As 41 million Americans go hungry for lack of food stamps Donald Trump pay for even as judges have ordered him to release the funds, here’s a little food for the vomitory of corruption known anachronistically as the Trump administration.
Last month former French President Nicholas Sarkozy began a prison sentence on a conviction for taking money from the late Libyan despot Muammar Qaddafi in 2007 to finance his presidential campaign. Sarkozy took a few million dollars. He won. He served a five-year term. He’s spending the next five-year term at La Santé, where France used to execute its worst until 1981.
Donald Trump just accepted a $400 million gift from another Arab despot in the shape of a 747. He has raided nearly $1 billion out of the country’s missile defense modernization budget so he can retrofit the plane in gold and gaud. If the secret project is completed before Trump is scheduled to leave office, which is doubtful (both the completion and Trump leaving), the plane will fly at most for a few weeks, then get parked as a re-gift to the Trump library in Miami, on land stolen from the public trust and handed over to Trump at no cost, Qatari style.
The 2.6 acres belong to Miami Dade College. The land is officially appraised at $67 million. As anyone who’s ever looked at property appraiser values knows, those figures are meaningless. Miami developer Gregg Covin has twice submitted development plans to the college for classrooms, offices and a cultural complex on the land, which could have incorporated Trump’s library. He values the land at between $200 to $300 million, or closer to the cost of a Qatar Airways handmedown. “It should have been a giant expansion of Miami Dade College with the presidential library as part of it,” Covin told the Miami Herald.
The Miami Dade board met all but secretly–that is, without proper notice under the Sunshine law–and voted to hand over the land at no cost to the state. Gov. DeSantis offered the land to Trump’s library foundation. Because of the rampant corruption, a federal judge has halted the transfer for now. That stay will get quashed on appeal, as Trump-appointed judges weigh in.
Trump himself made a deal for two new Air Force Ones in 2018. The government–the American government, that is–has a $4.3 billion contract with Boeing to build the two planes (it was originally supposed to cost $3.9 billion). It has already spent $3.6 billion, not counting the $2.5 billion Boeing absorbed as losses it is contractually barred from billing taxpayers. The planes were supposed to be delivered last year. Boeing now says they may not be finished until the end of Trump’s term. He’s fuming. He has reason to. But he’s not without an excellent pair of Air Force Ones right now. Compared to the 707s Ronald Reagan flew, are palaces of airborne excess.
The 707 installed at Reagan’s library in Simi Valley didn’t make it there until 2004, the year of Reagan’s death from Alzheimer’s–it’s not clear whether he’d have approved: he had vanity, not vulgarity–after flying for 28 years and serving seven presidents.
But Trump wants his toys. He’s willing to take the biggest bribe in American history and ignore security risks from the country that hosts Hamas’s headquarters. He is willing to rob the nation’s defense budget to gold-plate it. He’s willing to undercut Boeing, one of the country’s largest companies, with slanders and tantrums. For all that, he may end up with three Air Force Ones for over $5 billion just for a few weeks at the end of his term.
There is no precedent for any of this. Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran-Contra, Whitewater, Monica Lewinsky, Jack Abramoff: all those scandals are feather dust on the scale of corruption and wasted dollars the Air Force One bribe implicates. Any other president would have been impeached and thrown out of office by now. This one continues to be beatified almost as much as Charlie Kirk.
Add to that the defilement of the East Wing of the White House to make room for a ballroom the size and class of a Walmart Supercenter (nearly twice the size of the White House) and paying for it with another $300 million in private bribes, or Trump’s attempt to steal $230 million from the Treasury in damages for harms he allegedly suffered in previous investigations (he claims he’ll donate the money to charity; like his library?) or flying off on a junket to Asia for more private family deals in the middle of a government shutdown over millions of Americans losing health coverage and 41 million losing their food stamps benefits–and that’s just this week’s obscenities.
Congress’s response? Pass the boot for another lick as Trump dumps shit on protesters. What a country, as Yakov Smirnoff still says from his stage in Branson, Maga’s cultural capital. And you thought only liberals suffered from Trump derangement syndrome.
Pierre Tristam is the editor of FlaglerLive. A version of this piece airs on WNZF.
Pogo says
@P.T.
Every word, the truth — somewhat understated (humor) about the most loathsome individual in US history. The tremors of the unfolding catastrophe that is causing the flu of the soul many now feel is a mere prelude… We are slouching forward — in a circle, and descending spiral.
… God is happy — he plays with us.
— Farah, 1985 filmOut of Africa
Skibum says
The corruption from this man and his family never ends. When he is finally gone after defiling the highest office in the land, after intentionally ignoring his oath and constitutional responsibilities, and after causing so much hurt and heartache to the American public, we should also hold accountable all of the other sycophants who let him get away will all of this damage to our nation and it’s citizens.
We need to name each one, publicly disgrace them for their failures to live up to their oaths of office and constitutional responsibilities, and ensure they NEVER again hold any public office where they could do further harm to Americans. Because our forefathers enacted safeguards that would have, SHOULD HAVE, prevented this American bred monster from doing so much harm and damage had the others done their jobs and stood up to his unconstitutional, unethical abuses of power. But they did nothing, averted their eyes, and watched as he dismantled our constitutional protections, became more and more unhinged, corrupted our federal courts, attempted to rig election results, and spit in the faces of the American people.
And for that America can never, ever forget or forgive the ones who are culpable and responsible for allowing a morally bankrupt, power hungry, dictator wanna-be to enrich himself at the expense of the country this convicted felon president was supposed to serve, not steal from and shit on.
John Calvin says
I didn’t vote this last election. Why you might ask? I didn’t NEED to, already knowing which way this state would go. Don’t you wish you could say the same? Yet all you will do is whine, cry and yell how oppressed you are and how terrible the other side is but (like also the editor of this rag) will offer NO solutions for ANY problem or issue but continue to denigrate and divide. Laws are made for a reason, you don’t seem to realize they apply to you as well as most of your side completely lose it when they are now applied. Your “King” schtick is juvenile and boring and what is genuinely frightening is that you really think change will be affected by it.
Ed P says
Pierre,
I recognize you are the editor and monitor of the site. Your intelligence and ideologies are transparent to anyone familiar with your work. This opinion piece feels like you intentionally framed it as a factual summary and feels very disingenuous.
Pogo praised it as truth and under stated.
Pierre Tristam says
I do not write anything that isn’t factually grounded, verified and demonstrable. Try it sometime. It won’t seem so disingenuous to you if your sniffing sophistry from an Olympus of your fabrication weren’t the definition of disingenuousness.
BillC says
This from a guy who recently wrote “most people are oblivious to the tariffs or understand what effect they will have directly upon them.” The recent election proved “most people” get it, despite Trump’s claims that exporters pay the tariffs. Another sad case of Trump Devotional Syndrome.
Sherry says
Good Morning Bill C. . .
Thanks so much for picking up on my new definition of “TDS”. . . I am honored! Let’s spread the word on the most dangerous/hate filled/idiotic version of “TDS”= Trump Devotion Syndrome/Trump Devotional Syndrome or “TDDS”= Trump Demented Devotion Syndrome.
It’s “ALL” Good!
BillC says
Yup that definition of yours re TDS is right on point! Hope MAGAs will think about it.
Ed P says
BillC,
If you google(Gemini Ai)
What percentage of the general public can define the concept of tariffs and understands how they impact consumers?
Answer: “fewer than half of the general public can accurately define tariffs and comprehend their full impact on consumers.”
Most is defined as more than half.
BillC says
That was back in Jan. 2024. Try to stay current.
Greg says
I really don’t agree with all thst you write, too much one sided. But I will say THANK YOU for Flagler Live. Yiu do a wonderful service to the area. We will ne moving out of Palm Coast next week. Again, thank you for the service you do
FlaglerLive says
Thank you Greg, that’s wonderful to hear-and what a dull world this would be (no offense to Satchmo) if we all agreed about everything all the time. I hope you keep reading us, wherever you go. We reach as far as the Oort Cloud.
Ed P says
Thank you for the invite.
