Why Gas Prices Are Surging: Iran Conflict, Refinery Outage, and Policy Failures Hit Indiana Drivers Hard

So let’s talk a little bit about what’s causing the gas prices to go up. By the way, nationally, gas prices have climbed $1.30 or more than 40% since late February. Now it’s greater here because of something we’re about to talk about, but that is according to NBC News, AAA. And one of the things about gas prices is NBC has had an article about this, gas stations in many cases had artificially kept the price below $4 because they didn’t want to piss everybody off. Now that the price has soared past $4, they may not care anymore. They may say screw it, we’re going to charge what we’re going to charge.

What’s Driving the Recent Surge in Gas Prices Across the U.S.

So there are two things really at play. One is this war with Iran, which I come back to. Trump has done a horrible job of explaining to this country what we’re getting out of this. Well Iran’s a bunch of crazy people, well we’ve known that for 50 years. Well Iran’s trying to acquire a nuclear weapon, well we’ve known that for 50 years. What changed over the past two months that’s forcing me to pay nearly $2 a gallon more in some cases than what I was paying in February. What is it. Why is my life getting better by this. Why is your life getting better by this. Trump has not made that case. The Republicans in Congress have not made the case. And I think people are now fed up, like I think they were willing to tolerate the 350 gas for a protracted period of time. I think we’re done at 460.

How the Iran Conflict Is Impacting Fuel Costs and Consumer Frustration

And by the way, how is this possible, and we need to get the oil guy Bill Herrick back on here. I saw gas, there are three gas stations I go past, they’re essentially a triangle next to each other near where I go to work in Brownsburg, 3.99, 4.49, 4.69. How’s that possible? Three gas stations literally next to each other, all with different prices. What’s going on. Hey Rokita! I thought you were supposed to be looking into the price gouging? How about 267 near the interstate in Brownsburg. Can we do an investigation into that? People are outraged about this. People are looking at this going what the hell, because there’s no clear benefit to us about what’s going on with Iran. Yeah they’re a bunch of lunatics, we’ve already known that. Yeah they hate us, we’ve already known that. Yeah they are a state sponsor of terror, we’ve already known that. What are we getting. Because we just keep hearing threats and then delays, threats and then delays, threats and then delays. You know what threats and delays have gotten us. Oil now stands at $114 plus a barrel, may have gone up since the show started, who knows. It’s gone as high as $118 a barrel. It doesn’t make me selfish or un-American to ask what I’m getting for my sacrifice. I pay enough in taxes. This war with Iran is a tax. It’s a tax. I’m paying more in gas, I’m paying more for this war in Iran. It doesn’t make you un-American or unpatriotic to ask why this is happening.

Refinery Outage in Indiana Worsens Regional Gas Price Spike

So the two things are happening. The US and Iran are both blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Like Iran’s like we’re blocking, the US is like well we’ll see your block and raise you a block of our own. Okay great. Thanks to both of you guys. Wonderful. How’s the stick measuring contest going. The other thing that has happened is that there was a power outage at a BP refinery in northwest Indiana, and that facility is the largest in the area, and it supplies much of the gasoline used in the Great Lakes region, including here in Indiana. So we are getting crushed here right now, as are Michigan, etcetera, than most of the rest of the country. That’s why you have seen such a massive spike. Now look, this happens, right. These refineries, they do go down. That’s not news, that’s not new, that’s not effective to the war in Iran. But it’s a much different conversation to say refinery went down, you’re going to pay 320 for a gallon of gas, which you go oh that sucks, well I filled up just ahead of time so I might be able to stretch it to where this thing gets back online. If you got lucky, you grumble, you pay, you go on. It’s a much different conversation, a refinery went down, gas is 3.20 for a week versus hey refinery went down, gas is 4.60 for a week. You’re talking like 15 to $20 more now people are paying to fill up their tank depending on what size tank they have. And you talk about that every single week, you’re talking $1,000 or more over the course of a year. Look, this thing started in February. Our first segment we did on this show was about Trump’s war with Iran that it kicked off right before we started the program. I want to know what I’m getting for my money. Like we never hear anything new that we didn’t already know about the Iranians. And I’m sorry, I’m not willing to pay $1,000 more a year for some protracted conflict where it’s just a bunch of starts and stops. Trump couldn’t even remember how many days he gave them or what day we were on of the ceasefire stuff or the negotiation window. He got it wrong. And then he’s like well I guess it’s 11 days now because I guess I’m super. And it was like not funny to me, man. Yeah you’re a billionaire and everybody pays for stuff for you, the taxpayers pay for it. Not maybe chuckle fest to you, not funny to me, that’s not funny to a lot of people. And I saw it today, I saw the pain on people’s faces. I looked at my own tank and it’s like okay I drive a golf cart, I’ve got half a tank of gas, not going anywhere this weekend, I gotta make it to the studio and back a couple times. Okay if I can do that maybe I can outlast this refinery being shut down, and maybe we can get it back to something reasonable like 3.75 a gallon.

Rising Gas Prices Add Pressure to Inflation and Political Fallout

Look, the Republicans are going to get clobbered in the midterms and it all becomes psychological at some point. Like if you’re unhappy with something, think about in your own life a product, you’re unhappy with it, it doesn’t perform the way you want, it wasn’t as advertised, you’re already not satisfied, and then you call customer service and they put you on hold for 30 minutes, you’re done. There’s nothing that the customer service person is going to say once they answer the phone that’s going to change your mind because you are already unhappy and now they’ve made it worse. In the case of our country, pre the war with Iran, affordability was already bad, inflation was bad, the price of everything was bad. The Republicans had not delivered on lowering the price of essential goods and services, and now you throw this on top of it, and now people are like F this. I mean they are like that’s the look I saw in people’s faces today. The government keeps making things worse, the magical money printing factory, and the only thing that’s going to happen here in this state is the governor might give you another 30 day reprieve, and that’s it on the sales tax on gas, he’s already said he ain’t touching the gas tax. Sure he’ll divert potentially $700 million of new taxes on tolls up in the northwest part of the state for the Bears to have a free stadium, but you, well you can go F yourself. Would you guys be really okay, we are clearly getting so screwed by our politicians, we are right. Would you guys really be mad if I said the word because that’s what you’re getting. Would you guys actually be mad. Would you actually be offended. Would you be like dang Rob you said the word even though we’re totally getting that word. Let me know in the YouTube chat, like if I had said the word would you be like I’m so offended. I don’t know, I have a very high standard of myself on this show, but I wonder sometimes I sit there and I’m like if I said it would they be mad, I don’t know.