(PatrioticPost.com)- After taking a lot of heat for rising gas prices, President Joe Biden is now trying to deflect attention away from himself.
Recently, he asked the leader of the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether any oil companies are increasing their prices illegally for people at the pumps.
In a letter Biden recently sent to Linda Khan, the chairwoman of the FTC, he wrote:
“The Federal Trade Commission has authority to consider whether illegal conduct is costing families at the pump. I believe you should do so immediately.
“Prices at the pump have continued to rise, even as refined fuel costs go down and industry profits go up. In the last month, the price of unfinished gasoline is down more than 5% while gas prices at the pump are up 3% in that same period. This unexplained large gap between the price of unfinished gasoline and the average price at the pump is well above the pre-pandemic average.”
The increased costs for energy have resulted in many American gas and oil companies generating huge profits. Biden noted that two of the biggest of these companies are on pace to almost double the net income they produce this year when compared to that of two years ago.
In addition, Biden wrote that these same companies have announced they planned to complete stock buybacks and give out dividends that would total billions of dollars.
The Department of Labor reported recently that gas prices at the pump increased 6.1% on average during the month of October. Compared to that same month from 2019, that was an increase of roughly 24%. That’s a monumental extra expense for the everday American, at a time when their incomes are lower and the cost of all goods is up.
Biden continued in his letter:
“The bottom line is this: gasoline prices at the pump remain high, even though oil and gas companies’ costs are declining.”
In other words, the president is apparently concerned that these companies are inflating their prices because the American people have little choice but to fill up at the pump. There may be no legitimate business reason for the increased cost of gas at the pump, since the companies’ costs are going down, which is what Biden wants the FTC to investigate.
The action of asking the FTC to investigate the matter is noble. But, the impetus for the action may not be so.
Republicans have attacked the Biden administration over these rising gas prices, which are crippling Americans right as they are also facing stiff increases in costs of normal everyday goods, and as they prepare to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday and upcoming Christmas season.
Many industry experts are predicting that travel for Thanksgiving will return to almost the same levels it was before the pandemic. Instead of helping them out with lower prices, though, the increased cost of gas may hamper people’s ability to see their friends and family after many canceled their plans during the 2020 holiday season.
