Fuelishness

So have you gotten your gasoline fill-up at the new Freedom Fuels yet? $3.47 a gallon! “47.” Get it? Like DJT! Apparently we are among the fortunate, with 25 Freedom Fuel stations suddenly appearing in our area, underselling and undercutting neighboring gas stations (how many of which have owners who are not white? Just asking…). The White House insists that it is not involved - at all! - in these mystically, magically priced stations, and to further cloud the issue, no owner is listed in its corporate filing in Delaware.  Let us not forget why we are in this petroleum  pickle in the first place; Trump’s disastrous attack on Iran, the completely predictable closing of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting spiraling rise in oil prices. Trump is responsible, and he knows it. So he  flips the blame  onto  gasoline retailers saying they “must get their prices down, IMMEDIATELY!” and if not, “big problems lie ahead.”  In the meantime,  ta-dah!  Freedom Fuels!  Trump’s fingers are in this pie, no matter how the White House may protest, and there is no doubt somebody in his circle is making a buck. So even as we take the cheap gas, we recognize a desperate political ploy when we see one, our political perspectives unchanged; buying Trump’s gas will not buy him a vote. This panic-fueled stunt will prove to be fleeting. Reality is calling. Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Gulf Oil said these prices “do not work in today’s market.” Jeff Lenard, spokesperson for the National Association of Convenience Stores (representing 80% of fuel sold nationwide) said, “There is no way those stations could operate the way a traditional retailer would without at least breaking even.” And the owner of an independent gas station just down the road from a Freedom Fuel station said he sold 500 fewer gallons, adding, “We can’t even compete. There’s no way I can go to $3.47 without losing money.”  This $3.47  publicity stunt is not sustainable on its own, so who is making up the difference?  And, more importantly, who is picking up the tab?  As with the wall, the ballroom, the plane!, you can bet it is our taxpayer pockets that will be picked to finance this fuelish Trump fandango.