The Qatari government that you and you ilk call Arab despots, offered the $400 million dollar jet for potential U.S. government use. The plane was not officially a gift to Trump personally.(Snopes, Gemini , Chatgpt, ect)
No public records indicate any diversion of defense funds or gold-plating of the aircraft. Security upgrades will cost millions, but $1 billion and “gold” are exaggerations. (FactCheck.org, Chatgpt, Gemini).
No public evidence exists confirming timelines or completion of any “secret project” ( pure hyperbole )
The core legal issue is whether the jet remains a government asset or becomes a personal benefit for Trump. It would violate constitutional and statutory prohibitions against accepting valuable gifts from foreign power and despots, even Arab despots. Trump would never stain what he perceives as his legacy with that controversial proposition.
The new Air Force One project has seen costs increase from the initial $3.9 billion to an estimated $5.6 billion (2 jets) that are not scheduled for completion until 2029, or maybe as late as 2035.
The Qatari jet even with cost of retrofit will be significantly cheaper and serviceable sooner. It may end up being the Air Force One during the interim.
The current Air Force One fleet is over 30 years old.
Bottom line? Your article mixes verified facts with exaggeration, speculation and unsupported accusations. Many statements are framed as fact, but lack credible evidence.
Pierre Tristam says
It is unfortunate that EdP, one of our frequent fliers on our banned list for reckless falsehoods, is now relying on ChatGPT and Gemini for his facts. I don’t use ChatGPT, but I do use Gemini, and am constantly having to correct it–too often for basic facts. Snopes is better, but it might help EdP to cite it correctly. He cites Snopes to discredit my reference of the Qatari plane as a gift to Trump. Snopes refers specifically to “the Boeing 747 plane U.S. President Donald Trump received as a gift from Qatar earlier that year.” But EdP not only doesn’t read the sources he cites. He is now using AI to write his comments, which explains why he is piling error on top of misinterpretations on top of bullshit. Note that he never includes links: Neither does AI, unless you hunt for them, but he’s too lazy to do that, and even the links AI offers are crappy half the time. Since he represents a new breed of lazy AI-induced comatose disinformers, and since he’s questioning my reporting’s accuracy, it’s unfortunately necessary to correct him publicly. (I don’t have time to waste on EdP every time, so next time we’ll revert to the old necessity of simply banning his comment.)
As noted, the plane was absolutely and officially a gift to Trump. “Personally” is a little indemnifying sophistry your ilk has been fond of using to evade the fact. For a little further proof, ABC News reported it, as have all reputable news organizations, a gift to the Trump administration–meaning to Trump himself, since Air Force One is not exactly chartered to schmucks stranded at Newark by Trump’s shutdown.
It isn’t my “ilk” who call Qatar’s government “despots.” Qatar, by all human rights measures, is a non-democratic, repressive country that brutalizes the migrant workers who keep it viable, treats women as third-class citizens and criminalizes LGBTQ people, though that’s not much different than Florida or the Trump administration.
Of course “No public records indicate any diversion of defense funds,” because, as has been repeatedly reported, Trump is keeping the project secret. So to claim “public records” or “public evidence” to discredit what reporting we do have on the secrecy is in the same category as claiming that the gift is not “personally” to Trump, but worse, because we know the refurbishing is going to cost around $1 billion, we know Congress hasn’t approved it, we know Trump is doing it, and we know he’s having to dip into defense appropriations to do it. The Times reported on July 27: “Officially, and conveniently, the price tag has been classified. But even by Washington standards, where “black budgets” are often used as an excuse to avoid revealing the cost of outdated spy satellites and lavish end-of-year parties, the techniques being used to hide the cost of Mr. Trump’s pet project are inventive. Which may explain why no one wants to discuss a mysterious, $934 million transfer of funds from one of the Pentagon’s most over-budget, out-of-control projects — the modernization of America’s aging, ground-based nuclear missiles. In recent weeks, congressional budget sleuths have come to think that amount, slipped into an obscure Pentagon document sent to Capitol Hill as a “transfer” to an unnamed classified project, almost certainly includes the renovation of the new, gold-adorned Air Force One that Mr. Trump desperately wants in the air before his term is over.” Even Snopes could not discredit the reporting. All it could say is that it could not confirm it. As for the gold:
Trump’s own 757 has gold-plated seat buckles, among other gaudy vulgarities. He’s not about to discover good taste at taxpayers’ expense. He has accepted the gift. It is the largest gift ever accepted. It is a violation of the emolument clause of the Constitution, but of course like his similarly comatose congressmen, no one is challenging the supreme leader.
Bottom line: every statement of fact in the article is supported. In future, please refrain from deceptively passing off a comment as your own when it is clearly written by AI, or at least signal that you are using artificial intelligence. Believe me, no one would blame you. But as your AI helpers tell you, “Gemini can make mistakes, so double-check it.”
Skibum says
Thank you, Pierre! After reading Ed P’s falsehoods above, I was about to reply but there is no way I could have put into words anything closely resembling your expertly crafted condemnation of Ed’s disingenuous and boorish attempt at factualization. I hope he does better research in the future.
Jim says
Well said. It’s a shame Trump supporters struggle so mightily with facts!
Ed P says
Pierre,
Unfortunately I find the FL website a bit wonky and have lost many of posts when adding a link, let alone a second or third reference link.
Also, at times, I bump a click bate or an add link and like Houdini, my post vanishes.
I’m guessing it must be me, of course,
On your critique. Printing my critique speaks volumes and is appreciated.
Referencing many of your commenters’ criticisms , not just mine above, you frequently use personal inferences, and even direct name calling at times. In other critiques you use vulgarity as well. Try to remember Sergeant Joe Friday’s words.
Finally, you continually remind me of a supervisor I toiled under for a few years. His style of management, which I learned what not to do when leading people, was the continuous public threatening of firing people.
Remember, you can only kill a person once. By my count, I’m already dead at FL.
BillC says
Interesting cognitive distortion by Ed P. While castigating “I learned what not to do when leading people, was the continuous public threatening of firing people” that is precisely how his hero Trump operates. Oh, and speaking of heroes don’t forget https://collecttrumpcards.com/
Ed P says
BillC,
Trump is not anywhere near hero status in my life.
Also, I don’t pretend to understand your obsession with your continued misrepresentation or misunderstanding of my posts. I’m guessing it’s dislike. I am an acquired taste.
Once more, as always, you are wrong. I will restate my point so that it’s crystal clear.
As much as I appreciate the opportunity to post and debate on FL, if my opinions and ideologies continually are threatened for banning, then every post, response or comment would have to be measured and would be disingenuous just to please the moderator. Hence, I’m already banned.
BillC says
Please refer to “moderator”s assessment(s) of your posts, opinions and ideologies.
A republic if you can keep it . says
Trump has increased his wealth over $3B since he took power , his family and close servants have also benefited tremendously from his corrupt mafia methods. During his initial administration he learned just how much he could steal with the right people in place. He’s surrounded by lackeys who fail to make him aware of what showing off his wealth why people are going hungry and unable to pay for health care looks like.
Sherry says
Thank you Pierre! An excellent “factual” article! Loving it that such “FACTS” makes Maga uncomfortable. Awwww!
They could actually try to “debate” what you have written by trying to prove you wrong. But they simply can’t, Awwwww!
Sherry says
Here’s a little something to chew on. . .
It appears that MORE people voted AGAINST trump than voted FOR him! Yep, when you look at the numbers of the “Popular” vote and take into consideration those folks that voted for candidates “other” than trump and Harris. Here are the TOTALS from Ballotpedia:
Harris 75,019,230
Others + 2,878,359 EQUALS 77,897,589
While trump’s total was LESS at 77,303,568
Some Maga mandate! LOL! LOL! LOL!
TR says
So what difference does it make that 2,878,359 voted for someone other than Trump. They also didn’t vote for cackling Harris either. There were only two candidates that were on the ticket to become President. If these people voted for anyone else, that means they didn’t want Harris as president either. So those votes are a waste. But hey, the left can try and justify what they want, but Trump still won and is the President of the United States. The left may not like it, but the right didn’t like it that puppet Joe was President for 4 years and they had to learned to deal with it. So because the next election isn’t until Nov. 2028. I guess the left will just have to learn to deal with it. Because when you think about it, if the left would just go about their daily lives and enjoy life, instead of complaining about EVERY little thing that is happening (good or bad) with this administration. There would be less stress in their lives. Besides there is nothing they can do about changing the fact Trump is the President.
