Cover-Up Of the Classified Documents Fiasco

Make no mistake about it.  Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of a special counsel is about politics not justice. His action gives the White House cover to deflect any questions about President Biden's mishandling of classified documents. No information is the new Biden transparency.

The president's press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rebuffed any reporter's questions about the president's lapse in protecting classified information in his possession, referring the media to the special counsel.  Of course, she knows the special counsel cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.

Because a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime, Biden anticipates the outcome will be a slap on the wrist.  Meanwhile, the special counsel will dither for 18 months to keep the lid on the scandal.  As the president's wingman, Garland did the president a solid by naming a prosecutor.

By now the whole world knows about the four batches of classified documents Biden took from the White House after his term as vice president ended. Those documents were removed by Biden from his office six years ago.  What took his lawyers so long to suddenly discover the government records? 

The answer should be obvious to all but Democrat partisans,  The first tranche of documents were uncovered by lawyers November 4, four days before the mid-terms.  The White House pollsters knew the Republicans were poised to take the House and launch probes of the president.

A White House team had already been assembled months before to prepare for a full court press by the House for Biden's documents. The team sent lawyers scurrying first to the Penn Biden Center located in Washington. Americans are supposed to believe Biden didn't tell his lawyers where to search.

Once Biden's crony Garland learned of the first batch of documents he asked the FBI on November 9 for an assessment. He did not order an FBI raid on Biden's residence. The FBI didn't snap photos of Biden's classified documents to distribute to the media. Double standards are Garland's idea of justice.

According to multiple news sources, the documents found at Penn Biden were top secret intelligence reports on Ukraine and Iran.   

When the story broke, the media immediately wrapped Biden in a protective cocoon.  The Penn Biden Center documents were not the same as the cache at President Trump's private residence.  Then classified documents were found at Biden's private residence.  Bet Karine didn't see that coming.

The media oligarchy did what it always does--dredging up former President Trump to defend Biden.  Poor old Joe just forgot he had these classified documents.  Trump deliberately took documents and locked them in his Florida residence.  Mean, bad Trump.  Joe gets a pass because he's "honest."

What a crock. The media is right about the difference in the two cases.  Biden went six years before the documents came to light. Documents were haphazardly squirreled away in four locations at Penn Biden and his residence. No one knew he had the documents. The FBI knew the location of Trump's cache.

After the raid on Trump's home, Biden told CBS that it was "irresponsible" for the former president to keep classified documents in his private residence.  Biden's words came back to haunt him after documents were uncovered in his private residence in three different places, including his garage.

But the documents also cast a spotlight on Biden's relationship with the University of Pennsylvania, raising more questions about the president's ethics.

With his classified documents in tow, Joe's Penn Biden Center gig proved to be very lucrative.  Biden's tax returns show the University of Pennsylvania paid Biden $911,644 between 2017 and the spring of 2019, when he stepped aside to formally announce his bid for the presidency.  

Biden's China connections from his time as vice president handsomely benefited the university. A review of Department of Education records shows Penn collected more than $67.6 million in donations from China between 2013 and 2019. The majority, $47.7 million, flowed during the years Biden was at Penn.

To shroud the identity of donors, Penn says it collected $20 million from anonymous donors.  Those donors should be disclosed by the university.  Just releasing a press statement acknowledging the money came from China is not transparency.  Did the university collect money from "foreign agents" of China?

Surely, this is a coincidence and has no connection to the former vice president's role in China under the Obama Administration.  Not to mention his son Hunter's extensive business dealings with Chinese firms. After all, Americans should trust Joe because well, he's honest. Nothing to see here.

Those coincidences are piling up because it has been discovered the Chinese money and grants to Penn, courtesy of the Biden connection, had a purpose.  After the FBI became concerned about Chinese money targeting American academia, Garland quietly reversed the bureau's initiative.  

But look, President Biden would never be involved in a quid-pro-quid with China.  If he had known he had classified documents, including some designated top secret, he would have turned them over to the National Archives.  He's just average, honest Joe, his media acolytes assure the public. 

