Diary of disturbing disinformation and dangerous delusions
This remark
“Stop complaining [about inflation] . . . Overall, many Americans are not suffering as much as they think they are.”
—Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary, Wednesday
We say: What a ridiculous view! Singletary says we should only worry about the poor paying more, but everyone, including the middle class, has a right to be furious with runaway prices. Inflation means people can’t buy as much. It erodes savings. It weakens the nation. Every American has a right to be angry — and complain.
This claim
“My Republican friends claim . . . I’m limiting production. Quite frankly, that’s nonsense.”
— President Biden, Wednesday
We say: Uh, sorry, Mr. President — you are limiting production. You suspended drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Killed the Keystone pipeline. Halted oil- and gas-lease sales. Discouraged investment. . . You’re keeping your promise to “end fossil fuel.” Sure, you deny it now, because Americans, it turns out, don’t much like paying $5 a gallon for gas. But what did you think would happen if we cut back on fossil fuel?
This tweet
We say: For Donald Trump-haters like columnist Max Boot, everything’s Trump’s fault. But the 2015 Obama-Biden nuclear deal actually paved the way for Iran to get nukes. That’s why, in part, Trump wisely pulled out of it and sought to pressure Iran with tough sanctions. President Biden, meanwhile, has signaled that he wants to restore the deal and seems willing to grant even more concessions to do so — all while doing little to stop Tehran’s nuclear progress.
Spot the difference
“Inflation was high before . . . certainly before the war in Ukraine”
— Fed boss Jerome Powell, Wednesday
“Putin’s price hike hit hard.”
— President Biden, Wednesday
We say: President Biden wants you to think inflation, now the highest in 40 years, is all Vladimir Putin’s fault. Yet even Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom Biden himself reappointed, admits prices were surging well before Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February — a development, by the way, that the president himself predicted even as he pushed inflationary policies nonetheless.
This snark
“I didn’t know [oil- and gas-industry leaders would] get their feelings hurt that quickly.”
— President Biden, Tuesday, after Chevron’s CEO criticized him for vilifying the industry and not working to boost supply
We say: President Biden can joke about oil-industry leaders’ gripes, but they happen to be right — his portrayal of them as evil price-gougers and profiteers who refuse to provide more oil is not only wildly distorted (during the pandemic, sellers were practically paying people to take oil off their hands) but also not likely to foster cooperation needed to boost supplies.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
Read More: WaPo writer’s inflation deflation and more