Is it? Where do you live?

The Mobil station I pass frequently was at $2.69 last week. Earlier this week, it was charging $2.99. Today, as I drove past, it had dropped to $2.79. I pressed on, and topped up at an Exxon, at $2.74. Then I passed another Mobil station at $2.69 Doh!

As noted in the above article, he wants to keep oil prices low - around $50 per barrel.

He could be lying, for the benefit of his base. Prices like that would hurt his donors.

I have been proposing an air strike on Kharg Island. That would be easier and quicker than trying to hijack every tanker that is carrying Iranian oil, with the added bonus of the shock value.

His nibs has already been laying the ground work to "justify" such a strike.

January 2, 2025

Trump says U.S. will intervene if Iran kills peaceful protesters as economic unrest spreads

"We are locked and loaded and ready to go," the president said on Truth Social early Friday, after economic protests in the Islamic Republic took a sharply violent turn.

nbcnews.com - Trump US intervene iran kills protesters economic unrest

Does God and Savior Trump give a rat's a$$ about demonstrators?

May 2022

Former Pentagon chief Esper says Trump asked about shooting protesters

"The president was enraged," Esper recalled. "He thought that the protests made the country look weak, made us look weak and 'us' meant him. And he wanted to do something about it.

"We reached that point in the conversation where he looked frankly at [Joint Chiefs of Staff] Gen. [Mark] Milley and said, 'Can't you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?'

npr.org - Trump esper book defense secretary

I propose his "concern" for the well being of demonstrators in Iran is entirely fake. He is using it as nothing but an excuse to attack Iran.

He doesn't care any more than Bush 43 did, about the price Proles pay for gas. Higher prices are good for him and his donors, and that is all that matters.

The only likely answer is for the U.S. government to backstop private investment in Venezuela with massive economic guarantees. Investing in Venezuela with a government that doesn't have real laws and a history of nationalizing assets is a super high-risk prospect. They'll need iron-clad protections:

On that I agree. USian "JCs" have learned that they can sit on their hands, and the government will pay their costs, and take their risks, so their profits are guaranteed.

Steve