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Post by Blitz on Jun 11, 2022 9:21:34 GMT -5
June 10, 2022
Dear Friend,
When President Biden took office, the average price for a gallon of gas in this country was $2.38. It's $4.98 now. Gas is expected to top $6 per gallon by August.
Inflation was under 2 percent when President Biden walked into the Oval Office. Now, it's over 8 percent. The Administration told us repeatedly last month that the worst was over and rising prices had "peaked." That was a lie. Inflation just hit 8.6 percent—the highest it's been in a generation.
This isn't just about numbers. This is about people. People are struggling to deal with these rising prices. It's going to cost the average household $5,000 more this year just to get by. I don't know about you, but most folks I know don't have that kind of money just lying around to pay for these price hikes. It's not like any of us are going to find $5,000 in our couch cushions tomorrow.
This is a real problem and it's only getting worse. We need a real plan from the White House, but so far, the President's only plan is passing the buck. That doesn't fly in the Show-Me State.
We know exactly how we got here. Deficit spending drives rising prices and inflation. We've known that for years. When President Biden rammed through his massive $1.9 trillion "COVID" spending bill last year, rising prices took off like a rocket ship. When he shut down new permits for oil drilling on federal lands and pipeline construction, oil prices shot through the roof.
It's not too late to turn this around, but to do that Congress and the President need to get back to work. Instead of ramming through unconstitutional gun control bills and holding prime time hearings on President Trump, we need to get back to working for the American people.
We need to cut off this ridiculous deficit spending and start doing some belt tightening here in Washington because when we can't balance the budget here, it makes it a lot tougher for folks to make ends meet at home.
Sincerely, Sam Graves Congressman 6th District Missouri
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Post by Blitz on Jun 11, 2022 9:39:26 GMT -5
Even the dems are saying no to Joe...
Should Biden Run in 2024? Democratic Whispers of ‘No’ Start to Rise
June 11, 2022 dnyuz.com/2022/06/11/should-biden-run-in-2024-democratic-whispers-of-no-start-to-rise/
Midway through the 2022 primary season, many Democratic lawmakers and party officials are venting their frustrations with President Biden’s struggle to advance the bulk of his agenda, doubting his ability to rescue the party from a predicted midterm trouncing and increasingly viewing him as an anchor that should be cut loose in 2024.
As the challenges facing the nation mount and fatigued base voters show low enthusiasm, Democrats in union meetings, the back rooms of Capitol Hill and party gatherings from coast to coast are quietly worrying about Mr. Biden’s leadership, his age and his capability to take the fight to former President Donald J. Trump a second time.
Interviews with nearly 50 Democratic officials, from county leaders to members of Congress, as well as with disappointed voters who backed Mr. Biden in 2020, reveal a party alarmed about Republicans’ rising strength and extraordinarily pessimistic about an immediate path forward.
“To say our country was on the right track would flagrantly depart from reality,” said Steve Simeonidis, a Democratic National Committee member from Miami. Mr. Biden, he said, “should announce his intent not to seek re-election in ’24 right after the midterms.”
Democrats’ concerns come as the opening hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol made clear the stakes of a 2024 presidential election in which Mr. Trump, whose lies fueled a riot that disrupted the peaceful transfer of power, may well seek to return to the White House.
For Mr. Biden and his party, the hearings’ vivid reminder of the Trump-inspired mob violence represents perhaps the last, best chance before the midterms to break through with persuadable swing voters who have been more focused on inflation and gas prices. If the party cannot, it may miss its final opportunity to hold Mr. Trump accountable as Mr. Biden faces a tumultuous two years of a Republican-led House obstructing and investigating him.
Most top elected Democrats were reluctant to speak on the record about Mr. Biden’s future, and no one interviewed expressed any ill will toward Mr. Biden, to whom they are universally grateful for ousting Mr. Trump from office.
But the repeated failures of his administration to pass big-ticket legislation on signature Democratic issues, as well as his halting efforts to use the bully pulpit of the White House to move public opinion, have left the president with sagging approval ratings and a party that, as much as anything, seems to feel sorry for him.
That has left Democratic leaders struggling to explain away a series of calamities for the party that all seem beyond Mr. Biden’s control: inflation rates unseen in four decades, surging gas prices, a lingering pandemic, a spate of mass shootings, a Supreme Court poised to end the federal right to an abortion, and key congressional Democrats’ refusal to muscle through the president’s Build Back Better agenda or an expansion of voting rights.
Worries about age, and a successor To nearly all the Democrats interviewed, the president’s age — 79 now, 82 by the time the winner of the 2024 election is inaugurated — is a deep concern about his political viability. They have watched as a commander in chief who built a reputation for gaffes has repeatedly rattled global diplomacy with unexpected remarks that were later walked back by his White House staff, and as he has sat for fewer interviews than any of his recent predecessors.
“The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue,” said David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s two winning presidential campaigns.
“Biden doesn’t get the credit he deserves for steering the country through the worst of the pandemic, passing historic legislation, pulling the NATO alliance together against Russian aggression and restoring decency and decorum to the White House,” Mr. Axelrod added. “And part of the reason he doesn’t is performative. He looks his age and isn’t as agile in front of a camera as he once was, and this has fed a narrative about competence that isn’t rooted in reality.”
Mr. Biden has repeatedly said that he expects to run again in 2024. But if he does not, there is little consensus about who would lead the party.
Few Democrats interviewed expect that high-profile leaders with White House ambitions would defer to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has had a series of political hiccups of her own in office.
These Democrats mentioned a host of other figures who lost to Mr. Biden in the 2020 primary: Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and Beto O’Rourke, the former congressman who is now running for Texas governor, among others.
Mr. Biden’s supporters insist he has the country on the right track, despite the obstacles.
“Only one person steered a transition past Trump’s lies and court challenges and insurrection to take office on Jan. 20: Joe Biden,” said Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to the president, citing strong jobs numbers and efforts to combat the pandemic.
Other Biden allies dismissed suggestions that any other Democrat would do better than him in 2024.
“This the same hand-wringing that we heard about Barack Obama in 2010 and 2011,” said Ben LaBolt, who worked on Mr. Obama’s campaigns.
Cristóbal Alex, who was a senior adviser for the Biden campaign and was the deputy cabinet secretary in the White House until last month, said Mr. Biden was the only Democrat who could win a national election.
Mr. Alex said it was the responsibility of congressional Democrats to highlight Mr. Biden’s successes and pass legislation he, and most of them, campaigned on.
“I am worried that leaders in the party aren’t more aggressively touting the success of the administration,” he said. “The narrative needs to shift, and that can only happen with a powerful echo chamber combined with action in Congress on remaining priorities. The American people feel unsettled.”
Nikki Fried, the Florida agriculture commissioner who is running for governor, said she would welcome Mr. Biden to campaign with her in Florida, but stopped short of endorsing him for a second term. “There is a lot of time between now and 2024,” she said.
Still, public polling shows that Mr. Biden is at a low point in his popularity among Democratic voters. A survey last month from The Associated Press found Mr. Biden’s approval among his fellow party members at 73 percent — the lowest point in his presidency, and nine points lower than at any point in 2021. There is little recent public polling asking if Democrats want Mr. Biden to seek a second term, but in January just 48 percent of Democrats wanted him to run again, according to The A.P.’s polling.
‘We’re lacking in the excitement’ Elected Democrats are cautious about openly discussing Mr. Biden’s future.
“I’m not allowed to have feelings right now,” said Jasmine Crockett, a Texas state representative who last month won a primary runoff for a heavily Democratic House seat based in Dallas. “When you’re an incoming freshman, you just don’t get to.”