Every day seems to expose another Biden scandal. Soon it's bound to permanently damage the president and end his hopes of running for a second term. Biden defenders will be left to crying, "But Trump was worse." Biden is president not Trump.  He should be judged on his own unethical behavior. 

Nearly Guaranteed Top 12 Predictions For 2023

No one is shedding a tear over the end of 2022.  Sharp inflation. Record food price hikes. Highest ever gasoline prices. Worrisome product shortages. Rising interest rates. Steep stock market losses. A porous border. Runaway federal government spending.  War in the Ukraine.  Good riddance to 2022. 

No even Nostradamus could have predicted the gloom of 2022.

When the calendar flipped to 2023, forecasters with short memories are peddling cheery news about everything from the stock market to inflation.  Optimists claim the new year will make Americans forget 2022.  Not so fast.  My occasionally reliable, highly unpredictable crystal ball is blinking red.

1. The country sinks into a recession, as predicted by a majority of economists and large banks.  The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be negative for at least two straight quarters this year.  The Biden Administration will avoid using the "r" word, referring to the crisis as a "temporary retraction." 

2. The economy will shed 1.1 million jobs as more major companies in the technology sector and big firms are forced to layoff employees in the face of less consumer spending.  First time unemployment claims increase each month.  Expect the unemployment rate to climb to 4.5% by year's end.

3.  Adding to the economic woes consumer credit card debt and personal loan delinquencies surge in the new year.  Consumers have been on a spending binge the last two years seemingly immune to inflationary prices.  A consumer retrenchment will negatively impact corporate earnings. 

4.  After the worse market since 2008, equities managers are clinging to history that shows markets tend not to experience two negative years in a row.  Equities bounce around early on before gaining momentum. Stocks finish the year strong with the S&P (+20%) outperforming the NASDQ and Dow. 

5. Home sales will reach their lowest point since the 1980's as interest rates make real estate less affordable, especially for first-time buyers. The good news is that the overheated increases in prices will abate except in a few markets where demand for high-end homes flourishes such as Texas and Florida.

6. The Federal Reserve, as promised by Jerome Powell, will continue to raises rates in the new year as inflation persistently refuses to fall lower than 5.8%. Food and energy prices leap higher than the CPI. Eventually, Fed hikes dampen growth, prompting Powell to forego a rate hike in fourth quarter.

7.  COVID infection rates soar past 70% in China after the Communist nation abandons its COVID Zero policy. New highly infectious variants develop as the virus rages, killing 1 million Chinese.  Chinese travelers spread the virus globally, leading to worldwide outbreaks.  

8. The Supreme Courts ends its temporarily halt of Title 42, which allows the expulsion of illegal immigrants under pandemic-era restrictions. The move unleashes a torrent of border crossings, prompting the forced resignation of Alejandro Mayorkas.

9. More fast food restaurants will join the robot revolution as testing by Chipotle, White Castle and others proves diners are satisfied with food prepared by robots.  The fast food industry will move quicker to adopt robots and AI as wage increases and the difficulty hiring workers persist.   

10.  The collapse of FTX Exchange, once a $32 billion enterprise, prods the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue regulations for the cryptocurrency industry.  As more crypto exchanges and lenders file for bankruptcy, the new rules clamp down on the industry, softening currency demand.    

11.  The Chinese will not launch an invasion of Taiwan instead increasing menacing militaristic tactics to cower the island.  When the U.S. fails to intervene, China finds an excuse to encircle the island with a naval armada.  China threatens a blockade unless Taiwan makes concessions.  

12. Trying to speculate on Putin's strategy in Ukraine is a fool's pursuit.  But the most likely scenario is the European Union will push for a settlement as energy supplies dwindle, sapping economic growth. Ukraine is pressured into a diplomatic solution when EU/US commit billions to rebuild the country.   

Print this column and wave in your prognosticator's face at the end of 2023.  However, if you have your own predictions you would like to share, I would like to read them.  After all, the prediction business is full of people who get it wrong every year.  And that has never stopped anyone, including me.  

