I Wonder Why
I wonder why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was invited to speak before the Grammy Awards (on video) and turned down for the same offer by the Oscars. His words last night were somber as he compared the sound of music to those of war. Very moving and impactful.
As we see the scenes in the Ukraine of genocide as Russia retreats, what will the world do? Will Europe continue to bury itself and continue buying Russian oil that is keeping Putin afloat? Will the US really put sanctions on them that can lock up their economy? Will we get the Ukrainians the weapons they need to truly push the enemy back? Up to now it’s all been window dressing.
Hillary Clinton was on Meet The Press and basically said she can’t understand how we (the people of the US) don’t appreciate all the President and Democrats are doing for us. Really, she did. I wish they would have asked where in the US or the world does she think we are better off now? We want to hear it.
How much will the strategic petroleum gas release impact the price per gallon? The head of petroleum analysis at the website GasBuddy, said that prices could drop by 10 to 20 cents. However, he warned that exactly where prices will land in the coming weeks is unclear since the release isn’t happening in a vacuum and other factors may drive prices up or down.
With states freezing their taxes, like Connecticut has its 25 cents per gallon, the possible impact that could be as much as 45 cents a gallon. Good, right? That means you’ll only be paying about $1.25 more per gallon then.
Long term?
No one knows, but unless we take the regulations off domestic activity it is not a good outlook as I see it.
Here’s something that will help with the price of a gallon but will drive up the cost to buy a car. There was not much coverage of it, but the administration reinstated an average miles per gallon directive.
New vehicles sold in the US will have to average at least 40 miles per gallon in 2026. The new rules were announced by the government.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday its fuel economy requirements will undo a rollback enacted under President Donald Trump. He had relaxed the high requirements because of the cost to enact the mileage standards. For the current model year, standards enacted under Trump require the fleet of new vehicles to get about 28 miles per gallon in real-world driving.
I wonder how the car companies being pushed into all electric vehicles feel about this by 2026?
You saw that White House press secretary Jen Psaki is planning to resign her role as press secretary and is going to work at MSNBC. I wonder if she is going to take the 9:00 slot that Rachel Maddow is leaving later this year.
The vote on Judge Jackson to the Supreme Court is upcoming. The outcome is clear, and Senator Collins has announced she will vote yes, so it will be bipartisan with at least one vote. Lindsey Graham announced he is a no. (He had voted for her in the past.) That leaves two interesting questions. Lisa Murkowski is up for reelection in Alaska and Mitt Romney in Utah. I am guessing they are yes. Let’s see.
I wonder how you feel about this little reported story. “More than 90 Democrats in the House and Senate are calling on President Biden to extend the moratorium on federal student loan payments through the end of the year, ramping up pressure on the White House for further action just weeks before the pause is set to lapse.” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was one of the signers. (He really wants to do all he can to assure AOC has no issues to run against him on in a primary.)
The pause first started in early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began. It has been extended several times.
Last week I saw unemployment was at 3.6%, and we had 10 million unfilled jobs.
I wonder why is this necessary?