quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
Biden Administration Quietly Raised Amount of Ethanol Required in Gasoline from Ten Percent to Fifteen, Three Predictable Problems Will Surface Soon

Last Friday the Biden administration raised the mandatory amount of biofuel, specifically ethanol, that must be blended within the U.S. gasoline supply. The previous amount of 10% was raised to 15% by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is likely to lead to two sets of bigger issues, less food and higher gas prices.

♦ First issue. – The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a government mandate, passed in 2005 and expanded in 2007, that requires growing volumes of biofuels to be blended into U.S. transportation fuels like gasoline and diesel every year. Approximately 40 percent of corn grown in the U.S. is used for ethanol. Raising the amount of ethanol required in gasoline will result in the need for more biofuel (corn). With farming costs and outputs already under pressure this could be problematic.

♦ Second issue – The EPA enforces the biofuel standard by requiring refineries to submit purchase credits (known as Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proving the purchases. This enforcement requirement sets up a system where the RIN credits are bought and sold by small refineries who do not have the infrastructure to do the blending process. They purchase second-hand RIN credits from parties that blended or imported biofuels directly. This sets up a secondary income stream, a trading market for the larger oil companies, refineries and importers.

The RIN credit trading platform is similar to what we might expect to see if the ‘Carbon Trading’ scheme was ever put into place. However, now that the biofuel requirements for blended gasoline have gone from 10% to 15%, the price of the RIN credits will likely jump. This will cost refineries billions in additional expenses,…. which will mean the cost of the gasoline from the refineries will increase,….. which will mean the cost of the gasoline at the pump will go higher.

The EPA theory is that RIN credits should be expensive thereby forcing all oil refineries to invest in infrastructure that makes the blended fuel. All of the infrastructure from the refinery to the gas station would need to be modified to facilitate the new 15% RFS standard. Again, higher prices at the pumps as a result of oil companies and refineries needing to spend billions on upgrades. Which brings us to issue number three.

♦ Third Issue – “Ethanol is a valuable source of octane in finished gasoline, but it is chemically different than petroleum gasoline and cannot be used in concentrations above 10 percent in small engines — like outboard boat motors, motorcycles, lawnmowers, generators or chain saws — or in any cars made before 2001. Complicating matters further, most cars on the road today still aren’t warrantied to run on gasoline with more than 10 percent ethanol. Retail stations also must have compatible infrastructure in order to sell gasoline with higher ethanol blends.” This issue is known within the industry as “The Blend Wall.”

The net result of Joe Biden’s EPA raising the mandatory amount of biofuel that must be present in the U.S. gas supply is this:
(1) Less food as more corn is needed for ethanol.
(2) Higher prices for finished and blended gasoline.
(3) Vehicle engines breaking down at a much higher rate.

The predictable Biden outcome is the absolute worst scenario for the middle-class.

ABC Article on the EPA change HERE.

AFPM Background Information HERE.

WASHINGTON – “The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers group, which represents refineries, called the 2022 figure “bewildering and contrary to the administration’s claims to be doing everything in their power to provide relief to consumers.” The group said unachievable mandates will increase fuel production costs and keep consumer prices high.” (more)

https://theconservativetreehou...ce-soon/#more-233882

This is infuriating! Nearly the only thing Our Comander in Clueless (or whoever is really setting policy) could make things worse! Many cars will not run well on %15, and the rest of article is spot on. Higher prices, supply problems. Fucking drill!! Drill baby drill!!

Importing COVID: Biden administration releases 7,000 COVID-infected illegal border-crossers into McAllen, Texas

https://www.americanthinker.co...o_mcallen_texas.html

So much for Title 42, the court-reinforced order to keep illegal border-crossers out of the U.S. to protect the public here during the pandemic.

Actually, they're letting them in...and letting them in. There's no limit.

Here's the news from just one border city, McAllen, Texas, reported by Fox News:

The Texas border city of McAllen says more than 7,000 COVID-positive migrants have been released into the city since February, and more than 1,500 in the past week — the latest example of growing concern about the potential impact of the border crisis on efforts to control COVID-19 in the U.S.

In a statement announcing the building of new temporary shelters to deal with a "rapidly escalating" surge of immigrants being released into the border city, McAllen warned of the release of thousands of migrants with COVID-19.

"Since mid-February of 2021 there have been over 7,000 confirmed COVID-19 positive immigrants released into the city of McAllen by [Customs and Border Protection], including over 1,500 new cases in the past seven days," the statement said.

Immigrants released by CBP are dropped off with Catholic Charities and tested for COVID by a third party. If they test positive, they are asked to quarantine and offered a room at a quarantine site.