NY Times: Yes, Virginia, There Is NO Santa Clause

 Dear Editor:

I am eight years old.  Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.  Papa, says, "If you see it in The New York Times, it's so. Please tell the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon

115 West 95th Street

Virginia, you did not include your gender or personal pronouns, so we at the prestigious and pompous The New York Times are in a quandary.  How do we address you?  Also, you may be eight but do you identify as a 10-year old?  You see the conundrum you have created with your brief letter.

Let me first say, I am surprised someone eight even has to ask the Santa Claus question.  Are you being home schooled?  Every third grader knows Santa Claus is just a ruse to allow greedy corporate titans to sell toys to overindulgent parents. Public schools teach the truth about the Santa myth.  

George Soros funded fact-checkers at The Washington Post gave five Pinocchios to your parents' claim about Santa Claus.  Supposedly, Santa Claus has been around for like a thousand years.  Really, Virginia, you would have to be as gullible as an FTX Exchange investor to believe that fairy tale. 

So, no, Santa Claus does not exist. Tell your parents they are enemies of the government for spreading misinformation.  I suggest you turn them into the new Disinformation Governance Board created by our Dear Leader Joe Biden.  It's not snitching if your loving, caring parents spread lies.  

Judging from your naiveté, I should warn you that crime in your New York neighborhood is not rising, no matter what your Dad says.  We have a saying around The New York Times, "Don't believe the official crime reports from NY Police.  Police are racists and Ultra Mega white supremacists."

Obviously you lead a sheltered life, so I suggest you question your gender identity.  Perhaps, you believe you are a girl, but you may actually be a boy trapped in a female body.  Or you could be non-binary.  In that case, you may get a government job in the administration of Our Dear Leader.

There are surgeries available to address gender fluidity.  Don't tell Mommy or Daddy but you can get counseling at your local public school.  Teachers will help you explore options for gender mutilation. You can go from Virginia to Vincenzo in one afternoon.  Exciting stuff, huh? 

Question everything your parents tell you. They may not have you best interests at heart.  I mean they have already lied about Santa Claus.  What other untruths have they told?  Surely, they didn't tell you there is a  God?  Rely on the federal government and the FBI for honest, truthful information.  

Above all, don't listen to your friends, especially those whose parents drive gasoline cars. They are squeezing the life out of our planet. Your home will be destroyed by rising seas. The polar bears in the New York Zoo will all die.  You will have to relocate to Mars.  You don't want that, right?

To save the planet we all must sacrifice, Virginia. Here are some things you can do. Use only one sheet of toilet paper in the bathroom. Don't eat beef because cows produce methane gas.  Eat plant-based steaks instead. Throw red paint on artworks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  

You didn't mention your parents' race, Virginia. But I assume by your name they are lily-white.  No parent of color would burden their child with an alabaster name.  Your parents family probably owned slaves. That means you are racist and should shame your parents into paying reparations.

In closing, I want to invite you to a holiday Drag Queen Show just for youngsters hosted by The New York Times. This will open your mind to the wonderful world you live in.  Who knows, you have grow up to be a queen one day! The possibilities for someone your age are limited only by the government. 

Editor-in-chief

Author Saltburger Jr.

P.S. I don't recommend a career in journalism, Virginia. Slave laborers make more money than a Times reporter.  I should know, I set the pay scales around here. 

Crypto Billionaire's Democrat Connections

The stench of a scandal involving crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is creating a stink for powerful Washington politicians. The beleaguered owner of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been a mega-donor to the Democratic Party for years, pledging $1 billion in funding during the recent midterms. 

Democrats are rushing to return millions of dollars in donations to avoid the offensive whiff of ties with the bankruptcy of Bankman-Fried's crypto currency trading platform.  The 30-year-old crypto kingpin stepped down from FTX after its collapse. He's currently holed up in his penthouse in the Bahamas.

Unsuccessful Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rouke is giving back $1 million, joining Democrats Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (NY), Rep. Durbin (lIlinois) , Rep. Chuy Garcia (AZ), Rep. Lucy McBath (GA), Salud Carbajal (CA) and a host of other red-faced Congressional members scurrying for cover.

