as the graph below shows, oil prices under Biden have been on an upward trajectory since he was elected. So, the problem is clearly larger than the oil companies not drilling. We know that the Biden administration has shut down pipelines and made it very difficult for companies to get oil out of the ground.
But that didn’t stop Jarvis from touting how Biden “warned them not to take advantage of the moment.”
If the argument is that oil companies are “profiteering and price gouging” during a crisis, and prices have been rising Biden’s entire time in office, is that a tacit admission that the Biden presidency has been one long crisis for America?
Meanwhile, on CBS, senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe was reporting on how “President Biden's decision to target Russia's energy sector is designed to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of around $100 million in daily revenue.”
But instead of listening to largely Republican calls for increased domestic oil production which would lead to prices going back to what they were during the Trump administration, O’Keefe was busy hyping a Democratic plan to knock a few cents off of gallon:
As for soaring gas prices, six Democratic governors tonight are calling on Congress to suspend the 18-cent federal gas tax until the end of the year. The White House hasn't explicitly endorsed the idea but has said all options are on the table.
It could help in the short term, but not if Biden’s policies continue.
In contrast, after chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander noted Biden was under “bipartisan pressure” to ban Russian oil, NBC Nightly News specifically highlighted the Republican Party’s criticism and solution to runaway gas prices:
ALEXANDER: But Republicans tonight are blasting the President for not ramping up U.S. oil production.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): We are seeing the product of a flawed energy policy. [Transition] We’re seeing a huge spike in prices even before the invasion of Ukraine.
NEW CHART: Contrary to media narrative, gas prices were on the rise immediately after the 2020 election- well before the invasion of Ukraine. https://t.co/Iew2zhjMqk pic.twitter.com/g9xdBbkyrW
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) March 8, 2022
This defense of President Biden’s disastrous energy policy was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Vicks on ABC and Liberty Mutual on CBS. Their contact information is linked.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
March 8, 2022
6:41:22 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: In the meantime, gas prices already the highest in U.S. history. The national average, $4.23 a gallon tonight. That's up 59 cents in a week.
So, where is this all going? And tonight, the warning from President Biden to American energy companies about not taking advantage of American families at the pump. Here's our chief business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis tonight.
(…)
REBECCA JARVIS: Today, the President, aware of critics who say the U.S. should produce more oil and gas domestically, urging energy giants to start drilling with the permits they already have. And he warned them not to take advantage of the moment.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Russia's aggression is costing us all and it's no time for profiteering or price gouging. I want to be clear about what we’ll not tolerate.
JARVIS: Still, experts anticipate higher prices ahead.
(…)
JARVIS: And David, the latest Quinnipiac poll showing 71 percent of Americans support banning Russian oil, even if it means higher prices here at the pump. It's something I heard from drivers today who acknowledged they are stretched thin and hoping for some relief soon.
CBS Evening News
March 8, 2022
6:36:22 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Well, now to that major pivot today by President Biden after refusing to ban Russian oil, gas, and other fuels, the President today did just that, acknowledging that inflicting economic punishment on Russia will drive up already record-high prices here in the U.S. We get more now from CBS's Ed O’Keefe.
[Cuts to video]
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy.
ED O’KEEFE: President Biden's decision to target Russia's energy sector is designed to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of around $100 million in daily revenue.
BIDEN: That means Russian oil will no longer, acceptable at U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine.
O’KEEFE: The move follows days of growing pressure to take action as the Russian military atrocities mount, but it comes with a steep price.
BIDEN: Putin's war is already hurting American families at the gas pump.
O’KEEFE: Today, the national average hit $4.17 a gallon, a record high. In four states, prices spiked at least 15 cents overnight.
(…)
[Cuts back to live]
O’KEEFE: As for soaring gas prices, six Democratic governors tonight are calling on Congress to suspend the 18-cent federal gas tax until the end of the year. The White House hasn't explicitly endorsed the idea but has said all options are on the table.
NBC Nightly News
March 8, 2022
7:05:14 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: After days of pressure, President Biden today announcing that U.S. ban on all Russian oil imports, and warning it could send domestic gas prices even higher. Peter Alexander at the White House now with more.
[Cuts to video]
PETER ALEXANDER: Tonight, President Biden striking at the heart of Vladimir Putin's economy announcing a ban of all Russian oil and gas.
PRESIDENT JOW BIDEN: We will not be a part of subsidizing Putin's war.
ALEXANDER: Oil and gas production accounts for 40 percent of Russian's revenue.
BIDNE: The American people will deal with another powerful blow of Putin's war machine
ALEXANDER: It’s a major shift for the President, who for weeks deliberately avoided sanctioning Russian oil to keep U.S. gas prices lower.
(…)
ALEXANDER: President Biden's decision today follows bipartisan pressure to impose a ban.
(…)
ALEXANDER: But Republicans tonight are blasting the President for not ramping up U.S. oil production.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): We are seeing the product of a flawed energy policy. [Transition] We’re seeing a huge spike in prices even before the invasion of Ukraine.
(…)