Still, Ms. Crockett lamented a stark enthusiasm gap between Republicans, who in Texas have passed legislation to restrict voting rights and abortion rights while expanding gun rights, and Democrats, who have not used their narrow control of the federal government to advance a progressive agenda.
“Democrats are like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” Ms. Crockett said. “Our country is completely falling apart. And so I think we’re lacking in the excitement.”
Many Democratic leaders and voters want Mr. Biden to fight harder against Republicans, while others want him to seek more compromise. Many of them are eyeing 2024 hoping for some sort of idealized nominee — somebody who isn’t Mr. Biden or Ms. Harris.
Hurting Mr. Biden the most, said Faiz Shakir, who was campaign manager for Mr. Sanders in 2020, is a perception of weakness.
Mr. Shakir circulated a memo in April stating that Mr. Sanders “has not ruled out” running in 2024 if Mr. Biden does not. In an interview, Mr. Shakir said he believed that Mr. Biden could beat Mr. Trump a second time — but that if Republicans nominate a newer face, like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Mr. Biden may not be the best choice.
“If it’s DeSantis or somebody, I think that would be a different kind of a challenge,” Mr. Shakir said.
Howard Dean, the 73-year-old former Vermont governor and Democratic National Committee chairman who ran for president in 2004, has long called for a younger generation of leaders in their 30s and 40s to rise in the party. He said he had voted for Pete Buttigieg, 40, in the 2020 primary after trying to talk Senator Chris Murphy, 48, of Connecticut into running.
“The generation after me is just a complete trash heap,” Mr. Dean said.
Mr. Biden and other older Democratic leaders in Washington, Mr. Dean said, have spent far too much time articulating goals that they have not reached.
“We need to have specific examples of how we’re dealing with things; it can’t just be pie-in-the-sky and kumbaya,” he said.
Many Democratic voters feel similarly. Lamenting “a great national loss of hope,” Alex Wyshyvanuk, 33, a data analyst from Annapolis, Md., said he wasn’t sold on another Biden presidential campaign in 2024.
“I need an equivalent of Ron DeSantis, a Democrat, but not a 70- or 80-year-old — a younger person,” he said. “Someone who knows what worked for you in 1980 is not going to work for you in 2022 or 2024.”
Regret and anxiety And then there are the questions about Mr. Biden’s inability to persuade centrist Democratic senators to back his agenda. With the prospect looming of a Republican majority in at least one chamber of Congress next year, Democrats who have been in a similar position of holding fleeting control of government are nervous that past mistakes will be repeated.
Elizabeth Guzmán, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, said Democrats in her caucus regret not passing a sweeping abortion rights law last year before they lost control of the state House and governor’s mansion to Republicans.
“We wanted to codify Roe vs. Wade, and look what happened,” she said.
Judy Vidal, 58, a retail worker from Cape Coral, Fla., echoed that sentiment.
“I just wish that since we have the majority now they would have behaved the way Republicans did and push things through,” she said.
The anxiety about Mr. Biden extends to the core of his political base. Adrianne Shropshire, the executive director of BlackPAC, an African American political organizing group, said her chief concern was that Black voters, having watched Mr. Biden and Democrats fail to deliver on core promises, don’t come back to vote in November.
“Does this frustration and the malaise and the worry and the fear, does that translate into an ongoing enthusiasm gap, and does that cause people to feel like their participation doesn’t make significant change?” she said. “That’s the real question.”
Even some of the earliest supporters of Mr. Biden’s 2020 campaign are now questioning whether he can lead the party through another daunting election cycle against Mr. Trump.
Ann Hart, a Democratic Party co-chairwoman in Iowa’s Allamakee County, endorsed Mr. Biden ahead of the state’s 2020 caucuses and introduced him at a campaign stop in a neighboring county. Ms. Hart, a retired school principal, said she could not imagine how Mr. Biden manages the presidency at 79 years old.
“I get asked to run for things — are you kidding? I’m 64,” she said. “We need youth. So I kind of admire him wanting to take this on and I hope he’ll pass the torch.”
Shelia Huggins, a lawyer from Durham, N.C., who is a member of the Democratic National Committee, put it more bluntly.
“Democrats need fresh, bold leadership for the 2024 presidential race,” she said. “That can’t be Biden.”
The post Should Biden Run in 2024? Democratic Whispers of ‘No’ Start to Rise. appeared first on New York Times.
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Post by Blitz on Jun 11, 2022 14:29:27 GMT -5
Things for the loony Left to consider...
RECENT QUOTES FROM: SEN. JOHN KENNEDY, (R) LOUISIANA
FIRST OF ALL, I'M JOHN KENNEDY, NOT THAT JOHN KENNEDY, I AM THE OTHER JOHN KENNEDY, (R) SENATOR REPRESENTING THE GREAT STATE OF LOUISIANA. PERMIT ME TO TELL YOU WHAT I BELIEVE:
* 1. I BELIEVE AMERICA WAS FOUNDED BY GENIUSES BUT IS NOW RUN BY IDIOTS.
* 2. I BELIEVE YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID, BUT YOU CAN VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE.
* 3. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD OF ANYONE TRYING TO SNEAK INTO CHINA.
* 4. AMERICA IS SO GREAT THAT PEOPLE WHO HATE IT, REFUSE TO LEAVE IT.
* 5. LET ME SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, SO FAR THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION SUCKS.
* 6. I DON'T LIKE TO BRAG ABOUT THE EXPENSIVE PLACES I'VE BEEN TO, BUT THIS MORNING I WENT TO THE GAS STATION.
* 7. I BELIEVE EXERCISE MAKES YOU LOOK BETTER NAKED. BUT SO DOES ALCOHOL.
* 8. WELFARE SHOULD BE A BRIDGE, NOT A PARKING LOT. * 9. WEAKNESS INVITES THE WOLVES. * 10. WE MUST ARM FOR PEACE.
* 11. WE DON'T HAVE A GUN CONTROL PROBLEM, WE HAVE AN IDIOT CONTROL PROBLEM.
* 12. FREE ADVICE FRIENDS, IF GOVERNMENT TELLS YOU NOT TO BUY A GUN, BUY TWO. * 13. I BELIEVE IF YOU HATE POLICE OFFICERS, THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE IN TROUBLE, CALL A CRACK-HEAD.
* 14. HERE'S A FREE TIP, COPS WILL LEAVE YOU ALONE IF YOU DON'T DO STUPID THINGS.
* 15. I BELIEVE WE NEED AN ELECTION DAY, NOT AN ELECTION MONTH.
* 16. I BELIEVE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO PROVE WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE WHEN YOU VOTE.
* 17. I BELIEVE 400,000 BODIES BURIED AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY IS THE REASON YOU SHOULD STAND FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.
* 18. I BELIEVE THE WATER WON'T CLEAR TILL YOU GET THE PIGS OUT OF THE CREEK. * 19. I BELIEVE LOVE IS THE ANSWER, BUT YOU SHOULD OWN A GUN, JUST IN CASE.
