Joe Biden is handling this one exactly right
While the media is running rather recklessly with its story about President Biden’s low approval ratings and driving up pointless speculation about whether or not he’ll run again in 2024, there’s a fairly straightforward explanation for much of it, with the level of his approval ratings correlating closely with the rise in gas prices.
Of course, no president can control what gas prices are at any point in their administration – but like his predecessors, his popularity is taking a direct hit as a result, as many people will associate it directly with their policies. The good news is that the prices of gas are rapidly dropping – a move that’s likely to happen even further now that President Biden is going to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to lower prices.
Normally, this action by itself wouldn’t lower the prices all that much, or for a particularly long time frame – but as is often the case with President Biden, he’s taking things a step further than his predecessors have done in the past. He’s not just tapping the reserves, but coordinating a collective effort with US allies to tap their reserves at the same time, which could set off a considerable price drop and a spike in consumer confidence at a critical time, all while putting pressure on OPEC to keep crude oil prices low.
While he has taken the blame for rising gas prices, particularly during a holiday season, he is taking the decisive action that will likely give him some credit when gas prices finally fall.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making