According to City-Data, McAllen, Texas has a population of 143,000 and is Texas's 22nd-largest city. Adding 1,400 people with COVID into a population of that size in one week is a hell of a lot of COVID to get spreading.

Ostensibly, these migrants are a "humanitarian exception" to the Title 42 sendbacks — single moms with small children, and unaccompanied minors, most of whom are single MS-13-aged young men.

The problem here is that they spread COVID as much as the single adults and families with older children who are being sent back. There's no exception with COVID, whether it comes from a single mom with four kids in tow or a single adult male without kids.

Leftists are claiming that the illegal migrants with COVID being admitted are asked — asked — to move to quarantine units — which are reportedly full at this point — presumably to get well first before being free to walk around the country.

No word on what happens if they say "no." No word on what happens if there's no room at the tent.

Having just gotten over this latest strain of COVID myself, and talked to others who have had it recently, all I can think is that it will take weeks — at least three — for the sick migrants to get well and test negative. That's a lot of time and beds taken in an isolation unit, which would likely include whole families should one member test positive.

Are they going to stay the full three weeks? Don't bet on it. With thousands of border-crossers coming into the country by the day in a ramped up surge that is already seeing the bridge underpasses filling up, according to the Fox report video, that's a lot of COVID that's likely to be released into the interior of the U.S. and to the U.S. public.

Outside the tent cities being put up for the COVID-infected illegal migrants, many are being placed in hotels at taxpayer expense. What happens at the hotels? Is there an armed guard to keep the migrants from stepping out from their rooms and mingling with the public? There sure as heck wasn't in this case last year, sure enough, in La Joya, Texas, where COVID-infected illegals stationed in a hotel to isolate entered a Texas restaurant and coughed all over the patrons, not so much as covering their mouths. No guards at that one — and why should the U.S. public be forced to pay for guards anyway simply because unvetted migrants cannot be trusted to respect the health of the public? Based on recent news reports, the illegal migrants have already shown zero respect for U.S. immigration (and public littering) laws. Why would they care if they spread COVID to the American public?

The weasel word "asked" to isolate is quite a qualifier. We know what happens when the NGOs put them in hotels to isolate. What happens if they don't like the tents?

What we have here is an amazing federal defiance of a judicial order on Title 42, which pretty much negates the entire order. Migrants have complained that they are COVID-negative when they have been turned away under that Title 42 order in past news stories, but now that the U.S. is importing 7,000 COVID-infected migrants at one illegal point of entry alone (and there are many), the Biden administration is effectively importing COVID into the States, and placing a tremendous burden onto the border towns, which bear the brunt of the infected migrants' effect.

This one sounds like grounds for a lawsuit by the states.

It is outrageous how the Biden administration, under court order to keep Title 42 in place, is thumbing its nose at the law and bringing in thousands of COVID-infected illegals to superspread among the citizens and incur high taxpayer costs for their care should they take it. What is the point of even trying if that many "exceptions" get in? The Bidenites don't actually care. They are importing COVID.

Press Sec Karine Jean-Pierre has entered the Twilight Zone

New Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre yesterday ignored the First Law of Holes and kept on digging. It’s been a rough start for the Psaki successor, reading from notes rather than spontaneously answering questions, and cutting off briefings and walking out as reporters continue to shout questions.

But yesterday, trying to defend the miserable mismanagement of the economy, she fully escaped the bounds of reality and entered what must be the Twilight Zone. Precisely nobody will believe this:

"What we're trying to say, what I'm trying to say to you, is that the economy is in a better place than it has been historically."

Yet she said it:

She also tried peddling the Kamala-esque line that we are at “a historic place in history” (is there any other kind?), at which point (7 seconds into the video below) she rolled her eyes and waved her hands in a bizarre display of something weird. Inability to peddle nonsense? Demonic possession?

What is the point? Everyone but the very rich are experiencing a decline in our standard of living, as we no longer can afford what had been customary expenditures due to steep inflation in food and energy, as well as many other essentials. People who have had to give up eating fast food hamburgers are not going to be fooled by rhetoric from the White House briefing room.

This presentation reeks of panic. Does KJP suspect she is being set up as the fall gal? Something very weird was on display.

https://www.americanthinker.co...e_twilight_zone.html

quote:

"What we're trying to say, what I'm trying to say to you, is that the economy is in a better place than it has been historically."

I'm stealing a point from the article, but she never specified which point in history she was talking about - and the press, being the press, didn't press her on it.

quote:

This presentation reeks of panic. Does KJP suspect she is being set up as the fall gal? Something very weird was on display.