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Post by Blitz on Jun 12, 2022 8:46:11 GMT -5
archive.ph/PDwx0ESG Investing Is Heading for a Reckoning, Says One Veteran Manager Lisa Pham - Mon, June 6, 2022, 8:36 AM·2 min read (Bloomberg) -- The ESG investment industry may be headed for a reckoning and many companies won’t survive this period of higher interest rates. Most Read from Bloomberg That’s according to James Penny, who’s been running ethically focused funds for about a decade and is currently the London-based chief investment officer at TAM Asset Management. He predicted that several companies owned by ethically focused funds will struggle to refinance their debt, without naming any specific firms. “A lot of ESG companies out there that probably can’t survive with interest rates going where they are,” Penny said in an interview. “There will be ESG companies that will go to the wall because of this market.” It’s the latest in a string of warnings to hit the ESG space. The investing style rode out the pandemic better than other corners of the market, but is now coming under pressure from higher inflation and interest rates. It’s been particularly punishing for technology stocks, a staple of ESG funds. For fund managers, the period ahead “could be like a baptism of fire,” Penny said. There are now signs that interest in ESG investments is flagging. After more than three years of inflows, stock investors pulled about $2 billion from US exchange-traded ESG funds in May, the biggest monthly redemption on record, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Meanwhile, the Impact Shares MSCI Global Climate Select ETF is set to close after less than a year because none of the backers pitched in with anticipated funding. The tougher market environment for ESG has coincided with growing disillusionment. Insiders such as activist hedge fund boss Chris Hohn have publicly lambasted the way in which much of the asset management industry does ESG, characterizing it as toothless. And according to a recent survey conducted by the Journal of Financial Planning and the Financial Planning Association, there are signs of a broader cooling underway in sentiment toward ESG. The investment model “may have reached an inflection point,” the groups wrote in a press release. “It’s the environment that’s causing ESG stocks to underperform, but it’s also sentiment causing ESG stocks to underperform,” Penny said. He added that ESG fund managers need to be more selective and come up with “a full suite of different investment strategies” rather than rely on a limited number of asset classes. TAM Asset Management has been working on diversifying. The goal is to find ethically sound investments that are uncorrelated, which could include dividend-paying stocks, property, infrastructure or funds with an overweight to health care, he said. TAM is tilted towards quality and value, but still has exposure to growth stocks in its ESG strategies, Penny said. Ultimately, the goal for investors right now is not to lose money, he added. “You’ve got this broad-based sentiment turning against even high-quality companies,” he said. “People are just very fearful.”
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Post by Blitz on Jun 12, 2022 8:48:50 GMT -5
Finally, it appears that well-intentioned ESG policies and investing are not ready for a world with tyrants and a world that still needs fossil fuels for energy. The best path forward is to support both green energy and hydrocarbons as green energy grows and becomes more efficient. And now this... Anti-Green Blowback: ESG Funds Suffer Biggest Monthly Outflows On Record by Tyler Durden - Sunday, Jun 05, 2022 - 02:00 PM Has the ESG fraud bubble finally burst? More than two years ago, long before Elon Musk joined the growing anti-ESG bandwagon, we were the first to slam ESG as nothing but the latest Wall Street scam meant to fast-track gains for all those hypocrites who pretended to care about the environment but really had found a quick and efficient way of parting fools from their money (see from Feb 2020 "Behold The "Green" Scam" and from April 2020 "The Fraud That Is ESG Strikes Again: Six Of Top 10 ESG Funds Underperform The S&P500"). Well, it appears that after years of forced capital allocations, the party is over and the bubble has burst. As Bloomberg writes, this year’s weak performance by US stocks has forced many investors to recalibrate their portfolios. And they’re fleeing "do-good" scams strategies. After more than three years of inflows, investors are now pulling cash out of US equity exchange-traded funds with higher environmental, social and governance standards. May saw $2 billion of outflows from ESG equity funds, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence -- the biggest monthly cash pullback ever. “There’s no way to know for certain why the outflows were so extreme,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart, who noted that the funds had started from a high-asset base after years of inflows. “But also ESG ETFs may be finding that people care a lot more about them in bull markets.” Do-good investing boomed during the pandemic, with more than $68 billion flowing into ESG equity funds in the past two years. Many believed that this momentum would continue into 2022. But the spike in oil prices since Russia invaded Ukraine has lifted fossil-fuel shares, driving the S&P 500 Energy Index to gain 59% this year even as the benchmark overall has dropped 14%. This has made do-good investing more of a sacrifice. RBC Wealth Management recently surveyed over 900 of its US-based clients and 49% said that performance and returns were a higher priority than ESG impact, up from 42% last year. “The story has been told that you don’t have to give up returns in order to do ESG, but everyone assumed that you would get the same exact return profile as a traditional benchmark, which is absolutely not true because traditional benchmarks are not looking at ESG factors,” said Kent McClanahan, vice president of responsible investing at RBC Wealth Management. He added that social and environmental policy can take time to implement, so investors should focus more on longer-term payoffs. “You would think that now more than ever, people will be looking to ESG investing given what we are seeing in the energy markets and the need not to be so dependent on certain countries such as Russia and their energy and their oil and gas,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index. That might be one reason that at least 20 ESG-focused funds have launched in the US this year, netting almost $3.2 billion of inflows in 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Yet RBC clients also expressed skepticism about the ESG label. Though nearly two-thirds said that socially responsible investing is the way of the future, 74% of those surveyed said many companies provide misleading information about their ESG initiatives. This is an issue that could eventually be addressed through a Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal for new restrictions to ensure ESG funds accurately describe their investments. Ivy Jack, head of equities at Northstar Asset Management, said that this year’s performance has exposed the fact that some investors were caught up in ESG as a fad and misinformed. “If you really want to understand if someone is serious about ESG, I would first ask them to look at their portfolio and ask them to explain why all the companies are in there and how those companies relate to their values,” Jack said. “To the extent that someone can’t do that for you, well that’s a red flag.” See John Authers latest "ESG Is Alive and Well. Just Call It Protectionism" for another take on ESG. www.zerohedge.com/markets/anti-green-blowback-esg-funds-suffer-biggest-monthly-outflows-record
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Post by Blitz on Jun 18, 2022 9:52:21 GMT -5
Diesel shock: inflationary spiral imminent as reserves drop to historic lows and refining lags June 17, 2022 www.rystadenergy.com/newsevents/news/press-releases/diesel-shock-inflationary-spiral-imminent-as-reserves-drop-to-historic-lows-and-refining-lags/Global diesel and gasoline markets are witnessing blowout crack spreads in the US$50-60 per barrel (bbl) range, reflecting a clear lag in the refining system to respond effectively and decide between supplying diesel or gasoline. The precarious situation is driven by inventory stocks across the globe being at their lowest levels historically and, therefore, unable to provide the necessary shock absorbers. The loss of Russian refining owing to operational outages and product containment challenges has caused a diesel/gasoline hole greater than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in Europe that is not easy to plug, Rystad Energy research shows. “Diesel is the lifeblood of the global economy, essential to vital sectors such as agriculture, construction, and transportation – its price impacts almost all supply chains and goods. Governments face tough decisions. They can assist consumers by dropping taxes on diesel, but this will likely only increase demand, which may support the overall economy but will worsen the existing tight supply situation. If supply does not improve, governments will be forced to enact emergency plans to limit sales to consumers in order to ensure essential sectors are kept going,” says Per Magnus Nysveen, Head of Analysis at Rystad Energy On the demand side, the recovery is resilient as residual Covid-related restrictions are being removed. Latest guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to remove all Covid testing requirements for incoming flights is one such clear indicator. On the supply side, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted product flows and crude flows to the European market at a time when the rest of the world has limited ways in which