Bella Girl says
You must have it pretty easy in life and carry no concern for the millions of people negatively impacted by Trump, to be so dismissive of everything is about as arrogant and thoughtlessly disrespectful of your fellow citizens as one can be.
PaulT says
Blatant corrupption in a president isn’t ‘a little thing’. Nor is the failure of Congress to do it’s job of oversight.
It’s a bit strange but not a surprise to read that TR, who seems to think they are a spokesperson for ‘the right’ has overlooked the obvious. The only recent president who is generally acknowledged to be a puppet is the current incumbent, Donald J Trump.
Trump’s credentials as Putin’s puppet are clear, starting with liaisons during the Moscow Miss World shenanigans, reinforced by liasons during his 2015 presidential campaign then cemented by the cringewothy meeting in Helsinki. The recent demolition of Trump’s Ukraine peace plan apirations by Putin at that failed 2025 Alaska summit is the proof of the pudding.
Joe Biden was nobody’s puppet though he had a habit of undermining himself by blurting out the truth as he saw it. Trump doesn’t have that problem because he would neither recognize or admit the truth even if it bit him in the ass.
As for Trump’s embrace of corruption and self enrichment, anyone with half a brain would have recognized it before he was elected if they’d done an ounce of research on his decidedly shady past.
s
Thomas Hutson says
Pierre don’t fly the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA JET to TACO’s Kingdom just yet!! 2026-60 then 2028 will tell where that jet goes just like his other SHRINES to HIMSELF! That UGLY WAREHOUSE HE IS BUILDING SHOULD BE TORN DOWN! To what little information TACO’s minions let out! CONGRESS DID NOT APPROVE ANYTHING ! And all hail To KING TACO will be gone for good then! AND all gratuities given to TACO belong to the American people, not TACO.
Bo Peep says
Perhaps you should look into Joey B’s 1 million dollars salary from China laundered by UPENN I’m exchange for nothing.
Laurel says
Go ahead Peep, explain it.
FedUp says
This online news source has TDS.
Sherry says
@ fedup. . . many who comment here have “TDS” = “Trump Devotion Syndrome”!
PaulT says
Sholdn’t that be “MTDS” with the “M” standing for mindless?
Sherry says
@ Paul T. . . Couldn’t agree more! Or, how’s about “TDDS” Trump Demented Devotion Syndrome. There are just so many fun ways to “turn that table” on the whole pathetic Maga “TDS” thing!
TDS! TDS! TDS! Precisely what Maga says when they have no intelligent point to make, and absolutely zero credible facts to post. . . How lame and sad!
BillC says
“Trump Devotion Syndrome” perfectly pinpoints what MAGA is- a cult that believes Trump can do no wrong, like an avatar in a fictional world where facts don’t matter and reality doesn’t exist.
Laurel says
What’s amusing is, Trump supporters think that TDS, “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” is somehow labeling people who don’t approve of Trump! They don’t see how the label backfires on them!
John Stove says
Trumpo will not make it to the end of his term….he will either be booted out by the 25th amendment because of his obvious dementia…..or he will be impeached after the midterms due to all his lies about his obvious connections to Epstein and be proven to be a pedophile (on top of a convicted felon).
This imbecilic moron has done absolutely nothing for the average American or this country, other than line his (and his families pocket) with fraud and grift.
He (and the republicans who enable him) will forever be a chapter in the history books taught around the world about a wannabe king who led a cult of idiots and did nothing more than crack the foundations of this country.
Jim says
Trump just stated that gas is “$2.00/gallon” and then went on to say that “Walmart Thanksgiving dinner costs 25% less this year than last year under sleepy Joe Biden”. What he failed to include in that was that Walmart cut the amount of items from 21 (last year) to 15 (this year) and used Walmart branded instead of name brand goods (as they are cheaper). But it’s great to know that now we use the Walmart Thanksgiving Dinner price as a leading economic indicator in this White House…
It’s just beyond amazing to me that MAGA listens to this BS and swallows it like it’s honey for the soul. I just can’t understand why anyone would allow themselves to be lied to in such blatant ways and blindly shout to the world what a great president we have. To me, it just shows a level of ignorance that I see no reason to deal with. Much like the story of “if everyone jumped off the cliff, would you do it also?”. In the case of MAGA, just show’em the cliff. They’re more than ready.
I look forward to November 2026. I think we’re seeing that there are enough people in this country that see through the lies now that we can turn this country around. I sure hope I’m right!
Skibum says
Yes, Jim, you said it well. Because of drumph’s firing of the one federal official responsible for making public economic data, and then shuttering the agency where other data necessary for economic forecasts come from, all that we have left is a fairytale economic data talking point from Walmart, that itself was gerrymandered like the GOP congressional districts to ensure that it’s fantastical hype supported the idiot in the WH.
In addition to the fact that this year’s Walmart thanksgiving meal has 6 fewer items and more in-store brands being used than previous years, the most obvious item that is left out this year is DESERT! Who does thanksgiving without pumpkin pie or some other autumn themed desert? I bet NOBODY!
We I will add a huge PIE TO THE FACE of anyone stupid enough to believe this nonsensical maga approved Walmart advert that is nothing more than the latest disinformation effort to try to skew the facts about this country’s TRUE economic indicators and cost of groceries in 2025.
Had the individual(s) who hawked that laughable bit of disinformation from Walmart used it in applying for a job as an actual economist, they would have been laughed at and kicked out of any legitimate employment interview on their asses.
Joe D says
For Skibum:
I ALMOST fully agree with you….but…in all FAIRNESS ( since I ordered a Walmart THANKSGIVING TURKEY BUNDLE as a 1 click website bulk order, since I will use the shelf stable items…many on sale…even though maybe not at this THANKSGIVING celebration …the other items will get tossed into the 19 cu ft freezer for later…and because I got FREE PICK UP for some reason…rather than scurrying around the store to find the EXACT BUNDLE ITEMS). Last year’s BUNDLE included a premade pecan pie AND the ingredients for a pumpkin pie. Although the pecan pie is no longer in the bundle (possibly due to tariff prices added this year if the nuts…as most are…are grown OUTSIDE the US) there are 2 frozen pie shells, a can of real pumpkin pie filling and a (dented) can of condensed milk….so that technically counts as 1 “dessert.”
PS: the dented condensed milk can in my order, is why (aside from the USUAL extra expense for gathering my groceries for pick up or delivery) I don’t like SOMEONE ELSE deciding which can or banana or fresh produce item they are going to choose for me…because I can guarantee I choose the best item available, and not just grab the first item there in the pile.
Trump will GENERALLY ( in my opinion) pick and choose PARTIAL truths to enhance his image…and if the FACTS of his statements don’t fit his narrative…he simply MAKES UP something to cover the lies. Never in my life of 70+ years have I seen as many FACT CHECK articles or notations required by SOME Media, after speeches as began with Trump’s first election campaign, and have continued ever since.
Skibum says
Thanks for your reply, Joe.
Skibum says
Sorry, typing too fast I guess. I meant “dessert”, not desert in my reply to Jim. LOL~
John Calvin says
Name who the last President we had when gasoline was $5.00 a gallon in this very area….
Sherry says
@john . . . You do understand that no President directly controls the price of gas, right? Presidents DO control what “Lies” they tell about that price, though,. . . and trump has a wealth of those! Yes, he shares lies each and every day. It’s only the Maga “Fools” that gobble them up.
Gobble! Gobble! Said the Thanksgiving turkey, and we all know what happened to them. :)
John Calvin says
You are correct that Presidents themselves don’t set prices but their policies DO. Covid can no longer be used as the go to excuse for the highest inflation rate of this century to date. Within his first few days (if that long) in office Biden cancelled the extended branch of the Keystone Pipeline which eventually led to the US again buying increased amounts of crude from other countries. That wasn’t necessary, just a pandering to the environmentalists he cozied up to for supporting him. Almost emptying the Strategic Reserve just to drop prices .30 when the public panic was setting in was also purely political. That is why gas hit $5.00 here.