Although the mercurial billionaire bankrolled mostly Democrats, he tried to leverage two  Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee as part of his lobbying effort to put the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in charge of crypto regulation.  They each received $5,800. 

All those dollar signs are just a trickle of the gusher of cash that was unleashed by the crypto fraudster.  The majority of Bankman-Fried's largess was showered on Democrat campaign committees and so-called dark money organizations.  That money will never be returned. 

The political stampede began after Bahamian-based FTX filed for bankruptcy, sending shivers through the crypto industry and unnerving anxious investors.  A company document showed FTX has less than $1 billion in liquid assets and nearly $9 billion in liabilities.  The company listed 100,000 creditors. 

Questions are also swirling around the handling of customer funds at Alameda Research, a trading firm 90% owned by Bankman-Fried. Money allegedly was funneled from FTX to the trading outfit, disappearing into a black hole that investigators are trying to untangle.  

The epic crash of FTX conjured up similarities with the Bernie Madoff scandal.  Embarrassed U.S. regulators claimed there was no resemblance.  However, like Madoff, Bankman-Fried was hailed as a financial genius and  philanthropic champion with powerful friends in Washington. 

Bankman-Fried shoveled money like crop fertilizer throughout the halls of Washington, gaining access to top federal officials.  The crypto magnate donated $5.2 million to President Biden's 2020 campaign, according to OpenSecrets. That cash opened doors to top administration officials.  

Official records show Bankman-Fried visited the White House in June, where he made his $1 billion pledge, which he later reneged on.  The entrepreneur met with the White House counselor Steve Ricchetti in April and May, according to White House logs.  Ricchetti is a top Biden advisor.  

He powwowed with Charolette Butash, a policy advisor to the White House deputy chief of staff. At the time, FTX was lobbying Congress to shape crypto regulation. Crypto currency watchdog, Consumer Choice Center, warned that Bankman-Fried wanted to use regulation to strangle smaller competitors.  

Eight months before Bankman-Fried's empire crumbled, he joined s video call with top financial regulator Gary Gensler, according to The New York Times.  The former chief executive was seeking approval for exemption from the threat of fines for securities violations by cryptocurrency firms.

Gensler is the current chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates the securities industry and protects investors.  He was appointed to this position by President Biden in 2021.  Now Gensler is under fire for his agency's lack of oversight of the cryptocurrency industry.

Money buys influence in Washington and no one used that lever better than Bankman-Fried.  The disgraced financier doled out $39.8 million in the midterms, all but $989,856 going to Democrats. He was the sixth largest midterm election donor, only dwarfed by George Soros' $128.4 million. 

Bankman-Fried doled out $6 million on the Democrat House Majority PAC. He shelled out $28 million to the Protect Our Future PAC in an effort to ingratiate himself with lawmakers weighing crypto regulations, according to an article in Politico.  

Bankman-Fried, FTX co-CEO Ryan Salane and Director of Engineering Nishad Singh collectively poured $70.1 million in the mid-terms, a staggering sum of money.  The amount is ten times more than FTX contributed in the 2020 presidential election, reports OpenSecrets.  

The list of Bankman-Fried's PAC donations stretch for two pages on the website for OpenSecrets, which uses filings with the Federal Elections Commission to compile its data.  Follow the money if you want to know who carries political clout in Washington.  

The question is how long will Joe Biden's Department of Justice and SEC dither until they charge Bankman-Fried?  When will he be expedited? Bankman-Fried apparently isn't worried.  He is making the media rounds, trying to restore his shattered reputation while apologizing for the FTX implosion. 

Investors want justice.  But Bankman-Fried paid for political protection and influence.  Washington politicians never eat their benefactors. That's why no one should expect a full investigation of Bankman-Fired's efforts to buy influence with Democrats and the administration.    

Biden And Media Prepare For Armageddon

For months Team Biden corralled lawyers and public relations experts to confront a day they hoped would never arrive. Their worst fears are now a reality.  When Republicans officially won control of the House, they signaled their first order of business would be an investigation of the president.

