The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight

“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.” —Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978)

For the Record

“The Dems’ so-called gas tax ‘holiday’ is a gimmick worth 18 cents a gallon, or about 6% of the increase in gas since Biden took office. It’s meant to cover up the fact that Dem policies have restricted supply & raised costs.” —Senator Tom Cotton

“If you fill up once a week and have a 15-gallon tank, at $5.00 a gallon, you’re only saving $2.70 per tank. Over the course of three months, that’s $32.40 or about half a tank of gas. While that’s better than nothing, it’s a drop in the bucket in Biden’s inflationary economy, which is costing Americans at least $460 a month! Moreover, it has nothing to do with the ‘root causes’ of high energy prices — the radical left-wing policies Biden has pushed which are responsible for this mess. While the federal 18 cents a gallon tax is the visible tax, Biden’s radical policies could accurately be described as a ‘hidden tax’ that is far greater than 18 cents a gallon.” —Gary Bauer

“Biden is desperately pushing this federal gas tax gimmick because his previous attempts to blame high prices on Vladimir Putin — remember ‘Putin’s price hike’? — have failed miserably. According to a recent Rasmussen poll, only 11% of voters blame Putin for high energy prices, while 52% blame Joe Biden. If you can’t convince more than 11% of the public to blame one of America’s enemies for something, that’s a PR failure of epic proportions!” —Gary Bauer

A Trip Down Memory Lane

“I know that we’re having a debate right now about the gas tax holiday. … For us to suggest that 30 cents a day for three months is real relief, that that’s a real energy policy, means that we are not tackling the problem that has to be tackled.” —Barack Obama, 2008

“We’re arguing over a gimmick to save you half a tank of gas over the course of the entire summer so that everyone in Washington can pat themselves on the back and say that they did something.” —Barack Obama, 2008

“The main question had been, ‘Do you support a gas tax holiday?’ … So we have a situation where there’s money coming out of the Highway Trust Fund. It’s going to the oil companies. They may not give it to the consumer. And it has to be paid for. So we’re paying for something to give a break to the oil companies that isn’t even going to the consumer. So that’s the con. The pro is very showbiz. Okay? ‘Let’s just do something. There it is.’” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, March 2022

Joe Biden, Call Your Office

“No. Inflation was high before, certainly before the war in Ukraine broke out.” —Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell when asked, “Would you say that the war in Ukraine is the primary driver of inflation in America?”

The BIG Lies

“Look, we need more refining capacity. This idea that they don’t have oil to drill and to bring up is simply not true. This piece of the Republicans talking about, ‘Biden shut down fields’ — wrong. There are 9,000 of them, okay?” —Joe Biden

“With the tax revenues up this year and our deficit down over $1.6 trillion this year alone, we’ll still be able to fix our highways and bring down prices of gas. We can do both at the same time. By suspending the … federal gas tax for the next 90 days, we can bring down the price of gas and give families just a little bit of relief. … Now, I fully understand that a gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem, but it will provide families some immediate relief — just a little bit of breathing room — as we continue working to bring down prices for the long haul.” —Joe Biden

“I’m calling on the industry to refine more oil into gasoline and to bring down gas prices. … I know my Republican friends claim we’re not producing enough oil and I’m limiting oil production. Quite frankly, that’s nonsense. … Republicans falsely claim that I’m blocking production on federal lands. But again, that’s nonsense. The industry has more approved permits for production on federal lands than they can possibly use. That’s a fact. … The bottom line is: We are setting records in terms of American energy production. We’re supplementing that supply with a release from our oil reserves. So the issue isn’t oil production alone; the problem is the refining of that oil into gas at the pump.” —Joe Biden

“To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump: This is a time of war, global peril, Ukraine. These are not normal times. Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you are paying for the product. Do it now. Do it today. Your customers, the American people, they need relief now.” —Joe Biden

“And let’s remember how we got here: Putin invaded Ukraine. … We could have turned a blind eye to Putin’s murderous ways, and the price of gas wouldn’t have spiked the way it has. … So, for all those Republicans in Congress criticizing me today for high gas prices in America, are you now saying we were wrong to support Ukraine? Are you saying we were wrong to stand up to Putin? Are you saying that we would rather have lower gas prices in America and Putin’s iron fist in Europe?” —Joe Biden

“I promise you I’m doing everything possible … to bring the price of energy down, gas prices down.” —Joe Biden

“The president is doing everything he can to reduce prices for American families. … The fact is that no president alone can control the price of gasoline, and we need more players at the table.” —Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm

“We are now at close to record levels of oil production here in the U.S., averaging now 12 million barrels a day. Under this president … the country is producing more oil on average than it did during the Bush, Obama, or Trump administrations.” —Jennifer Granholm

Dumb and Dumber

“We need more money to plan for the second pandemic. There’s going to be another pandemic. We have to think ahead. And that’s not something the last outfit did very well. That’s something we’ve been doing fairly well.” —Joe Biden

“There is a lot of right-wing terrorism in this country.” —CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin

Non Compos Mentis

“Ever since I learned about Juneteenth … I was like, ‘How did I not know about this?’ That we were celebrating Fourth of July, which was freedom of America, when freedom of American people didn’t happen until Juneteenth. So in some ways the celebration feels more authentic on Juneteenth.” —"The View" co-host Sara Haines

“We should be aware on a day like [Juneteenth] that voting rights are being systematically taken away from African Americans and other people too in this country.” —"The View" co-host Joy Behar

“My family never celebrated July 4th. … I knew all of this history as a child. … And so what I would say is, yes, learn your history, but also be very vigilant when you’re hearing about CRT — alleged CRT — in your schools. Fight that. You know, fight so that your children know the true history of this country. … I think you have to make sure that past does not become prologue because I feel that we’re seeing this sort of rollback of history.” —"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin

And Last…

“Robberies and homicides are up in big cities all across the country. What’s the over/under on it when Biden calls it ‘The Putin Crime Wave’?” —Larry Elder