Sherry says
@john. . .
You are way behind the Maga curve on this particular stinky BS. Please educate yourself and look beyond Fox propaganda for your life’s perspective. Ray W. has researched and written extensively, citing credentialled facts, regarding what affects the price of gasoline.
In summary. . . Just a little (30 second Google) “Fact Checking”. . . this from the AP:
CLAIM: The Keystone XL pipeline cancellation caused the current high gas prices.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The Keystone XL crude oil pipeline wasn’t yet operational when it was canceled in 2021, and wasn’t expected to be running until 2023. Rather, experts say gas prices are high due to other factors such as the global spike in the cost of crude oil and increased demand after pandemic lockdowns ended.
Thanks!
Ray W. says
Hello John Calvin.
1: The pandemic will always be the direct cause of the damage originally inflicted on our economy, dating from 2020.
I agree with you that the overall original direct impact of the pandemic will recede in the fullness of time. By this admission, I agree that it can be true that intervening policy responses to the original structural economic damage directly caused by the pandemic can over longer and longer periods of time dilute the impact of the original direct impact caused by the pandemic.
So I agree that today, the continuing original direct impact of the pandemic on our economy is a much lesser share of the many facets of today’s economy, mainly because much of the original structural damage directly caused by the pandemic has been repaired.
But today is not February 2022 when the inflation rate hit 9.1% on a month-by-month basis, not a year-over-year basis.
Stated otherwise, a direct cause of economic damage at a particular time does not magically cease to exist just because someone says it no longer exists; it will always exist in its own time.
Inflation began to slightly rise month to month, not year-over-year, in the last few months of the first Trump presidency. The pandemic was the direct cause of that. There were indirect causes to that inflation, too, which will be discussed below.
Inflation continued its rise from the start of the Biden administration. The pandemic was the direct cause of that, too.
And it is true that intervening causes, perhaps best called indirect causes, began happening immediately upon the onslaught of the pandemic.
For example, without direct economic impact from the pandemic, Congress would never have given President Trump $2.9 trillion in unfunded stimulus funds to be deployed in an effort to heat up a rapidly cooling economy that was sinking into recession directly due to the economic effects of the pandemic. While that large sum of money was and is still an indirect cause of the inflation that eventually came to be, it was never the original direct cause. But for the pandemic, the money would never have been authorized and then used.
As an aside, in March 2020, the Senate voted 96-0 to give President Trump the first $2 billion in unfunded stimulus money. The House passed the bill on a voice vote. No true House count was recorded. Nine months later, Congress gave President Trump another $900 billion in unfunded stimulus money. The pandemic directly caused that much fear in our legislature.
Early in 2020, as the pandemic’s effects spread across the country, in a matter of months, the number of unemployed skyrocketed. According to Congress.gov, between January and April 2020, 22.1 million people lost their jobs. Supply chains all over the country were disrupted. None of this was directly due to President Trump’s policies; it was directly due to the effects of the pandemic.
The money President Trump injected into the economy worked as planned and the American economy began to heat up, but his policies were not the direct cause of the inflation to come. The pandemic was the direct cause of the inflation to come.
Without the pandemic, Congress would never have given former President Biden $3 trillion in unfunded stimulus funds in order to further heat up an economy that had recently reversed its sink into recession. A significantly snarled distribution network stilled hampered the economic recovery when former President Biden took office, but the money he injected into the economy supplemented the money President Trump had been injecting into the economy and the economy began to overheat. But for the pandemic, these funds would never have been spent.
Without a pandemic, the Fed would not have reduced its lending rate to zero percent in its effort to stimulate the pandemic-damaged economy. The Fed also made available to lenders an additional $3 trillion on top of what had already allocated for banks to lend to borrowers and banks began spraying money all over the place at artificially low interest rates. The Fed’s Balance Sheet went from $4.1 trillion in February 2020 to almost $9 trillion by the end of 2021, meaning that much money had been made available to lenders to allocate to home buyers and other borrowers. But for the pandemic, these Fed actions would not have been implemented.
Banks began lending money to borrowers at rates as low as 2.7%. Home buyers began bidding up prices on homes in hopes of taking advantage of such low 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. The competition for a limited number of existing homes began driving inflation before it. The home building sector went into overdrive to take advantage of the available cheap money. But for the pandemic, the overheating of the housing sector would not have driven the inflation that soon happened.
These three separate responses to the pandemic indirectly drove our economy into an inflationary event never before seen this century, but the three responses were not the direct cause of the inflation. The pandemic was the direct cause of the inflation. A indirect cause of an event is not the same thing as a direct cause of the event.
You, John Calvin, are correct in writing that in the fullness of time the direct economic effects of the pandemic will fade in importance compared to current economic policies. After all, the direct effects of the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1981 and the interruption of oil flow out of the Gulf nations led to an American recession that lasted for some time, but the effect eventually diluted. Within the past three years or so, I talked with a man who recalled his home mortgage being at 18% during those years. The Fed’s lending rate rose to as high as 24%. But that war, and the resulting cutting off of of oil coming out of the Persian Gulf, no longer impacts today’s economy.
As in the early to mid-80’s, the 2020 pandemic’s direct economic effects are lessening, but they are not gone. The pandemic was the direct cause of the inflation we experienced in the first few years afterwards, and they are still having an impact. The American economy has not yet completely recovered from the direct effects of the pandemic.
Indeed, many economists were still arguing in 2017, when President Trump first took office, that our national economy had not yet fully repaired the structural damage brought on by the Great Recession. The direct cause of that recession was Bush administration officials approving for use without sufficient oversight two defective residential mortgage programs and one defective commercial mortgage program. Banks indiscriminately loaned money to people who didn’t qualify for the loans. The Bush administration wanted Americans to become homeowners, so it looked the other way when banks didn’t check on the economic viability of those borrowing the money.
Lending institutions lost hundreds of billions of dollars, if not a trillion or more, on loans given under these administratively approved defective lending programs. The millions of people who defaulted on their loans were an indirect cause of the Great Recession. In response to that recession, Congress made available to President Bush some $2.8 trillion in unfunded stimulus money, with $770 billion of that money in the form of TARP funds. Yes, President Bush signing an executive order pledging the full faith and credit of the Treasury should banks fail saved all but one of the troubled banks. But the bad lending programs were the direct cause of the Great Recession, not the response to them.
2: As for the XL pipeline, when it was first proposed in two legs almost 20 years ago, there was an economic need for both of those legs. The northern leg was to transport crude oil from Canada to Nebraska. The southern leg was to transport crude oil from Nebraska to Houston-area refineries.
In the 70’s, Congress had passed a law forbidding export of American crude oil, so it was still unlawful to export U.S. crude oil. Canadian oil could be exported to international markets at market prices. All Canada needed was a port, and Houston was to be that port.
But economic events intervened.
America had not yet experienced the Shale Revolution, a revolution that began in earnest under President Obama in 2009.
When President Bush left office, American crude oil producers were extracting some 5 million barrels of oil per day, a nadir in modern American history. Armed with new 3D-imaging techniques, new chemistries of fracking fluids, and improved horizontal drilling techniques, by 2009 American crude oil began to flow in ever increasing amounts.
For years, North Dakota crude oil production had been at 100,000 barrels per day, give or take. Some of that oil went by pipeline to a Midwest refinery, but most of it went to Houston. With the onset of the Shale Revolution, North Dakota crude oil output increased over the years to over 1 million barrels per day. All that new oil had to go to Houston because the Midwest pipeline was full. There are only three ways to get crude oil from North Dakota to Houston: truck, train, and pipeline.
Prior to the opening of the southern leg of the XL pipeline, all of that new oil out of North Dakota was transported to Houston by rail. Oil producers paid such a premium to rail companies that trains stopped carrying grain out of North Dakota. An entire harvest of winter wheat filled silos and spilled out into fields, because trains pulling tank cars were filled to capacity with oil.
