With weeks to go before the midterm elections, Republican candidates are being greeted by headlines like these:
"Truckers Struggle to Adapt as Fuel Prices Surge."
"California diesel tops $8 a gallon, pushing truckers to the brink."
"Diesel Prices Surge Just as Farmers Need Fuel the Most."
"Maine’s heating oil prices are 80% higher than a year ago."
This is what folks in political circles would call, “Not great for the party presently in control of our government.” According to GasBuddy, the average price of a gallon of gas on Oct. 7 was $4.34, and a gallon of diesel was a whopping $6.26.
The Republican Party's Iran war has cost consumers billions
Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, wrote in an Oct. 7 social media post: “today, the fuel clock for diesel hit $50 billion – businesses
and consumers have since March spent $50 billion more on diesel compared to the same time last year. adding gasoline's $78.46 billion, the tally is $128.6 billion more spent on fuel vs a year ago.”
$128.6 billion? That’s what folks in money circles would call, “A lot of stinkin’ money.”
Make no mistake, we have high fuel prices because of Republicans
High fuel prices are always used as a political cudgel against a president and his party, but in most cases, there are factors at work well beyond any administration’s control.
This time, however, you can draw a direct line from the price at the pumps to President Donald Trump, who started a wholly unnecessary war with Iran, and the congressional Republicans who have done nothing to stop the war.
This is as close to political cause and effect as you’ll ever get when it comes to the petroleum industry. Before the war started Feb. 28, gas prices were under $3 per gallon, and diesel cost less than $4 per gallon.
Now … well, you know the deal. You're paying for it.
FreightWaves, which provides data on the global freight market, recently reported that at least 16 U.S. trucking companies entered bankruptcy proceedings between late August and Sept. 21, “as trucking companies continue navigating a freight environment marked by rising diesel fuel prices and other elevated operating costs.”
Whether it's diesel or regular gas, the GOP's Iran fiasco is hitting you hard
I could keep hitting you with headlines and numbers that highlight the disaster brought on by a useless Middle East war that caused a massive oil supply disruption, but I think it’s more important to consider how it all ties to the broader economic pain Americans are feeling.
There’s excess money spent at the gas station. Already high food prices are likely to rise more as the cost of diesel impacts truckers and the farmers presently harvesting their crops. The absurd diesel prices will make all manner of over-road shipping more costly, and those costs will be passed along to consumers via higher prices for day-to-day goods.
The key thing to remember is that all of this – all of it! – could have been avoided. All the things you’re dealing with now when it comes to budgeting money and absorbing higher costs stem from a reckless war launched by a Republican president, a war Republican lawmakers have done absolutely nothing to end or even contain.
Midterms are a perfect time for voters to get some payback
In a recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, only 28% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the Iran war.
That should be lower, if we’re being honest, and it should apply to any Republican whose name is on a ballot in the upcoming midterms. They have remained supine as Trump thrust America into a war and made life more expensive for each and every one of us.
Remember, businesses and consumers like you and me have spent more than $128 billion more on fuel compared with a year ago.
Perhaps it’s time to make those responsible pay.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's Iran war is costing us. Voters can make the GOP pay | Opinion