to respond. Refineries by region The loss of crude supply has hindered the shrinking European refining sector’s ability to run at high utilization rates and has accelerated a downward trend in Europe which has lost 2 million bpd of crude refining since peak capacity of 17.5 million bpd in 2005. The US has been following a similar trend, losing between 1 million and 1.5 million bpd of refining capacity in the last 3-4 years. The move to phase out Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) Alkylation technology and lower availability of imported vacuum gas oil (VGO)/residues has dented the US refining sector’s ability to increase gasoline production. Outside the European Union and the US, refinery capacity has been growing primarily to meet rising domestic demand. However, the pandemic has severely impacted the pace of additions with many Middle Eastern, African and Asian refinery projects reporting delays owing to supply chain and resource issues. Recent news that Nigeria Dangote Refinery is unable to secure commissioning team is a case in point. Latin American refining was already in decline prior to the pandemic and does not have much to offer, let alone meet domestic product supply. Overall, the cost of refining has gone up alongside inflated gas, hydrogen and utility costs. Thus, a constrained refining system as demand has recovered has resulted in precariously lower days of supply cover in most countries. Many have mandated higher days of stock cover making it hard to solve regional product imbalances with trade flows. To meet rising demand, refining runs will need to increase by 4.6 million bpd from June to August 2022, compared to current projections of 3.3 million bpd. With a limited increase in overall runs, the second order lever of diesel versus gasoline optimization does not have much to offer. Diesel/jet fuel maximization is being pursued and indirectly fueling gasoline crack spreads. Asia’s petchem-aromatic system is not operating at its highest level either as pandemic-related demand has waned. This is reflected in a continued weakening of naphtha cracks in Asia. Therefore, additional gasoline blending aromatic components are unlikely to be available to bump up gasoline supply. Strong very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) cracks is also possibly making it harder for more VGO/residue to be diverted for fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC). A temporary reprieve Given the above indicators, Rystad Energy believes that gasoline’s slight contraction this week is only temporary and further upward movement can be expected. US gasoline stock levels continue their downward trend, from 246 million barrels at the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at end-February 2022 to 217 million barrels presently. Diesel cracks are also unlikely to soften ahead with stocks across the globe at lower levels. Potential pathways out of this Higher crude supply of the right medium-sour quality to maximize bottom of barrel upgradation would make a significant difference. The US government’s release of 45 million additional barrels of predominantly light sweet crude is a positive signal. OPEC is falling behind on its targets but the upcoming visit of US President Biden to Saudi Arabia is a key signpost to watch. Asian/Chinese and Middle Eastern refining runs in excess of domestic demand will offer some respite to plug shortages in the US and the EU. Overall, the global runs base outlook is likely to lag below demand-driven runs. The loss of Russian refining and product exports is not going to be plugged easily by the rest of the world. High diesel prices will drive hyperinflation globally and points towards a possible contraction in GDP. Demand destruction may lead to a recession and restore balance, but this will be a painful experience for consumers. Regardless, gasoline and diesel cracks are expected to continue to stay strong during the northern hemisphere’s summer. Many will be hoping for a moderate correction from August and September 2022 onwards, but a lot rests on how sanctions on Russia take effect towards year-end. Refining is currently resembling a deflated bike tire without a pump – squeezing one side to make more diesel or jet fuel will cause the gasoline supply to worsen and vice-versa. For operating refineries, it is a bonanza, generating fantastic profits. No wonder then that US President Biden has issued a call that refinery profits well above normal are unacceptable and that refineries need to do more to ease supply. For more analysis, insights and reports, clients and non-clients can apply for access to Rystad Energy’s Free Solutions and get a taste of our data and analytics universe. ###
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Post by Blitz on Jun 18, 2022 10:03:17 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Jun 18, 2022 10:17:52 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Jun 20, 2022 12:48:02 GMT -5
This is what happens when the loony Left runs ESG policies that are not ready for prime time...
Germany Turns To Coal Power Amid Natural Gas Crisis By Tsvetana Paraskova - Jun 20, 2022, 11:00 AM CDT
As Europe continues to struggle to wean itself off Russian oil and gas, coal is going to play an increasingly important role in electricity production. German Economy Minister has admitted that the country will have to use more coal-fired power generation for a transition period. Germany’s top priority with regard to natural gas right now is ensuring that there is enough in storage to ensure a winter supply
Germany will rely more on electricity generation from coal in order to conserve gas and fill its gas storage by winter, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Sunday, outlining measures to save gas after Russia last week reduced supply to some of its biggest customers in Europe.
As a first measure, Germany will reduce the use of natural gas in electricity generation, the minister said.
"To be honest, this means more coal-fired power generation for a transition period," Habeck, who represents the Green party in the government coalition, said in a statement.
"That's unfortunate, but it is necessary in order to reduce gas consumption. We must and we will do all that it takes in order to direct as much gas in storage as possible during the summer and the autumn," the minister added.
Germany's top priority right now is that its gas storage tanks be full during the winter, Habeck said.
Germany has reportedly already drafted plans to have around two dozen mostly coal-fired power plants, which were scheduled to be idled in 2022 and 2023, on standby as network reserve capacity as Berlin was looking to have the plants ready to be used in case Russian gas deliveries to Europe's largest economy stop.
Last week, Russia started reducing gas supply to several countries in Europe, including to its biggest customers, Germany and Italy, despite the fact that buyers in those countries had opened accounts in rubles at Gazprombank as demanded by Vladimir Putin. On Tuesday, Russia's Gazprom said it would limit gas supply via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany by 40 percent compared to planned flows because of a delay in equipment repairs. On Wednesday, Gazprom said the cuts would deepen to 60 percent of the daily throughput.
Supply to Italy, Austria, and Slovakia has also been reduced, with Italy considering declaring a state of alert this week if Russian supply continues to be curtailed, and Austria converting a reserve gas-fired plant to run on coal.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said last week about gas supply to Europe: "Our product, our rules. We don't play by rules we didn't create."
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Jun 22, 2022 7:59:21 GMT -5
The USA is being run by morons... EIA: US Refining Capacity Sinks To Near Decade Low By Julianne Geiger - Jun 21, 2022, 3:00 PM CDT oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/EIA-US-Refining-Capacity-Sinks-To-Near-Decade-Low.htmlOperable refining capacity in the United States hit a nearly decade low in 2022, the EIA’s latest Refining Capacity Report showed on Tuesday. U.S. refining capacity fell this year to 17.94 million barrels per day as of January 1, according to the latest EIA data—down from 18.09 million bpd on January 1 last year. U.S. refining capacity is now the lowest it’s been since 2014. The total number of operable refineries rose to 130, up from 129 last year, with the number of operating refineries increasing by 1 to 125. Compared to operable U.S. refining capacity as of January 1, 2020, this year’s refining capacity has decreased by more than a million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.3 million bpd during the week ending June 10, according to the EIA’s Petroleum Status Report published last Wednesday—that’s a decrease of 67,000 bpd over the previous week—running at 93.7% of operable capacity. The United States has more refining capacity than any other country, although China’s refining capacity could overtake the United States’ yet this year—in fact, it may have already overtaken the United States. Gasoline prices in the United States began ticking up in 2021, and with high refining utilization rates and low crude product inventories, the refining segment has been fingered as one of the biggest price culprits. Chevron’s CEO Mike Worth said earlier this month that he doesn’t see any relief to the refining capacity issue in sight, even going so far as to suggest that the United States may not see any new refineries built, ever, given their long lead times and lengthy ROI combined with the uncertainty of the future of fossil fuels in general given climate concerns. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Jun 22, 2022 8:02:26 GMT -5
I don't like Trump but he did say electing Biden would cause gas prices to go from $2 to $7 per gallon...