There's something known as Imposter Syndrome, where someone qualified and capable never quite believes that they're qualified and capable, and that lack of confidence hobbles them so badly that they can't do the job they are otherwise perfectly capable of doing.

The libs have their own version (shall we call it Legit Syndrome?). They blithely assume that they're smart enough and skilled enough to handle anything if they can just shout down someone they disagree with politically at some point during college. Then they hit the real world, discover they have no actual knowledge and skills, and panic because they have no idea what to do.

IOW, just wait until she begins to sound like Kamala Harris in a rough interview.

I don't see how she could be set up as the 'fall girl' - she doesn't make any policies or decisions, she's just the mouth of the administration for the press.

All progs suffer from Delusions of Competence....

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:

quote:

"What we're trying to say, what I'm trying to say to you, is that the economy is in a better place than it has been historically."

I'm stealing a point from the article, but she never specified which point in history she was talking about - and the press, being the press, didn't press her on it.

quote:

This presentation reeks of panic. Does KJP suspect she is being set up as the fall gal? Something very weird was on display.

There's something known as Imposter Syndrome, where someone qualified and capable never quite believes that they're qualified and capable, and that lack of confidence hobbles them so badly that they can't do the job they are otherwise perfectly capable of doing.

The libs have their own version (shall we call it Legit Syndrome?). They blithely assume that they're smart enough and skilled enough to handle anything if they can just shout down someone they disagree with politically at some point during college. Then they hit the real world, discover they have no actual knowledge and skills, and panic because they have no idea what to do.

IOW, just wait until she begins to sound like Kamala Harris in a rough interview.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
"Has been incredibly effective". I truly believe that the main qualification for Press Secretary is the ability to lie convincingly.

I thought Jen was bad, KGP takes first prize!

So now the latest tactic is to have President Potato tape a segment with an ultra friendly host like Jimmy Kimmel who then makes it appear that he’s on his show late at night when in fact he’s been fed his pudding and tucked in long ago

You see, it’s not that Potato is an incompetent idiot surrounded by clueless handlers, it’s that he’s got a messaging problem. You see if he could just get his message out to the American people better, all would be well!

If you haven’t seen the clips yet, take a look. Potato is babbling away incoherently, trying to put a sentence together and Kimmel looks as uncomfortable as hell.

Consumer Price Index in May up 8.6%, compared to 12 months ago, inflation stays at record highs

https://justthenews.com/nation..._campaign=newsletter

The Consumer Price Index for May was 8.6%, compared to 12 months ago, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The monthly increase is the highest since 1981, as was the March number.

In addition, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.0% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.3% in April, the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

Dow Jones expected the month-to-month increase to be 0.7% and the annualized rate to be at 8.3%, according to CNBC.

Listening to the Brian Kilmeade radio show a couple days ago, Im hearing that POTATUS' family is pissed about the handlers correcting all the epicly stupid shit that spews forth from his perverted pie hole. They think he should be able to go out amongst the people and just be himself, and that will fix his falling approval.

I personally would love to see that policy in place...the demented gibbering idiot in full view of the populace for all to see, and smell, when he craps his diapers.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
So now the latest tactic is to have President Potato tape a segment with an ultra friendly host like Jimmy Kimmel who then makes it appear that he’s on his show late at night when in fact he’s been fed his pudding and tucked in long ago

You see, it’s not that Potato is an incompetent idiot surrounded by clueless handlers, it’s that he’s got a messaging problem. You see if he could just get his message out to the American people better, all would be well!

If you haven’t seen the clips yet, take a look. Potato is babbling away incoherently, trying to put a sentence together and Kimmel looks as uncomfortable as hell.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

You see, it’s not that Potato is an incompetent idiot surrounded by clueless handlers, it’s that he’s got a messaging problem. You see if he could just get his message out to the American people better, all would be well!

The irony was that the incoherent old POS couldn’t even string a sentence together to get his message out that the messaging wasn’t getting out.

As Guy Benson said about his “interview” yesterday, it was by Democrat operative and part-time comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

quote:

The irony was that the incoherent old POS couldn’t even string a sentence together to get his message out that the messaging wasn’t getting out.

Apparently in Delaware saying a lot of words without actually communicating anything is known as "politics", and tends to make politicians "well loved" by newspaper editors.

quote:

Originally posted by BMR:
The irony was that the incoherent old POS couldn’t even string a sentence together to get his message out that the messaging wasn’t getting out.

As Guy Benson said about his “interview” yesterday, it was by Democrat operative and part-time comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

It hasn't been widely discussed, but I'm pretty sure after having watched portions of his show, that some of the segments were edited to keep him from looking worse than he actually did... Actually saw one cut on the Laura Ingraham show.