On the day the southern leg of the XL pipeline opened, it filled to capacity with North Dakota oil. Any excess above pipeline capacity still had to be transported to Houston by rail. Since it took less time for trains to travel to Nebraska and back, compared to Houston and back, grain cars could be added to the trains. The North Dakota winter wheat crops were finally transported to market.
The next year, Congress repealed the law prohibiting the export of U.S. crude oil.
What all of this proved was that the economics of crude oil transport had changed between 2008 and about 2015. The northern leg of the XL pipeline became less and less economically viable.
Because of this increase in North Dakota crude volumes, any Canadian oil coming through the northern leg of the XL pipeline, if built, would by volume displace out of the new southern leg of the XL pipeline the American crude oil. If the southbound pipelines out of Nebraska are already full, and there are two of them and they are full, what good is a new northern leg out of Canada to Nebraska? Someone is going to have to pay more to transport the displaced oil by rail to Houston.
In 2014, the Congressional Research Service estimated that oil transport by pipeline cost $5 per barrel, whereas oil transport by rail cost between $10 and $15 per barrel. Without a new southern pipeline out of Nebraska to Houston, a new northern XL pipeline will simply shift higher expenses for oil transport from one company to another.
And this doesn’t even take into account the logjam in Houston area ports. Refineries have access to all the American crude oil they need. What excess crude oil there is has to be exported. Since 2015, America has become a significant exporter of crude oil.
Right now, there isn’t enough dock space in Houston-area ports for the new Panamax-style supertankers. Small tankers fill up in the Houston ports and take the oil out into the Gulf where it is transferred into awaiting supertankers. Louisiana has an off-shore deep-water port with underwater pipelines that can handle the supertankers, but Houston doesn’t. One such off-shore deep-water port was permitted last year during the Biden administration and a second one was recently permitted, but neither project apparently has obtained the financing for build-out, as neither is currently under construction.
Increasing the flow of crude oil out of Canada into an at-capacity pipeline in Nebraska so that American oil must be transported by rail at greater expense isn’t really a good idea. And if the now-more expensive American oil were to reach by rail into Houston without a means to inexpensively export the oil, that isn’t really a good idea, either. I say build the two off-shore deep-water ports off the coast of Texas first. Then, expand the capacity of the southbound pipeline network from Nebraska to Houston. Then talk about building the northern leg of the XL pipeline.
Canadian oil now travels to Vancouver through a brand-new pipeline as large as the proposed northern leg of the XL pipeline. The build process for the Canadian pipeline started in 2012, about four years after a Canadian company proposed the northern leg of the XL pipeline to Nebraska, suggesting that the Canadian company that intended to build that northern leg knew in 2012 that the XL pipeline project was becoming economically unfeasible. The new Trans Canada pipeline opened in 2024, tripling the capacity of an older pipeline from the Canadian oil fields to Vancouver.
As an aside, demand for crude oil plummeted in direct response to the pandemic. The national average price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump dropped to about $2 per gallon because demand for gasoline had dropped faster than supply. This may explain President Trump’s fixation on $2 per gallon gasoline. Oil companies stopped drilling for oil. Crude oil output dropped. Prices for crude oil dropped to as low as around $25 per barrel. All around the world, crude oil extractors suffered economic loss.
But throughout 2021, a steadily recovering American economy led to a short-term increase in demand for the imported crude oil. But the cancellation of the northern leg of the XL pipeline in 2021 had nothing to do with that limited increase in importation of foreign crude; they were two unrelated events.
3: America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves, in Alaska and in Louisiana, have never been completely filled. It was originally intended to hold up to 750 million barrels of crude oil, but the literature on the subject holds the maximum number as 714 million barrels of crude oil capacity. Right now, the reserve holds 410.39 million barrels of oil.
Yes, after OPEC voted in February 2021 to cut production of crude oil to manipulate the international crude oil marketplace, and as prices for crude oil were slowly climbing to as high as $139 per barrel, the Biden administration announced a program to release 180 million barrels of crude oil, at a rate of 1 million barrels per day, to be sold at market rates to whichever refinery offered the highest price. The proceeds from the daily sales went directly into the Treasury.
From a Politico story, the reserve dropped to as low as 351 million barrels after the program ended.
The Biden administration then waited for prices for crude oil to begin dropping. Once the international price for crude oil neared $70 per barrel, the Biden administration began to restock the reserves. But the Biden administration could buy only as much oil as the Republican Congress authorized, so guess how little money was authorized by the Republican House? Nonetheless, if, hypothetically, crude oil was sold out of the reserve at $85 per barrel and restocked at $70 per barrel, America did not lose money on the strategy.
Magically, in the One Big Beautiful Bill, Congress reversed its position and it gave the Trump administration more than $2 billion to buy crude oil to restock the National Petroleum Reserve over time, though only $171 million of that money is available now.
So, the math is simple. The Biden administration sold off 180 million barrels of oil. The reserve dropped to as low as 351 million barrels. Since then, the administration tried to buy oil at a lower price to restock the reserve, but a Republican House blocked much of the effort. The reserve is now at 410 million barrels, so some of it was restored during the Biden administration.
Magically, the new House voted to give Trump more than $2 billion to restock the reserve.
Either way, 180 million barrels sold plus 351 million barrels in reserve does not add up to 714 million barrels of total capacity, so the first Trump administration didn’t fill the reserve to the brim, either.
And, since 2015, by law, crude oil must be periodically sold out of the reserve, with proceeds from the sales going to the Treasury. Seven such sales have occurred pursuant to that statute, starting in 2017 under the Trump administration. Yes, John Calvin, you are complaining about the Biden administration selling crude oil out of the reserve, when the Trump administration sold oil out of the reserve, too. The reserve was at 531 million barrels when Biden began selling the oil. That means that Trump kept the reserve at a somewhat low state of supply, too.
Can it be argued that Biden selling the oil out of the reserve accomplished exactly what Congress ordered him to do, just as Trump did? We have made money on the Biden sale.
By the way, reducing the quantity of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by 180 million barrels never “almost emptied” the reserve. That’s just a flat-out distortion on your part. The Politico story holds that 40% of the already less-than-full reserve was sold during the Biden draw-down.
Every position you take in your comment, John Calvin, is a common talking point of the Republican Party. None of your positions are completely accurate. Indeed, almost all of your positions are misleading. Thank you for permitting me to correct your misleading points.
Every FlaglerLive reader ought to know by now that the modus operandi of the professional lying class that sits at the top of one of our two parties is to lie in hopes that others will launder their lies. Please, John Calvin, stop laundering their lies. Laundering lies is not a virtue.
John Calvin says
Good research on your part sir albeit with some inaccuracies. I’m not conflating, I will still stnd behind my earlier post as completely accurate. I belueve it to be indisputable that the first act Biden did once elected was to kill the Keystone, and it WAS for political reasons. If we had an “over supply” of crude as you stated then please explain why Biden went to OPEC to increase sales to the US? The truth is his policy stifled production and cut our own internal supply. Prices rose accordingly.oops, sorry America… I maintain my earlier comments as 100% accurate and not the party line talking points you inferred. Good rebuttal on your part, I will guve you that but, you are not factual as far as why gasoline did spike as highly as it did.
Ray W. says
Sorry, John Calvin, you’re still wrong.
There is a difference between an economic cause, an environmental cause, and a political cause.
Now, to respond to your argument that former President Biden “killed” the Keystone pipeline.
Former President Biden didn’t kill the Keystone pipeline; he cancelled the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, a leg that was to be the fourth of four legs of the overall Keystone pipeline system. Three of the four legs were built and are currently in operation. Get your facts straight.
The first leg of the Keystone pipeline originates in Hardisty, Alberta, Canada and ends in Patoka, Illinois; it opened in 2010, during the Obama administration. On its way to Patoka, it went through Steel City, Nebraska. At the time, there was an economic need in Canada for this first leg of the overall project. At the time, as there were only normal environmental objections to the project, permits to build the pipeline were issued, so Republicans were unable to manufacture out of thin air a political reason to blame Democrats. Let’s face it. Few among us even heard about this first phase of the overall project.