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Post by Blitz on Jun 23, 2022 9:32:22 GMT -5
And the other 43% didn't make it into the survey... 57% Of Americans Dissatisfied With Biden's Handling Of Energy Crisis By Irina Slav - Jun 22, 2022, 10:30 AM CDT oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/57-Of-Americans-Dissatisfied-With-Bidens-Handling-Of-Energy-Crisis.htmlA little over half of the respondents in a Rasmussen survey rated President Biden's handling of the U.S. economy as "poor," and they appear not to accept Biden's explanation of whose fault high gasoline prices are. The U.S. President has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and oil companies for the fuel price increase, with White House official communication referring to it as Putin's Price Hike. Apparently, this is not good enough for voters, based on the Rasmussen survey responses: Only 29% of voters think that oil companies are to blame for rising fuel costs, and only 11% blame Russian President Putin. Instead, 52% of those surveyed believe that President Biden's policies are the culprit. The number of voters approving of Biden's handling of the economy has slipped from 32 percent in December to 27 percent this month. Meanwhile, 57 percent said the President's handling of the economy has been poor, which is slightly up from 55 percent in December. Although modest in its sample of 1,000, the Rasmussen survey is not the only one pointing toward dissatisfaction among voters of federal energy policies. An earlier poll from this month, conducted by Reuters and Ipsos, suggested that approval for President Biden had fallen to 39 percent, close to the lowest since he took office. The President has been quite active in his attempts to rein in fuel prices, but so far, nothing has had a lasting effect. Among the measures taken so far was the planned release of a total of 180 million barrels of crude from the strategic petroleum reserve, appeals—and threats—to the oil industry to pump more, and appeals to the refining industry to refine more. In a recent letter to the oil industry, Biden wrote that he was "prepared to use all reasonable and appropriate Federal Government tools and emergency authorities to increase refinery capacity and output in the near term." The latest news from the price control camp is that the President is about to announce a gas tax holiday, which would lighten up the financial load on drivers but will reduce a revenue stream for infrastructure projects. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Jun 25, 2022 9:02:00 GMT -5
Perhaps the loony portion of the Left should think about what pollutes more coal or NatGas and how their well-intentioned ESG policies hurt rather than help total pollution when things don't work in the real world as they work in their liberal hallowed halls of utopian-minded universities. The vast majority of the energy crisis is supply related and that's a direct result of ESG policies not ready for the real world. And if your thinking it's about the war in Ukraine, that's a direct result of team Biden's spinelessness related to the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and telling Putin a minor incursion into Ukraine would not spark a war and we would nuke Russia despite Putin threatening to use his nukes against us... all truly pathetic. And now this... Germany Pushes for G-7 Reversal on Fossil Fuels in Climate Blow Europe faces energy fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine Pledge to end public financing of such fuels came recently The Jaenschwalde lignite coal-fired power plant in Peitz, Germany.Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg ByAlberto Nardelli, Chiara Albanese, and Jess Shankleman - June 25, 2022 at 4:20 AM EDT www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-25/germany-pushes-for-g-7-reversal-on-fossil-fuels-in-climate-blowGermany is pushing for Group of Seven nations to walk back a commitment that would halt the financing of overseas fossil fuel projects by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. That would be a major reversal on tackling climate change as Russia’s war in Ukraine upends access to energy supplies. A draft text shared with Bloomberg would see the G-7 “acknowledge that publicly supported investment in the gas sector is necessary as a temporary response to the current energy crisis.” The caveat in the proposal is that such funding is done “in a manner consistent with our climate objectives and without creating lock-in effects.” The text remains under debate and could change before G-7 leaders hold their summit in the Bavarian Alps starting Sunday hosted by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The UK opposes the proposal, two of the people said. A German government spokesman declined to comment. A person familiar with the discussions said Italy wasn’t actively opposing the German proposal. Italy, like Germany, is highly dependent on Russian gas. On Friday, speaking during a press conference in Brussels, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Italy has managed to reduce Russian gas imports from 40% last year to 25% at the moment. This has been possible also by signing new gas deals in countries including Congo, Algeria and Angola. A government spokesperson said Italy did not support Germany’s idea. European Gas Posts Second Weekly Gain on Russia Supply Squeeze The debate comes as Europe struggles for alternative sources of fuel to Russian gas. The German government has warned that Russia’s moves to limit supply risk a Lehman-like collapse in the energy markets, with Europe’s largest economy facing the unprecedented prospect of businesses and consumers running out of power. Germany has responded to the cuts by reviving coal plants and providing financing to secure gas supplies, while continuing with plans to phase out nuclear energy. The World Nuclear Association, an industry lobby group, is urging the G-7 to boost access to nuclear technologies. Germany Warns of Lehman-Like Contagion From Russian Gas Cuts Italy has said it will monitor the potential need to trigger emergency energy plans. Any such move could also see it boost coal production. German power for next year keeps getting more expensive A G-7 shift from a commitment initiated last year and firmed up in May would be a u-turn in global efforts to fight climate change. It would make it harder to rally the rest of the world around more stringent targets and direct investments toward cleaner sources of energy. It would also go against International Energy Agency advice that no new oil and gas projects should be developed if the world is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. EU buyers start tapping gas from storage to replace missing Russian flows G-7 ministers, in making their commitment to end direct international financing of fossil fuels by the end of 2022, acknowledged for the first time that fossil fuel subsidies were incompatible with the Paris Agreement. The group also reaffirmed a commitment to end “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. Sponsored Content In Business, Better Connectivity Means Better Productivity Ericsson The ministers acknowledged, however, that investment in the LNG sector was a necessary response to the current crisis “in a manner consistent with our climate objectives and without creating lock-in effects.” “This would be a huge setback from the progress we made last month at the G-7 energy and environment ministers when we finally brought Japan, the last G-7 holdout, into the commitment to end such financial support for fossil fuels,” said Alden Meyer, a senior associate at climate change think E3G. “Where we saw Chancellor Merkel being the climate chancellor at the last G-7 summit Germany hosted, Scholz could go down in history as the climate backtracking Chancellor, which I think would be a real mark on his record, and we don’t need to do this,” he added.
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Post by Blitz on Jul 1, 2022 10:18:58 GMT -5
The Dow just booked its worst first half since 1962. What history says about the path ahead. stocks.apple.com/A58i5wW9STEaPgxuiYY5yuAS&P 500 sees biggest first-half drop since 1970, while tech wreck leaves Nasdaq with largest such decline on record
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Post by Blitz on Jul 2, 2022 8:12:06 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Jul 2, 2022 8:14:23 GMT -5
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Post by Blitz on Jul 2, 2022 8:16:36 GMT -5
You have to have your priorities...