More than four months ago top White House officials huddled in the Roosevelt Room to prepare for this scenario.  Richard Sauber, former Biden campaign attorney, spearheaded the effort to build a war room to deal with expected GOP subpoenas and data requests, reports CNN. 

Sauber had been appointed Veterans Administration general council by the president in 2021.  Now his business card reads: special counsel to the president.  Sauber has experience with the Hunter Biden scandal. He squelched original reports about damaging information on Hunter's  laptop.  

Sauber was the least surprised when House Republicans made clear their plans to focus on linking President Biden to the foreign business dealings of his son, Hunter.  Rep. James Comer (R-Ky), slated to chair the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee next year, fired the opening shot. 

Comer alleged the president "misused his public positions to further his financial interests." He backed up his claims with a trove of evidence recovered from Hunter's laptop and from documents that show the president participated in meetings and phone calls about his son's foreign business dealings.

The pro-Biden media cabal already had its marching orders.  After two years of calling the Biden laptop Russian disinformation, CBS pivoted this month and claimed forensic experts had verified the device belonged to Hunter. CBS pirouetted on November 22 after Comer's announcement.  

The news outlet was the last holdout of laptop deniers.  Their reversal followed flip-flops from NBC, ABC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Politico.  Every single one of these Democratic Party propaganda organizations spent more than year debunking the veracity of the laptop.  

The New York Post broke the story three weeks before the 2020 president election about the laptop and printed reports detailing the contents on the device. Social media, led by Twitter and Facebook, censored the story under a flimsy pretense that the information on the laptop was unauthenticated.

The Post went to great lengths to verify the laptop belonged to Hunter and published details of its authentication process.  It didn't matter.  This was a coordinated social and news media blackout to preserve Biden's chances for election.  The White House orchestrated the censorship. 

In those days, Biden spokespersons repeatedly called the laptop Russian disinformation.  It cajoled a bevy of former government intelligence leaders to support the specious charge.  The scandal was embalmed and buried to protect Joe Biden. The censorship was part of a massive coverup. 

So why did the media have a change of heart about the laptop?

These not-so-clever media moguls decided to confirm the laptop verification in anticipation of the upcoming House hearings.  Now the cabal can claim emails, photos and other information on the laptop is old news.  There is nothing more to see. Disinformation and distraction are favorite media ploys. 

The Associated Press recently issued a dispatch that likely will be the media blueprint throughout the hearings. "Joe Biden has said he's never spoken to his son about his foreign business and nothing the Republicans have put forth suggests otherwise," the AP wrote mimicking the White House.

A blindfolded media just cannot see the connection between former Vice President Biden and his son flying on Air Force Two to China. After the trip, Hunter landed a sweetheart multi-billion dollar deal with a Chinese owned energy firm.  Only the naive believe the two never talked about the deal.

The Washington Post reported that entities controlled by Hunter Biden and this Uncle Jim Biden reaped $4.8 billion over 14 months from the Chinese government controlled firm. No wonder the Treasury Department issued at least 150 Suspicious Activity Reports related to Biden family transactions. 

There are emails on Hunter's laptop from Ukrainian and other foreign clients thanking Hunter for arranging meetings with his father.  There are photos from dinners and meetings which link the president to Hunter's partners.  One email specifies how to divvy up the funds with the "Big Guy."

There is enough evidence on the laptop to prove Biden knew of his son's foreign business dealings. An honest, unbiased media would have already connected the dots back to the president.  However, expect the unscrupulous cabal to ignore the hearings and to smear every Republican on the committee.  

Democrats are laughably lecturing the nation about the Republicans lack of seriousness because they want to investigate the president. Democrats spent four years probing and impeaching President Trump, including flogging a Russian collusion narrative that was not verified by anyone except Hillary Clinton.

There is imminently more evidence about Biden's knowledge and participation in Hunter's deals than there was about Russia collusion. Democrats can squeal all they want, but the GOP is just using the political strategy perfected by Democrats. Why can't the GOP play by Democrats' rules?