The second leg of the Keystone pipeline opened in 2011, also during the Obama administration; its ran from Steel City, Nebraska to Cushing, Oklahoma. There remained an economic need for this second leg of the overall project. As there was no more than normal environmental objections to this second leg, permits soon issued. This kept Republicans from manufacturing out of thin air a political reason to blame Democrats. Few among us ever heard of this second phase of the overall project, either.
The third leg, called the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, not the Keystone pipeline, opened in two phases, with the first phase of the third leg opening in 2012 and and second phase opening in 2016, both during the Obama administration.
The first phase of the third leg of the Keystone XL pipeline extended the second leg of the Keystone pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to Houston, Texas.
The second phase extended the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline from Houston to Port Arthur, Texas.
There remained an economic need for both phases of this third leg of the overall Keystone pipeline project. As there was little more than normal environmental objection to the project, permits soon issued, and the two extensions were built. Republicans were unable to manufacture out of thin air any political reason to blame Democrats.
The fourth leg of the overall Keyston pipeline was called the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. Unlike the first and second legs of the overall Keystone pipeline project, this fourth leg went through the Nebraska Sand Hills region as it ranged between Hardisty, Alberta, Canada, and Cushing, Oklahoma.
An economic need for this project had existed for this fourth leg, when proposed, but over time that economic need diminished. Unlike the other legs of the pipeline, this time, there was a significant environmental reason to stop the project. When the Obama administration presented that significant environmental objection to the project, the Republicans were finally able to manufacture a political aspect to the issue in order to blame the Democrats.
Perhaps this is why you wrote that former President Biden had killed the “Keystone” project, instead of typing that he cancelled the northern leg of the Keystone XL project. Perhaps, you simply had never heard that there were four legs to the overall project and that the first three legs had been approved by Democrats and built without serious problems. The Republicans could not admit that there had been no real objection by the Democrats to the first three legs, as such an admission would have hurt their argument.
So, what was the main environmental issue with the northern leg of the XL pipeline?
The Nebraska Sand Hills region sits atop the Ogallala Aquifer, stretching from South Dakota to Nebraska to Kansas to Oklahoma to Texas to New Mexico to Colorado to Wyoming; it is one of the biggest aquifers in the world.
I am not arguing that this was the only issue, as Native Americans objected to those portions of the pipeline that crossed their sources of drinking water, among other objections.
Farmers across this large region rely on the Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation needs. Villages and towns and cities draw drinking water from it, too.
This entire region is known for a lack of annual precipitation.
Running a crude oil pipeline atop a base of sand risks contamination of the fresh water in the aquifer from Canadian tar sands crude oil, should the ground ever settle or shift and the pipeline ever rupture or leak.
Tar sands crude oil is so thick it is said to have the consistency of peanut butter; it has to be thinned before pumping it begins at Hardisty, Alberta, Canada. Both naptha and natural gas concentrate can be used to thin the oil. Naptha can contain benzene, which is a highly toxic and highly carcinogenic thinning chemical. All crude oil, however thinned, is a poison.
Should the pipeline ever leak or rupture anywhere in the Nebraska Sand Hills, there is a great risk of those toxic and carcinogenic thinning chemicals percolating through the sand into the aquifer, something that could poison the source of drinking water for millions of people and something that could poison the irrigation source for who knows how many farmers. As an aside, every Christian is taught to never build a house upon a foundation of sand.
What the professional liars who sit atop one of our two parties won’t tell anyone about the northern leg of the XL pipeline is that during the Obama administration, the company seeking to build the pipeline was told that if the pipeline project were moved to the east of the sand hills region, a pipeline extension of some 75 miles out of about 1,000 overall miles, the administration’s objection to the issuance of the permit would be withdrawn. In response to the Obama administration position, the most the company did was announce that it was considering a number of options, including moving the pipeline away from the Nebraska Sand Hills region.
Right now, the economic need for the northern leg of the XL pipeline remains questionable. The environmental objection remains valid. The political blame, originally manufactured out of thin air by Republicans in order to blame Democrats, remains bogus.
No, John Calvin, I am not conflating things. You are. You conflated the Keystone pipeline, which was never stopped and is up and running, with the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been cancelled. No one killed the original Keystone pipeline project. No one killed the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline project.
And you conflated the Republican desire to make a political conflict out of the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline project so that Democrats could be blamed, when in reality, the Democrats did not deviate from the objection to only that leg of the project for significant and valid environmental reasons.
Former President Biden cancelled the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline for the same reason the Obama administration objected to it. The environmental risk to poisoning the drinking water for millions of people and poisoning the irrigation for who many farmers was simply too great to ignore.
So I looked for how often pipelines carrying crude oil or natural gas liquids rupture or leak. Since 2010 through the end of 2024, on average, such pipelines rupture or leak 628 times per year. Most events are small and easily contained. Not all events are small.
On April 8, 2025, a Keystone pipeline employee “heard a bang”. Inspection revealed a ruptured pipeline, which spilled some 147,000 gallons of tar sands crude oil.
On December 7, 2022, an estimated 588,000 gallons of tar sands crude oil leaked into a Washington County, Kansas creek from the Keystone pipeline. While pipelines have sensors to quickly detect ruptures in pipelines, leaks can go undetected over time.
On March 11, 2022, a crude oil pipeline in Edwardsville, Illinois, released 164,000 gallons into Cahokia Creek, a tributary to the Mississippi River, after an over-stress rupture of a “girth” weld. As I recall this incident, the pipeline had been built over a hill against advice to build it around the hill. When crude oil is pumped uphill, more robust pumps are needed to force the oil uphill, increasing the level of pressure inside the pipeline. Soil then shifted underneath the pipeline, amplifying the strain on an already unnecessarily stressed weld.
On May 5, 2020, a “corroded” Keystone pipeline leaked roughly 18,500 gallons of crude oil near Beaumont, Texas. Canadian tar sands crude oil diluted by thinning chemicals is acidic enough to require the use of specially-treated pipeline steel, and still the specially-treated steel pipelines corrode.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Enbridge, a Canadian crude oil exporter into the U.S., will spend $1.4 billion to upgrade and streamline two already existing pipelines, the Mainline and Flanagan South pipelines. When the project is complete, pipeline capacity of Canadian tar sands crude into America will rise by 150,000 barrels per day.
From Canadian national statistics, at the end of 2024, rail cars were delivering some 200,000 barrels of Canadian tar sands crude oil per day to American buyers, on top of the over 4.5 million barrels per day that were being exported to America by crude oil pipelines.
In 2007, before the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline was announced, just over 2 million barrels of crude oil were being exported from Canada via pipeline into the United States.
This means that between 2007 and 2024, crude oil pipeline transport capacity from Canada into the United States, either by new build or by increased efficiencies, more than doubled.
Something tells me that neither the Obama administration nor the Biden administration stood in the way of any of these projects. Only the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline drew administration opposition, for good and valid reason.
Please, John Calvin, stop conflating ignorance with knowledge. Anyone can announce that they stand by what they typed. You will not magically turn your several inaccurate points into an accurate ones just by saying so.
Former President Biden’s policies did not “stifle” crude oil production during his four years in office, as American crude oil production recovered from a large pandemic dip in production to hit a record average daily level output in December 2024. That record was recently topped during this past August, but not by much.
Here, according to the EIA, are the annualized average daily American crude oil production figures, beginning in 2008, just before the American Shale Oil Revolution began:
2008: 5.0 million barrels per day (mbpd).
2009: 5.357 mbpd.
2010: 5.484 mbpd.
2011: 5.674 mbpd.
2012: 6.524 mbpd.
2013: 7.495 mbpd.
2014: 8.781 mbpd.
2015: 9.433 mbpd.
2016: 8.852 mbpd.
2017: 9.361 mbpd.
2018: 10.953 mbpd.
2019: 12.315 mbpd.
2020: 11.336 mbpd.
2021: 11.311 mbpd.
2022: 12.004 mbpd.
2023: 12.943 mbpd.
2024: 13.235 mbpd.