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Post by Blitz on Jul 4, 2022 7:28:17 GMT -5
Proud to be an American? Record Low Number Answer Yes in Latest Gallup Poll Sarah Rumpf - Yesterday 9:19 PM www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/proud-to-be-an-american-record-low-number-answer-yes-in-latest-gallup-poll/ar-AAZ9RqfDepressing numbers in a new Gallup poll, with a record low number of people saying they were “extremely proud” or “very proud” to be an American. CNN’s Harry Enten discussed the poll results with Ryan Nobles, who was guest hosting CNN Newsroom. Enten described the poll as posing an “interesting question…essentially, how proud are you to be an American,” and 65% was not a figure you would “think of necessarily as a low number,” but the “trend line going back over the last few decades” painted a different picture. Every five years, Enten pointed out, there was a drop. In 2002, shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 91% of Americans said they were extremely or very proud, and now it was only 65%. Just looking at those who said they were “extremely proud,” that figure was down to 38%, the lowest that Gallup has measured in the 21st century, said Enten. “Not a very hopeful trend, to say the least,” Nobles remarked. According to a press release from Gallup, the poll was conducted between June 1 and June 20, 2022 of a random sample of 1,015 adults 18 years of age or older from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error was +/- 4 points. The poll was conducted by phone, with 75% cellphone respondents and 25% landline respondents, selected using random-digit-dial methods. For the nationwide sample, in addition to the 38% who said they are “extremely proud” to be American and 27% who said “very proud,” 65% said “proud,” 22% “moderately proud,” 9% “only a little,” and 4% “not at all” proud. The downward trend carried across partisan lines, Gallup noted:
Republicans’ pride in being American has consistently outpaced Democrats’ and independents’ since 2001 and does so today. However, Republicans’ extreme national pride (58%) is now at its lowest point in the trend. Independents’ extreme pride, at 34%, is likewise the lowest on record for the group.
After hitting a 22% low point in 2019, Democrats’ extreme pride rose to 31% in 2021 at the start of Joe Biden’s presidency, but it is down this year to 26%.
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Post by Blitz on Jul 4, 2022 16:13:57 GMT -5
Another Biden policy change that's not ready for prime time... what a disaster team Biden has become.
And now this...
Venezuela’s Largest Oil Refinery Halts Production Amid Blackout By Irina Slav - Jul 04, 2022, 10:30 AM CDT
Operations at the biggest oil refinery in Venezuela have stopped following a blackout that was caused by an electrical fault, Reuters has reported, noting that the Amuay facility has a capacity to process 645,000 bpd.
"Blackout in the Amuay refinery. An electrical problem. Total blackout. In Amuay, the distilling and catalytic plants might be affected, which is currently producing about 80% of the country's gasoline," an unnamed source told Reuters.
Unless the problem is fixed quickly, it could become quite grave as Amuay is the only refinery at the Paraguana complex that produces gasoline, and Venezuela has been in the grips of regular gasoline shortages because of U.S. sanctions for years now.
Last month, PDVSA suspended gasoline production at the second-largest refinery in the country, Cardon, because of an outage at its naphtha reformer unit, per a Reuters report citing multiple sources. Like Amuay, the Cardon refinery is part of the Paraguana complex.
The Amuay facility was also shut down temporarily last year after a fire erupted in one of its gasoline production units.
Venezuela's PDVSA has a refining capacity of 1.3 million bpd, but utilization rates have been falling for several years because of U.S. sanctions as well as technical problems caused by mismanagement, including lack of investment and lack of maintenance.
Venezuela has emerged as one source of fresh oil supply amid sanctions on Russian crude but it has proven harder than probably expected in Washington to mend fences with the Maduro government.
U.S. officials have visited Venezuela at least two times this year, the most recent one focusing on negotiations for the release of several U.S. citizens held in Venezuela, according to U.S. sources.
The underlying reason, however, is securing crude oil amid the global shortage caused by the imbalance between demand and supply that started amid the pandemic and only got worse after Western sanctions against Russia took effect.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Jul 9, 2022 8:48:47 GMT -5
Europe’s Big And Expensive Energy Mistake By Leonard Hyman & William Tilles - Jul 08, 2022, 5:00 PM CDT oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Europes-Big-And-Expensive-Energy-Mistake.htmlEurope failed to prioritize energy security and has now found itself overly reliant on Russian energy and paying sky-high prices for power France is dealing with this issue by renationalizing its largest utility in order to ensure the survival of nuclear power. Germany, which is arguably the country that has suffered most from energy security failures, may soon have to bail out its largest utilities. France plans to renationalize EDF, its giant utility. That doesn’t sound like a big deal because the government already owns 84% of EDF’s outstanding shares. But here is how we read the story. The French government wants to expand nuclear production in France and it also wants EDF to spend big money on the rehabilitation of numerous nuclear power generating stations. It has put pressure on EDF to embrace those policies and we suspect that it could force the issue as the majority shareholder. But a board of directors, with a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders and other providers of capital, would have a hard time approving a strategy that looked too risky or economically uncompetitive. EDF is, after all, not a division of the ministry of defense, but rather a somewhat privatized company with the government as its biggest and controlling shareholder. At least that is the appearance it would want to give to its shareholders. If France requires more nuclear power for geopolitical or strategic reasons, despite its seeming cost disadvantage in the marketplace, we have no quarrel with that decision. Our issue is with the current policy—to require some non-governmental shareholders to bear national security burdens and take financial risks that really belong uniquely to the government. The French have approached the matter with admirable clarity. Germany, taking the almost opposite path, rejected nuclear power in its future after the Fukushima accident, and as a result, became energy dependent on Russian gas instead. One risk was traded for another but not spelled out. A month ago Germany took control of Gazprom Germania, a vital piece of natural gas infrastructure. Now the country faces another problem, the rocketing cost of natural gas that results from the Ukraine war. Germany may have to bail out Uniper, one of Germany’s largest utilities, and even worse, allow utilities to pass on the higher fuel costs to consumers. We would be curious to see an analysis of the cumulative savings that Germany amassed as a result of contracting for a “cheap” supply of Russian gas as opposed to the astronomical costs of the present situation. As an aside, the oil majors plan to sign long term LNG contracts beginning in 2026 (not much help now) with Qatar, the putative Saudi Arabia of LNG. Presumably much of this new gas would replace Gazprom supplies to Europe. Diversification of supply reduces risk. But is dependence on Qatar necessarily a low risk decision? Dependence on Russian natural gas was once considered a low risk decision too. Our point, simply, is that energy infrastructure and supply is a vital component of national security. Ignoring the security aspects of energy policy in order to save money can turn into a big and expensive mistake. By Leonard S. Hyman and William I. Tilles
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Post by Blitz on Jul 9, 2022 8:51:45 GMT -5
Putin Predicts Catastrophic Consequences For The Global Energy Market By Julianne Geiger - Jul 08, 2022, 3:30 PM CDT oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Putin-Predicts-Catastrophic-Consequences-For-The-Global-Energy-Market.htmlRussian President Vladimir Putin sees catastrophic energy consequences for Europe as sanctions against his country continue. “We know that the Europeans are trying to replace Russian energy resources. However, we expect the result of such actions to be an increase in gas prices on the spot market and an increase in the cost of energy resources for end consumers,” Putin said at a televised meeting with senior officials on Friday. The result, according to Putin, is that the sanctions will be felt more acutely by Europe than by Russia. “Further use of sanctions may lead to even more severe—without exaggeration, even catastrophic—consequences on the global energy market,” Putin said. Europe has struggled to find a surefire way to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine without feeling the pain itself, given that Europe has relied on Russia for roughly 40% of its natural gas needs. Major European economies such as Germany are already grappling with power company bankruptcies as they source higher-cost natural gas from sources other than Russia. Europe is making a mad dash to refill its natural gas in storage before the 2022 heating season kicks in, but it is finding that those stocks are coming at a steep price. Russia has already cut off the natural gas spigot to “unfriendly” countries that have failed to make arrangements to pay for Russia’s gas with a rubles account with Gazprombank. Bulgaria, Finland, and Poland have all had the flow of gas from Russia cut off, along with numerous buyers such as Orsted and Shell. Europe is now mulling a price cap on Russian oil to punish Russia by restricting its revenues while maintaining its supply of crude, but the details are complex and would require buy-in from other countries, including China and India. Critics of the plan suggest that such a plan is nonsense and has little chance of working. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Post by Blitz on Jul 11, 2022 6:54:03 GMT -5