Democrats employed every polarizing precedent they could dream up to destroy the Trump presidency. In politics, payback is inevitable.  Is this sort of gamesmanship good for America? Of course, not. But Democrats ceded the high moral ground six years ago, therefore, their protests ring hollow.  

How Democrats Turned Red Wave Into Blue Foam

This year's midterm elections shattered every historical axiom.  Dating to World War II, the incumbent president's party has loss an average of 28 House seats and four Senate seats.  Losses are normally worst in times of economic distress.  Yet Democrats defied precedent, staving off deep losses.  

Never have so many experts been so wrong about an election. Republicans seemed poised to rack up big gains. Instead, voters shrugged off record inflation, a brutal stock market, rising crime and an influx of illegal immigrants. They voted Democratic in spite of their sour mood about the country's future.   

Even the political class cannot explain this conundrum.  Exit polls by the National Election Pool Survey found about three-quarters of voters rated the economy as weak and about the same number believed the country is headed in the wrong direction.  Voters, illogically, cast ballots for the party in power.  

In the aftermath, political pundits, party strategists and the news media gleefully named former President Donald Trump as the culprit. Trump, a habitual target, certainly deserves some responsibility  for the GOP's lackluster results.  But this knee-jerk analysis doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

Another popular view is the caliber of some candidates hurt the GOP. But an unbiased observer must admit there were more than a few clunkers on the Democratic Party side.  Exhibit A is John Fetterman in Pennsylvania, a stroke victim who hid from voters and reporters for most of the campaign.

No Republican wants to confront the reason for their embarrassing performance.  Democrats outsmarted, out spent and out maneuvered the GOP, managing to narrowly lose the House and hold the Senate. Here are a few insights into how the Democrats crushed the red wave.

• Democrats focused on mail-in ballot initiatives to build sizable margins, just as they did in 2020.  More than 40.7 million Americans voted either by mail or early in person. More mail-in and early ballots were cast in this election than in the 2018 midterm (36 million), despite record turnout that year. Republicans spent too much effort on turning out voters on election day.  Banking votes early is the best way to guarantee turnout. The GOP still hasn't learned that lesson, disdaining efforts to harvest mail-in ballots.
• Democrats intervened in GOP primaries, spending money on negative ads to smear candidates they deemed less extreme and therefore the toughest to beat.  The move triggered blowback within the party because it cut into funds in Democrat primary races.  But in the end, it worked. The GOP primary winners often had baggage that made them vulnerable to Democrat attacks.     
• A record $16.7 billion in campaign funds was spent in the midterms. By some estimates the Democrats outspent Republicans two-to-one in key races.  The GOP, especially in Senate races, spread the funds too thin, often depriving candidates of needed dollars.  Mitch McConnell, in particular, made funding decisions based on Senators who would back his candidacy as minority leader. Too many "out of favor" GOP candidates were starved for campaign funds that could have made a difference.
• More young people turned out to vote in the midterm election than anticipated.  Estimates are 27% of young people (18-29) cast ballots in the election.  It is the second highest youth turnout percentage in the past 30 years.  The National Election Pool Survey estimated 63% of youths voted Democratic.  Those votes swung key races in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia.  Polling showed the top issues with young voters were student loan forgiveness and abortion. 
• Republican messaging was a an incoherent hodgepodge, ranging from crime to the border.  This election was about the economy stupid!  Inflation and the economy should have been the laser focus. Even when candidates talked about this issue, they offered few solutions.  Illegal immigration didn't resonate with voters outside border states.  And even in crime ridden areas, voters didn't trust Republicans to fix the issue.

Despite the appalling showing, Republicans can take some solace from a few positives that emerged. Based on CNN exit polls and the National Election Pool Survey, Republicans made inroads with suburban women.  Hispanics and African-Americans were more supportive of Republicans than in past elections. The GOP garnered 5 million votes more than Democrats in the election. Those are encouraging signs. 

Republicans had more advantages this election than they may ever have again. But still lost. Republicans have no one to blame but party leadership in the House, Senate and the GOP National 

Committee.  If the GOP insists on following the same script, they will be a permanent minority. 

