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JoelJ's avatar

I'm in the oil&gas field. I was living and working in Louisiana during the Trump years. During his unfortunate tenure as President, I remember gas being in the $2.30-2.80 range. Mostly I remember it being about $2.50 because lower than that I am sure I would have been out of a job (I know the cost for barrels of oil is the usual gauge, but gas prices are alot easier to track on the daily).

Covid hit. It seems people forget this next part, Russia and Saudi decide to have a production war and both start producing more. Initially OPEC called for a cut and Russia said they wouldn't so I believe Saudi decided to push the price down so low that Russia had to cut production. Of course between Covid and the Saudi-Russia production pissing contest, prices plummeted. It was so bad that the global oil industry was saying that they had no where to store the oil. They were SHUTTTING DOWN PRODUCING WELLS. They were trying to buy oil tankers to store oil. There was talk about if oil price will ho negative.

With all of this, where was the American oil&gas producing companies? Down in the dumps. Trump called Saudi and Russia and begged them to cut their production. Maybe I should say he went to them on his knees, with tears in his eyes and said Mr. Putin, King Salman, you're killing the American oil&gas industries and hurting my chances for reelection. After some weeks later and after Saudi made their point to both Putin and Trump, they both cut production. Anyway, a lot of American oil & gas companies went bankrupt. Not the big boys but the smaller, the 3rd party companies, etc.

And that's my reminder of how gas dropped to $1.80 avg across the nation.

https://www.theverge.com/2016/6/2/11840944/donald-trump-energy-plan-oil-climate-change-errors

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Kevin King's avatar

This is very good information. Thank you for sharing these details!

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Mary's avatar

Wow … I did forget this. Thanks!

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Sep 5, 2024
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JoelJ's avatar

Well that's what happened. Pretty basic supply and demand, sorry it went over your head.

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Hal F Arsed's avatar

Janitor in a power plant?

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Kevin King's avatar

“waste engineer” 😂

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Kay-El's avatar

I’m going to save this post so I don’t have to go through this similar ordeal again with some other MAGA idiot. Many thanks!

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Kevin King's avatar

My pleasure! Actually it sucked to go through all that but I do hope it helps us break the MAGA spell.

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RedFiatSpider's avatar

You can’t fix stupid. Don’t even bother trying. There’s no common ground to be had with Nazis. The only thing to to is ignore them.

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Edward Bryant's avatar

They say “you can’t beat the stupid out of people”, but can I be forgiven for wanting to test this hypothesis?

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Sep 5, 2024
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Kevin King's avatar

Ah, does baby need a binky, Alan?

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Pamela S.'s avatar

Thank you for the time and effort you put into this, Kevin. It’s a good resource for the rest of us in responding to the deluded.

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Rayna Alsberg's avatar

I don't know what universe HE was living in, but to quote my cousin Vinny, everything that guy said is bull$#@&. Thank you.

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Christine K's avatar

Shared on FB. Excellent!

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Diana Grazia's avatar

Oh my Friend;-) These people are not only very uneducated, but they are willfully ignorant. I agree they are always angry and always bitching about something! It’s exhausting! My youngest son is one of them. His father was a trumper too, so he learned too much garbage from him. I don’t even try to engage with these people, including my son. I give him f acts and he gives me his opinion:-)

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Jen Baron's avatar

Great piece! Thanks 😊

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FelineGroovy's avatar

Thank you for this. I get so frustrated with their idiocy that I become apoplectic and end up calling them stupid, which they are, but it does nothing to further any conversation. I’m saving this for future interactions. 💙

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Ingrid Walker's avatar

I'm glad there are people with strong stomachs who do deep dives into the MAGA swamp and report on it. Thank you, sir.

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Kevin King's avatar

I’d say ‘my pleasure’ but there’s nothing pleasurable about it. I am pleased, however, that there are people who appreciate the information.

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Walt Svirsky's avatar

Glad to have found you, Kevin. Great synopsis chock full of undeniable (by non-cult members) factoids.

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Kevin King's avatar

Why thank you Walter!

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David's avatar

I've encountered these people for sport. I question the use of the word "arse" x2. English right or paid troll of some type. Translation error. Just a thought. Although a good case in study.

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Hal F Arsed's avatar

Kevin, thanks for providing a well-sourced counter. Entertaining!

The worst thing about the Internet is that it removes barriers that used to keep uneducated, unserious nonsense and unfounded claims from wide publication. The best thing is some people are willing to do a bit of research to inhibit it from gaining acceptance.

Unfortunately, virtually all of MAGA won’t deal in attestable fact or sound reasoning. In almost every debate with one, you question whether you are debating an adult and not a foreign agent, a bot, or a bratty kid. Certainly, no one expects ‘Alans’ to cite references in good faith — serious people with honest conservative points of view actually know the meaning of words like ‘socialist,’ ‘communist,’ and ‘Marxist.’ An honest debate with a MAGA is even less likely, since a real conservative definitely knows the meaning of ‘fascist.’

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Ian Thomas's avatar

They just live in their own little fantasy world. Unfortunately, even if you got them to listen to these facts, they would still refute them (in my experience), because deep down it’s really about their own selfishness and hate. They have to fuel their superiority complex that stems from a lack of self worth.

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Rebekah West's avatar

“Arse” doesn’t sound American to me. On top of the rest of the crap

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Mary's avatar

Thanks Kevin for an excellent article. I’m joining the group of folks who are going to print this for reference in case I find myself talking to a magazine person. I’m fortunate thus far because I live in Europe. However, I have two brothers who are, I fear, maga folks. In fairness to them, I’ll say that I could be wrong about this. Not sure because our conversations about politics pretty much ended when trump was elected. Politics used to be a favorite topic in my family.

Anyway …. Thanks again for a great article! Hope all is well with you.

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Kevin King's avatar

Thank you for the kind words, Mary. If there is anything more I can do to help shatter the myths that these folks are living under, please do let me know.💙💙💙

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