Most Democrats Don’t Want Biden in 2024, New Poll Shows July 11, 2022 www.nytimes.com/2022/07/11/us/politics/biden-approval-polling-2024.htmlPresident Biden is facing an alarming level of doubt from inside his own party, with 64 percent of Democratic voters saying they would prefer a new standard-bearer in the 2024 presidential campaign, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, as voters nationwide have soured on his leadership, giving him a meager 33 percent job-approval rating. Widespread concerns about the economy and inflation have helped turn the national mood decidedly dark, both on Mr. Biden and the trajectory of the nation. More than three-quarters of registered voters see the United States moving in the wrong direction, a pervasive sense of pessimism that spans every corner of the country, every age range and racial group, cities, suburbs and rural areas, as well as both political parties. Only 13 percent of American voters said the nation was on the right track — the lowest point in Times polling since the depths of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. For Mr. Biden, that bleak national outlook has pushed his job approval rating to a perilously low point. Republican opposition is predictably overwhelming, but more than two-thirds of independents also now disapprove of the president’s performance, and nearly half disapprove strongly. Among fellow Democrats his approval rating stands at 70 percent, a relatively low figure for a president, especially heading into the 2022 midterms when Mr. Biden needs to rally Democrats to the polls to maintain control of Congress. In a sign of deep vulnerability and of unease among what is supposed to be his political base, only 26 percent of Democratic voters said the party should renominate him in 2024. Mr. Biden has said repeatedly that he intends to run for re-election in 2024. At 79, he is already the oldest president in American history, and concerns about his age ranked at the top of the list for Democratic voters who want the party to find an alternative. The backlash against Mr. Biden and desire to move in a new direction were particularly acute among younger voters. In the survey, 94 percent of Democrats under the age of 30 said they would prefer a different presidential nominee. “I’m just going to come out and say it: I want younger blood,” said Nicole Farrier, a 38-year-old preschool teacher in East Tawas, a small town in northern Michigan. “I am so tired of all old people running our country. I don’t want someone knocking on death’s door.” Ms. Farrier, a Democrat who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, said she had hoped he might have been able to do more to heal the nation’s divisions, but now, as a single mother, she is preoccupied with what she described as crippling increases in her cost of living. “I went from living a comfortable lifestyle to I can’t afford anything anymore,” she said. Jobs and the economy were the most important problem facing the country according to 20 percent of voters, with inflation and the cost of living (15 percent) close behind as prices are rising at the fastest rate in a generation. One in 10 voters named the state of American democracy and political division as the most pressing issue, about the same share who named gun policies, after several high-profile mass shootings. More than 75 percent of voters in the poll said the economy was “extremely important” to them. And yet only 1 percent rated economic conditions as excellent. Among those who are typically working age — voters 18 to 64 years old — only 6 percent said the economy was good or excellent, while 93 percent rated it poor or only fair. The White House has tried to trumpet strong job growth, including on Friday when Mr. Biden declared that he had overseen “the fastest and strongest jobs recovery in American history.” But the Times/Siena poll showed a vast disconnect between those boasts, and the strength of some economic indicators, and the financial reality that most Americans feel they are confronting. “We used to spend $200 a week just going out to have fun, or going and buying extra groceries if we needed it, and now we can’t even do that,” said Kelly King, a former factory worker in Greensburg, Ind., who is currently sidelined because of a back injury. “We’re barely able to buy what we need.” Ms. King, 38, said she didn’t know if Mr. Biden was necessarily to blame for the spiking prices of gas and groceries but felt he should be doing more to help. “I feel like he hasn’t really spoken much about it,” Ms. King said. “He hasn’t done what I think he’s capable of doing as president to help the American people. As a Democrat, I figured he would really be on our side and put us back on the right track. And I just feel like he’s not.” Now, she said, she is hoping Republicans take over Congress in November to course-correct. One glimmer of good news for Mr. Biden is that the survey showed him with a narrow edge in a hypothetical rematch in 2024 with former President Donald J. Trump: 44 percent to 41 percent. The result is a reminder of one of Mr. Biden’s favorite aphorisms: “Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.” The poll showed that Democratic misgivings about Mr. Biden seemed to mostly melt away when presented with a choice between him and Mr. Trump: 92 percent of Democrats said they would stick with Mr. Biden. Randain Wright, a 41-year-old truck driver in Ocean Township, N.J., is typical of these voters. He said he talked frequently with friends about Mr. Biden’s shortcomings. “He’s just not aggressive enough in getting his agenda done,” Mr. Wright lamented. In contrast, he said, “Trump wasn’t afraid to get his people in line.” But while he would prefer a different nominee in 2024, Mr. Wright said he still wouldn’t consider voting Republican in 2024 if faced with a Biden-Trump rematch. On the whole, voters appeared to like Mr. Biden more than they like his performance as president, with 39 percent saying they have a favorable impression of him — six percentage points higher than his job approval. In saying they wanted a different nominee in 2024, Democrats cited a variety of reasons, with the most in an open-ended question citing his age (33 percent), followed closely by unhappiness with how he is doing the job. About one in eight Democrats just said that they wanted someone new, and one in 10 said he was not progressive enough. Smaller fractions expressed doubts about his ability to win and his mental acuity. The Times/Siena survey of 849 registered voters nationwide was conducted from July 5 to 7, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion, which had been protected for half a century. The ruling sent Democrats into the streets and unleashed an outpouring of political contributions. Typically, voters aligned with the party in power — Democrats now hold the House, the Senate and the White House — are more upbeat about the nation’s direction. But only 27 percent of Democrats saw the country as on the right track. And with the fall of Roe, there was a notable gender gap among Democrats: Only 20 percent of Democratic women said the country was moving in the right direction, compared with 39 percent of Democratic men. Overall, abortion rated as the most important issue for 5 percent of voters: 1 percent of men, 9 percent of women. Gun policies, following mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde, Tex., and elsewhere, and the Supreme Court’s June 23 ruling striking down a New York law that placed strict limits on carrying guns outside the home, were ranked as the top issue by 10 percent of voters — far higher than has been typical of nationwide polls in recent years. The issue was of even greater importance to Black and Hispanic voters, ranking roughly the same as inflation and the cost of living, the survey found. The coronavirus pandemic, which so thoroughly disrupted life at the end of the Trump administration and over the first year of Mr. Biden’s presidency, has largely receded from voters’ minds, the survey found. In an open-ended question, fewer than one percent of voters named the virus as the nation’s most important problem. When Mr. Biden won in 2020, he made a point of trying to make inroads among working-class white voters who had abandoned the Democratic Party in droves in the Trump era. But whatever crossover appeal Mr. Biden once had appears diminished. His job approval rating among white voters without college degrees was a stark 20 percent. John Waldron, a 69-year-old registered Republican and retired machinist in Schenectady, N.Y., voted for Mr. Biden in 2020. Today, he said, he regrets it and plans to vote Republican in 2024. “I thought he was going to do something for this country, but now he’s doing nothing,” Mr. Waldron said. Like others, he expressed worries about Mr. Biden’s age and verbal flubs. On Friday, a clip of Mr. Biden at an event announcing an executive order on abortion went viral when he stumbled into saying “terminate the presidency” instead of “pregnancy,” for instance. “You ever see him on TV?” Mr. Waldron said, comparing the president to zombies. “That’s what he looks like.” Mr. Biden’s base, in 2020 and now, remains Black voters. They delivered the president a 62 percent job-approval rating — higher marks than any other race or ethnicity, age group or education level. But even among that constituency, there are serious signs of weakening. On the question of renominating Mr. Biden in 2024, slightly more Black Democratic voters said they wanted a different candidate than said they preferred Mr. Biden. “Anybody could be doing a better job than what they’re doing right now,” said Clifton Heard, a 44-year-old maintenance specialist in Foley, Ala. An independent, he said he voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 but is disillusioned over the state of the economy and the spiraling price of gas, and is now reconsidering Mr. Trump. “I understand that they’ve got a tough job,” he said of Mr. Biden’s administration. “He wasn’t prepared to do the job.” The Times/Siena nationwide survey was conducted by telephone using live operators. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. Cross-tabs and methodology are available here. The post Most Democrats Don’t Want Biden in 2024, New Poll Shows appeared first on New York Times.