The pandemic was the direct cause of the drop in American crude oil production in 2020, not the Biden administration. As the American economy emerged out of the 2020 recession, crude oil production roared back to normal and then grew to above normal.
It is impossible to successfully argue that former President Biden “stifled” crude oil production.
You are conflating oversupply of crude oil in recent months with the undersupply that was caused by OPEC’s decision to reduce its spigots and Russia’s decision to invade the Ukraine. These are two separate events.
Yes, earlier this year, OPEC voted to reverse its previous long-term policy of underproduction that ran from February 2021 to April 2025.
Yes, we now have a worldwide oversupply of crude oil.
For slightly more than four years before this year, we had a worldwide under-supply of crude oil because OPEC shut off the spigots in February 2021 and because Russia invaded the Ukraine in February 2022.
I am entirely factual about why gasoline prices spiked so high early in the Biden years and then remained high. You are not. Again, you just type things and announce that they are true just because you typed them. I back up what I type with widely available and accurate sources.
Finally, I will address your biggest act of disinformation. In February 2021, the 13 member states that comprise OPEC voted to cut overall output by six million barrels per day. The 10 non-voting OPEC affiliate nations agreed to not take advantage of the output cuts. Saudi Arabia voluntarily agreed to restrict its output by another one million barrels per day, phased in over months.
Crude oil prices slowly began to rise as more and more oil was taken out of the supply side of the international crude oil marketplace.
Numerous American major shale oil extractors announced, for the first time in more than a decade, that they would not increase production over the annual figures that they had already announced prior to OPEC’s vote. The American major shale exporters kept their word and didn’t increase production. Scott Sheffield, of Pioneer Energy, went on record as saying that he didn’t care if crude oil prices hit $200 per barrel. His company would limit itself to a 5% increase in crude oil extraction, no matter what. A number of American shale oil CEO’s announced that they would not increase production in order to increase shareholder value.
Yes, it could be argued that these positions were taken for political reasons, but when an energy company CEO tells his investors that he intends to make them rich, I suspect he is telling them the truth. Whether American energy company CEO’s colluded with OPEC in order to gouge the American consumer out of tens of billions of dollars is a question that remains unanswered.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices broke $124 per barrel. Brent crude hit $139 per barrel.
President Biden then personally approached OPEC to ask whether the cartel would stop its production cuts and raise crude its crude oil production figures back to normal. OPEC refused. So President Biden opened the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a decision that will make the Treasury a significant profit.
I know you are trying to present yourself as a knowledgeable commenter, but you have failed across the board. Spreading lies into the FlaglerLive community is not a virtue.
Every FlaglerLive reader ought to know by now that no one should ever take at face value anything said by the professional lying class that sits at the top of one of our two political parties or anything posted by the lie launderers who spread the lies.
Sherry says
Thank you Ray W.. . . You “Sir” have really outdone yourself!
Ray W. says
Hello John Calvin.
Earlier today, the CBC, one of Canada’s news services, published an article about how there may not be right now an economic need for the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline until perhaps as late as 2037.
Here are some bullet points from the article:
– Right now, Canada has pipeline export capacity for 5.2 million barrels of crude oil per day.
– Right now, Western Canada produces 5.0 million barrels of crude oil per day.
– Western Canadian crude oil production is expected to rise in the near future. Thus, “the country’s export pipelines are filling up and could max out by fall of 2028”, according to a recent report by TD Cowen.
– Trans Mountain recently proposed two “improvements” to its crude oil pipeline from Edmonton to Vancouver. The pipeline’s diameter won’t change, but through the use of “drag-reducing agents” and “stronger pumping stations” more oil could be pushed through the same size pipeline.
– Enbridge just made a “final investment decision” to spend $1.4 billion to both expand capacity by 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day through its Mainline pipeline system, and expand capacity by 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day to its Flanagan South pipeline system.
– Between the four different Trans Mountain and Enbridge pipeline capacity expansions, total Canadian export capacity will rise to 6.2 million barrels of crude oil per day, equal to the capacity of a large new pipeline and enough to meet expected Canadian crude oil production figures into the mid-2030’s without having to build any new pipeline.
– Right now, Alberta is considering building its own new crude oil pipeline to Canada’s west coast and there have been renewed discussions about the viability of the Keystone XL pipeline.
– Both of these new pipeline possibilities are described in the TD Cowen report as “blue sky” scenarios, i.e., hypothetical, highly uncertain, and in need of several years of “development” before they can be considered ripe to proceed.
– Given Canada’s announced goal of diversifying exports away from the U.S., there is less confidence that a new crude oil pipeline will be built into the U.S.
– According to an International Energy Agency forecast, global supply of crude oil will reach 2.4 million barrels per day of excess capacity by the end of 2025 and 4 million barrels per day of excess capacity in 2026. Global demand for crude oil is expected to rise by 788,000 barrels per day by the end of 2025 and by 770,000 more barrels per day in 2026.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
The reporter nailed it at the end of the article when he quoted Colin Gruending, Enbridge’s president of liquids pipelines:
“We have further optimizations to take care of [pipeline improvements], like we have for 75 years. I think we’ve expanded the system hundreds of times.”
In 2008, the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline had economic value. Not so much today. Canada’s government has taken a policy decision to shift away from exporting crude oil into the United States.
It very well may be that the Keystone XL pipeline will not offer sufficient economic value to become a viable option for as much as another decade, based on what Canadian companies have already decided to do with their existing pipelines.
Anyone arguing that the decision is 2021 to cancel the pipeline was just a political decision doesn’t know what is really happening in the energy industry. The worldwide energy industry is incredibly complex and beyond the realm of understanding.
We are talking about 8 billion people consuming energy derived from fossil fuels, wind, solar, nuclear, hydro, and batteries.
There are some 1600 different battery chemistries in use today, between the anode, cathode and electrolytes. No one knows which chemistries offer the highest and best use in hearing aids, or cell phones, or laptops, or EVs, or in industrial applications, such as steel-making.
As an aside, the reporter opines that until oil companies are willing to “sign long-term contracts to use a new pipeline”, the proposed pipeline might never get built. If Canadian crude oil producers prefer to send their oil to Vancouver for export to other foreign nations after what President Trump did to the Canadian economy with his tariffs, expansion of Canadian crude oil exports into America might never come to pass.
Laurel says
You, too, can buy the Trump watch, the Trump bible, the $Trump coin, the Trump Fight, Fight, Fight perfume, the Trump wine, the Trump gold card, and much, much more merch, as he sells his merch while in office. He has to oversee his Trump ballroom, the Trump arch, and the Qatari jet.
Between that and all the golf he plays, I wonder when Trump has time to be President. Most Presidents take the job seriously, and often age during their time in office. Trump just gets richer and fatter. His family gets richer. The rich get richer, too. You must be getting richer since you continue to support him blindly..
No time for the Epstein files, the campaign is over
People often shake their heads and ask how is it that people don’t see what is blatantly before their eyes.
He is not your retribution, you are his.
Skibum says
Drumph’s idea of being the president is:
To sit on his throne looking down (literally and figuratively) on all mankind.
To have all the little people ply him with gifts so he can gage how worthy and useful, for the moment at least, people he otherwise despises are to him.
Viewing all federal employees, all government agencies, all DOJ attorneys, all hand-picked court judges as his personal toys to play with, to elevate, demote or banish to the wilderness as he sees fit
To drool over the U.S. stockpile of gold in Fort Knox and all of the dollars in the U.S. Treasury, thinking all of our nation’s riches are primarily for his own enrichment and enjoyment while he hands out only minuscule scraps to the hard working American citizens as if we are all serfs or pawns in his real world Monopoly game.
And lastly, to coerce and prod as many corrupt foreign authoritarians and dictators as he can during his term in office, to solicit grift after grift that will be beneficial to him personally when (or if) he ever willingly gets his big fat ass off of his golden throne, stands on his own two cankles and waddles out of Washington D.C. with pockets full of cash and IOUs from sycophants who let him pillage America for his own prurient self interest.
John Calvin says
….and he is all yours for 3 more years buttercup.