Diesel Shortage Will Stoke Inflationary Fires

Inflation weary Americans are facing another shortage that will take a bigger bite out of their paychecks.  Supplies of diesel fuel are plummeting to historic lows, creating record spikes in the cost for distillate products. A perfect storm is brewing that threatens to ignite an inflationary inferno.   

Diesel prices have jumped 33% for November deliveries.  The national average price for a gallon of diesel is $5.37.  Oil experts expect the price to climb another 15 to 20 cents in the next few weeks. Diesel prices were $2.364 a year ago.  The record is $5.713 per gallon, which may soon be eclipsed. 

Households using heating oil will spend about $2,354 this winter, a 27% increase from 2021. This comes at the time when families are having a difficult time paying their electric and gas bills.  About one in six U.S. households are in arrears, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The diesel crunch will ripple throughout the economy.  Air travel will be more expensive.  Propane, used to heat some households, will cost more.  Transporting goods by  diesel trains will soar.  Farmers cost of producing food will rise.  Prices for shipping via diesel trucks will surge.  

The result will be even higher costs for food and consumer goods.  As a result, American consumers will once again bear the brunt of the failed policies of the Biden Administration that are crimping the supply of fossil fuels and discouraging oil production.  

President Biden announced $13.5 billion in funding to help low-income households deal with high heating costs.  But the president offered nothing to relieve the shortage.  The administration's answer is to blame the refineries and oil companies for making windfall profits. That's not a solution.  

The petroleum industry is warning the nation has a 25-day supply. Pro-Biden media fact-checkers claim the industry is misleading Americans. Yet Biden's Department of Energy released data confirming the country has 25 days of diesel supply remaining.  Misinformation is a media staple.   

The fact is distillate inventories haven't been this low in November since the EIA began reporting the data in 1982.  This is a far worse than previous shortages, according to the EIA.  These low inventories are the reason prices are marching upward. 

The crunch is far worse in the New York/New England markets, which depend on heating oil during the winter.  Diesel inventories have plunged 50% since last year, the lowest level since 1990.  East Coast refineries are currently operating at 102% of capacity, however, supplies are running dangerously low.

The current diesel shortage can be traced to a number factors. The industry has shuttered 13 oil refineries which accounted for more than 1.4 million barrels of oil per day.  That is more than 7% of the country's entire capacity for refining gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Last month, Lyondell Basell industries announced it will close its 104-year old refinery by the end of next year.  That will result in the reduction of 263,000 barrels of production a day.   Since 2018, only three new refineries have opened as environmental regulations blunt the incentive to build more.  

Older refineries are closing because retrofitting the facilities to meet new regulations is not economically feasible.  Regulatory and environmental hurdles add substantial costs to plans for new refineries. Additionally, environmental lawsuits often derail projects before construction.  

Paul Doucette, a former energy transition and general manager at Baker Hughes, explained the disincentives for Forbes.  "The real questions for refineries right now is whether to invest billions of dollars on retrofitting old facilities.  You ask yourself, can I make money over the next 40-years? 

"The market is telling you that EV's are becoming more popular, that pressures to reduce emissions are more severe, that carbon prices or taxes may be coming in the near future, and that the environmental community may not want you there."

Complicating the supply issue, the U.S. has been exporting more than one million gallons of diesel to Latin American nations and Europe to help those countries stick to their pledge to buy no fuel from Russia. Latin America is the largest purchaser of American refined gasoline products.

The European Union needs to replace two million tons of diesel imports from Russia.  In addition, the International Energy Agency estimates the EU's demand for refined produces will increase by 300,000-500,000 barrels per day during winter to meeting heating demands.  

This administration can't truthfully claim they were caught flat-footed by this crisis.  Demand for distillate fuels (diesel, jet fuel, heating oil) historically leaps at this time of the year in the U.S.  It does every single year.  There is nothing nefarious going on. 

Unfortunately, there is no likely scenario where consumers win.  For his part, President Biden has shown no empathy for average Americans footing the bill for his misguided policies.  His plan is to destroy the fossil fuel industry no matter the costs to Americans or the damage to the economy.