I watched a couple of minutes of Clown News Network. Biden was speaking and the Dow was in the upper corner going lower and lower while he spoke of prosperity just around the corner.

Yes, I saw on the Raymond segment on Laura’s show that Bidet’s “interview” looked heavily edited. It’d be interesting if an audience member came forward and pointed out what we didn’t see.

When you look at EVERYTHING since a year ago Jan 20th, I just can't see how he could possibly have fucked up more. He's tried and tried to get us into a war with Russia, he even fucked that up. I'm led by observation to believe that if he wasn't trying, we would be in a war with Russia.

Perfect economic storm buffeting Biden

Even the dire reports on inflation coming out of Washington understate the real fall in US household income

https://asiatimes.com/2022/06/...orm-buffeting-biden/

Rarely in political events does punishment follow crime so quickly. Washington’s foreign and domestic policy blunders combined to produce the worst drop in real paychecks on record as well as the least public support for presidential economic policy.

Friday’s report that consumer prices rose by 8.6% year-on-year as of June means a drop in inflation-adjusted weekly earnings of nearly 4%, worse than the depths of the 2008-2009 Great Recession. Taking into account underreported inflation in shelter, the actual inflation rate is closer to 11%, and the real drop in earnings is about 7%.

That implies a political implosion for the Biden administration, which faces an 83% disapproval rating for its economic performance. By contrast, Jimmy Carter at the peak of the Great Inflation of the 1970s had a 78% negative rating for economic performance.

https://fortune.com/2022/06/06...nterest-rates-biden/

Inflation was already roaring in February when oil traded at $88 a barrel, before US sanctions on Russian oil raised the price paid by US and European consumers. Russia continues to export oil to India, China and others at discounts of more than $30 a barrel, that is, at roughly the prevailing price before the Ukraine war.

The sanctions didn’t slow Russia, but they clobbered Western consumers.

Private surveys by Zillow and Apartmentlist.com show rental inflation running at around 16% year-on-year, and at an annualized rate of 15% during May. The US government says that shelter inflation is just 5.5% over the past year. The private surveys reflect new leases rather than the average paid by renters, but the average will catch up over the next two years, keeping inflation elevated.

Apart from rents, items that households have to buy, including food and fuel, showed much bigger jumps. Gasoline is up by nearly 50% and food by more than 10%.

The sanctions-driven oil shortage compounded a supply squeeze that began as soon as the Biden administration took office and stopped selling oil exploration leases for federal lands. Beholden to its progressive, environmentally-woke constituency, the White House discouraged traditional hydrocarbon development, reducing US domestic oil supply by around 20% from the January 2020 peak.

Shrinking investment in hydrocarbons is the most pronounced feature of a deteriorating American investment profile.

In real dollars, orders for industrial machinery from American manufacturers are roughly 70% below the peak registered 22 years ago in 2000, and about 30% below the level of 2007. Even orders for electrical machinery (including computers) have fallen by about 10% since the historic peak.

US inflation is first of all a supply-side problem: There isn’t enough industrial or mining capacity to meet the tsunami of demand unleashed by the $6 trillion in federal stimulus paid out during the Covid epidemic.

Secondarily, US inflation is a byproduct of a foreign policy gone pear-shaped. The Biden administration set out to crush the Russian economy. Russia is hurting, but so are Europe and the United States, as well as most of the developing world.

The Ukraine war and Western sanctions produced a spike in energy and food prices that reduces the real incomes of Western consumers and pushes many of the world’s poorest into actual starvation.

One of the best early-warning signals for future inflation is the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s survey of non-manufacturing business. As of the end of May, a record 73% of respondents reported higher input costs.

So far, Washington’s only response has been to encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. That won’t help, as I argued in this space on April 8, 2022. The problem is lack of investment. Higher rates simply increase the cost of investment.

Eventually, higher rates might produce a recession, and recessions are deflationary. In the long term, though, that will only make the supply squeeze worse, because recessions also crush capital investment.

Biden admitted he owned two shotguns and then made the hilarious remark:

Additionally, Biden told donors at the fundraising event that the idea of armed school staff was severely misguided. He pointed to the rigor of military training as evidence that it is not easy to "blow someone's brains out."

"The idea we’re going to provide – the way to deal with gun safety is to provide teachers with guns in classrooms?" Biden said at the event. "There’s a reason why the military takes so long to train somebody. It’s not easy to pick up a rifle or a gun and blow somebody’s brains out.”

The more he opens his mouth the stupider he appears.