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Post by Blitz on Jul 13, 2022 7:40:50 GMT -5
And this is why the Left likes rising fuel prices... A Quarter of Americans Say Their Next Car Will Be an EV AAA study suggests sales of plug-in vehicles poised to grow Consumers still concerned about cost, charging availability by Keith Naughton - July 13, 2022 at 12:01 AM EDT www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-13/a-quarter-of-americans-say-their-next-car-will-be-an-evA quarter of Americans surveyed say they will buy an electric vehicle as their next automobile as gasoline prices soar to record levels. Millennials are the most eager to electrify their ride, with 30% saying they plan to buy an EV next, according to a national survey by the American Automobile Association. Of those looking to buy a plug-in vehicle, 77% said the interest was driven by a desire to save on fuel costs. The last time the organization gauged Americans’ interest in EVs in 2019, 16% said they were likely to buy one. The studies used different methodologies. Consumers don’t necessarily act on their impulse -- only 3.2% of US vehicle sales in 2021 were EVs, according to researcher Cox Automotive. And in 2019, the number of available plug-in models was very limited. But the level of interest reported in the survey suggests that plug-in vehicles are gaining momentum. Sales may also be bolstered by the fact that there are now many more EV choices available as automakers invest more than $500 billion to bring new models to the market. Gasoline prices in the US reached a record $5.02 a gallon last month and have since settled to an average of $4.66, which is $1.51 more per gallon than a year ago, according to AAA. “The increase in gas prices over the last six months has pushed consumers to consider going electric, especially for younger generations,” Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relations, said in a statement. “They are looking for ways to save.” Consumers haven’t been won over yet, however: A majority in the survey voiced concerns about the cost of EVs and the availability of charging stations. AAA said it surveyed 1,051 American drivers online and by phone in February. The study has a margin of error of 4%.
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Post by Blitz on Jul 13, 2022 11:42:56 GMT -5
What a complete disaster this POTUS has become... Poll: Just 18% of Americans say Biden should run for reelection in 2024 — a new low Andrew Romano·West Coast Correspondent - Wed, July 13, 2022 at 10:05 AM·5 min read news.yahoo.com/poll-just-18-of-americans-say-biden-should-run-for-reelection-in-2024-a-new-low-140538311.html46th president of the United States since 2021 Just 18% of Americans say President Biden should run for reelection in 2024, according to the latest Yahoo News/YouGov poll — the lowest number to date. Nearly two-thirds (64%) say he should bow out. And for the first time, more Democrats now say Biden should pass on a second term (41%) than say he should pursue one (35%). The survey of 1,672 U.S. adults, which was conducted from July 8 to July 11, represents perhaps the starkest evidence to date of the president’s deteriorating position with voters — including those in his own party. Since late May, the number of Americans who say Biden should run for reelection has fallen by 7 points; among Democrats, that number has fallen by 8 points. Meanwhile, when asked “who they would rather see as the Democratic nominee for president in 2024,” only about a quarter (27%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now say Biden. Fewer say Vice President Kamala Harris (19%); most say either “someone else” (20%), they’re “not sure” (30%) or that they “wouldn’t vote” (4%). No U.S. president has declined to run for reelection since Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, and Biden has repeatedly insisted — both publicly and privately — that he will compete for a second term. But given his advanced age (he’ll turn 82 shortly after the next presidential election) and low approval ratings, several national outlets have published recent stories about Democrats’ emerging interest in some sort of plan B. And it is that level of discontent within Biden’s own party that distinguishes him from his likeliest 2024 rival: former President Donald Trump. Trump is hardly popular. Among registered voters, Biden still leads 44% to 43% in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup between the two presidents — despite Biden’s weakened standing. Amid the Jan. 6 hearings, most voters (52%) now think “Trump committed a crime by trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election”; even more (54%) think the U.S. Department of Justice should prosecute him. And nearly 6 in 10 Americans (59%) say that Trump shouldn’t run for president again either. Only 28% say he should. The difference is that Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to express dissatisfaction with their party’s de facto leader. On the question of whether either man should run again, for instance, 89% of Democrats say Trump shouldn’t — and 87% of Republicans say the same about Biden. Polarization and partisanship are remarkably consistent on both sides. President Biden participates in a conference call on climate change with the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Sept. 17, 2021, in Washington, D.C. President Biden. (Al Drago/Getty Images) Yet a full 60% of Republicans still insist that Trump should make another go of it in 2024 — nearly twice Biden’s number among Democrats (35%). Likewise, the share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say they’d “prefer” Trump as the party’s next nominee (50%) is also roughly double the share of Democrats and Democratic leaners who say the same about Biden (27%). At the same time, independents don’t want either man to run again — but far more of them say Biden should skip 2024 (71%) than Trump (58%). It’s no surprise that Americans who lean right disapprove of Biden; those numbers tend to remain at rock bottom no matter what he does. But why is the president losing so much steam on his own side? The poll offers some clues. In the wake of several unpopular Supreme Court decisions, even most Democrats (53%) now say the country is “off on the wrong track”; less than a third (32%) say it’s “generally headed in the right direction.” Significant minorities of Democrats say they disapprove of how the president is handling abortion (27%), guns (30%) — and most of all inflation (35%). And on several key measures of leadership, Biden’s numbers have fallen as much on the left as elsewhere. In August 2020, Yahoo News and YouGov asked poll respondents to look at a list of eight “qualities” and select every one they associate with Biden. Back then, more than 60% of Democrats chose empathy, honesty, competence, responsibility, decency and intelligence. Most also thought Biden showed strength (55%). Nearly two years later, Democrats are just as likely — or more likely, in some cases — to say Biden displays empathy (69%), honesty (64%), responsibility (64%) and decency (66%). But they’re significantly less likely to say he demonstrates strength (down 15 points, to 40%); competence (down 12 points, to 52%); or intelligence (down 5 points, to 56%). In other words, most Democrats still think the president is a good person; it’s his political skills they’ve come to doubt. Other new poll results support this interpretation. After Biden’s first 100 days in office, for instance, respondents were asked whether he’d kept his promises. Back then, nearly three-quarters of Democrats (72%) said the president had done “all” (25%) or “most” (47%) of what he pledged to do. Today, that combined number is nearly 30 points lower (44%), with just 10% of Democrats saying Biden has kept all of his promises and just 34% saying he’s kept most of them. In the same April 2021 survey, two-thirds of Democrats (67%) said Biden had been a better president than they expected. Now just 27% of Democrats continue to say that — while the number willing to say Biden has been “worse” than expected has more than tripled (to 17%). Finally, most Americans (56%) now feel that Biden is not “up to the challenges facing the U.S.” — including one in five Democrats. Another one in five say they’re “not sure.”
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Post by Blitz on Jul 14, 2022 7:47:10 GMT -5
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