Sherry says
So john, is “Buttercup” the new name that Fox tells Maga members to call the millions of us who are still thinking and living in “Fact Based Reality”? I’ve noticed at least one other person using “Buttercup” in their comments. Has it replaced “Karen” now? I hope “Karen” is OK. My, my, my. . . how very “original”!
Laurel says
“Buttercup” replaced “Snowflake,” which is amusing as Trump is the biggest victim this world has ever seen! “Witch hunt, witch hunt, witch hunt!” “Rigged, rigged, rigged!” “Democratic hoax, Democratic hoax, Democratic hoax!” Trump’s the biggest buttercup, snowflake in the whole, wide universe! You’ve never seen anything like it before! Who knew?
Cofifi.
Sherry says
LOL! Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you Laurel? I really do! Thanks for the laugh!
AurelL says
😁
Just me. says
Trump got elected and lied to all those that voted for him. All he cares about is living off taxpayers money and or ever else he can bribe to paying him for favors he will never for fill. He is a con man and has been all his life. Does he care about food lines, does he care about air traffic controllers working without pay and causing air travel to be unsafe? Does he care about destroying our economy? No to all of those questions. He is not a President for you he is a President for himself only.
John Calvin says
As usual Pierre, I am still waiting for your column on Biden’s shakedown through his son of how many Eastern European oligarchs? I know…..
Pierre Tristam says
I’m surprised you’re not still waiting for a piece on Hillary’s emails, too. I don’t do bullshit equivalencies. Glad to see you waiting on this site.
Sherry says
Why don’t “YOU” enlighten us, john? “Credentialled Facts” only please!
Skibum says
John, sorry to have to inform you that FlaglerLive doesn’t pander in fictional novellas or fairytales. Otherwise, news articles would begin with “Once upon a time…”. If what you are looking for are fantastical fairytales and bombastic BS blabber just for the sake of talking heads practicing on their computer keyboards, fauxinfotainment nuze is somewhere out there on Earth 2, making stuff up for shits and giggles.
You could, of course search for and find the content you are looking for there, but I’d be careful venturing too far out on Earth 2… you just might fall off the edge.
Sherry says
Hi Skibum, Thanks so much for my morning laugh! HUGS!
Meanwhile at maralago says
Those in red maga hats sit down to a gourmet walmart Thanksgiving feast, with smaller protions, no pie, and boxed mac and cheese instead of veggies, counting the days until they get a highly anticipated tariff check think they’re doing so well, haha. Enjoy that mac ‘n cheese – you suckers! ;-)
Joe D says
To “meanwhile…”
Technically (since I ordered a Walmart 1 click Turkey “bundle”) there is a 1 lb bag of FRESH baby carrots, 3 cans of corn and 3 cans of cut green beans…so there IS ACTUALLY “vegetables.”
But I TRULY get your POINT…
Meanwhile at maralago says
Yes, but fresh carrots are fairly inexpensive – probably the lowest cost fresh produce item ($1.20/lb or so) next to bananas (0.50/lb or so). To me, the mac-n-cheese switch out was the worst part – it’s sadly laughable to serve that for thanksgiving. Imagine kids in 15 years… associating “Mom’s homemade Kraft Mac” as the highlight of t-day? It’s sad. The truth is, it’s 25% less cost, and you get lower quality food and less of it. No thanks – not for me. I do not subscribe to the blindfold crew (I am not saying you do either) but I do not subscribe. I know what’s what – I do not need trump to tell me what’s what – some people do though. I feel like the maga crew would run off a bridge, before buying a 50-year fixed, if trump told them to, ha!
The dude says
Still waiting to hear from our MAGA friends where it is they’re shopping to get such affordable groceries and gas… as they’ve publicly parroted the orange stain’s proclamations that “grocery and energy costs are way down” here repeatedly.
They need to share that info and help their neighbors out.
The dude says
Still… crickets….
I don’t understand why they won’t help their neighbors out?
Laurel says
Dude: Yeah, I’ve been inundated with crickets for a couple years now. Always when I ask for logical answers.
Melly says
If you didn’t want Team Red’s candidate, it was Team Blue’s responsibility to put up an electable candidate.
They didn’t. So suck it up, Buttercup. There’s 3 more years of this, thanks to your completely hijacked, dysfunctional “party”.
Skibum says
Oh please give me a friggin break! It would not have mattered if “Team Blue’s” candidate would have been Madame Curie, Elenore Roosevelt, Susan B. Anthony or Amelia Earhart (if she had been found alive).
The plain and simple truth to this day in 2025 American politics is that there are still far too many men in society who hold to the traditional role of women and want to see them barefoot and pregnant, standing in the kitchen over a hot stove cooking vittles for their man. To have the audacity to run for election as president? To think they have the brain power of a man and make business decisions or critical importance to the nation? Humph.
Melly, if you don’t understand that, maybe you should take those rose colored glassed off above your nose and look out beyond your face, and yes… face reality. Even in today’s twenty first century, it is not yet possible for a woman… ANY woman, to win election as president.
Laurel says
Skinum: Yes. To date, the only opposition Republicans claim to have against Kamala Harris is: “cackle,” which of course refers to a female witch. Hmmm, witch hunt?
Sherry: Thanks for the compliment! The column became way too small on my phone, and wouldn’t show what I wrote.
Signed.
Laurel, not AuraL or whatever! Again, thanks. 😁
Laurel says
Melly: Explain, please, just exactly what Trump does for you, personally, to directly improve your life.
I know it’s not immigrants, because this county is white as hell, and I know it’s not the price of food or healthcare. So, please explain your devotion to such a devilish character, so that I may understand.
Thank you.
Sherry says
Awwww melly honey, do tell us all the things “YOU” are personally doing to make the lives better for anyone outside of yourself and your family. Are you even out there in the protest marches? Are you calling and writing your congressional representatives? Who do you think the Democrats should have “put up”? Are you running for a seat on the school board or city council? Why are you so angry Miss Buttercup?
melly says
Nope.
Like this comment section, it would be full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Both “parties” are completely corrupt. I’m taking care of myself, my family and my circle, along with things which affect me directly.
Team Blue’s TDS or its equivalent on the Team Red side (whatever it’s called this year) mean nothing to most people. And both their teams are fulla bull. Honey.
Sherry says
Awwww melly. . . You are so “right” about TDS= Trump Devotion Syndrome. “Bless Your Heart”!
melly says
So you agree then that Both Sides have Delusion Syndromes, then?
That’s what I thought. Have a great day, “Honey”!
Sherry says
Now miss melly. . . time to dust off and pull out your dictionary. Now, look up the definition of the words “devotion” and “delusion”. Isn’t education a wonderful thing? :)
Kennan says
Glad you’re taking care of your family Millie, but what you have to understand is the candidate on the red side is trying to make it more and more difficult for you to take care of yourself and your family.
Laurel says
C’ Mon now Kennan, ALL magas are billionaires.
Kinda sad, huh?
wake up says
Interesting- there must be some smack in the face, I get it now, reaction from maga’s b/c there is soo less prez support and retorts on these threads than there was a few months ago. The higher prices affect all and I’ll be the support is even less after insurance rates sky rocket. Talk about punching the kool aid drinkers in the kisser. Good grief! Btw- the wrong facts AI delivers, on a regular basis, are called hallucinations. If you don’t think wrong info filters in, then use IA to search about something you know well. AI pulls from multiple sources, including bad sources, and gives a summary. You still have to fact check!!! You can’t use Wikipedia as a source and AI is just a summary of available info. Also, why are we still stabbing at Biden? He’s dying. Leave him alone. His son? How is what Trump’s children doing in the middle east any different? The deals, the money, the wealth. Stop punching Biden when Trump is doing way worse. Why don’t you compare his presidency to Washington or Lincoln or Andrew Johnson or FDR or Truman, or god forbid- Obama. Regurgitating rhetoric is so much easier than thinking for yourself and looking for facts and comparing right from wrong. Stop drinking the kool aid!!!! Unless you are of the upper cast, then there is no way you aren’t feeling the pinch in your wallet from this administration, so stop uplifting a felon.
Sherry says
@ Wake Up. . . Thank You!