Jen Psaki Blows Off Your Inflation Concerns

CLAY: Gas has now gone, as a result of this invasion, right over $100 a barrel, soaring. I don’t know how much higher it’s going to go. Let’s listen to President Trump with us at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday talking about a lot of the power that Russia has in the larger economic geopolitical universe. It’s predicated on high oil and gas prices. Listen.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Russia is becoming very rich because the oil price has been driven up so much and that’s their primary source of income. So much that those army tanks you see going back and forth all over the place, that’s peanuts compared to the amount of money they’re making: $40 a barrel when I was there, $1.86 a gallon of gasoline and now you have some places where it’s over $7, and it’s going up a lot higher.

CLAY: So, Buck, this is a direct impact, direct tax on people who can least afford the tax increase on what it costs to put gas into your vehicle. How much of an issue do you think our own…? Basically, we had energy independence declared, and then Biden comes in and now we don’t, and that has given Russia more power than they otherwise did. But this is a big issue for pretty much everybody out there listening to us right now.

BUCK: You’re also seeing what sanctions — you’re going to see — what sanctions can and cannot do. There’s a lot of bluster around, “Oh, we’re gonna have the biggest package of sanctions against Russia!” Putin’s aware of and the people running the Kremlin know. The head of the Russian armed forces, the head of the FSB, they understand what kind of sanctions are possible.

There’s certainly gonna be efforts from Russian oligarchs who are tied in close to the government, I would assume, to park, cache in safer places overseas and that should be seized and people should be made an example of. But in the background of all this, Clay, I think we have to remember, Russia is… If they were to stop this war in a day, were to stop this war in three months, in a year’s time Putin will be sitting down shaking hands with and posing for photos with world leaders, including European world leaders.

I know that’s jarring to hear right now, but they know that at some level. Russia is too big, too entrenched, this is not North Korea, this is not even Iran. Russia is not going to be isolated and punished for long. So at best you’re hoping to turn up the temperature economically against the Russian decision-making so that they will make the war shorter and less brutal, less vicious than it would otherwise be. Now, those are worthy goals. But what is the fallout of that for Americans?

Because what we’re gonna see if we don’t do business with Russia, if Russian oil is no longer part of the market… By the way, they’re gonna sell it to China, of course. We are witnessing a Russia and Chinese — and to your point about Taiwan, I think, which ties into it, too, that axis. The Russo-Chinese axis is growing right now, and the sanctions are gonna play a pretty serious role now. But for people listening to this, everything’s about to get more expensive.

We already have 7.5% inflation, right, and now you have — and, by the way, Jen Psaki — did you hear this? If you want to know how much they care about the fact that you are dealing with a dollar that is losing value and dealing with costs that are rising everywhere, Jen Psaki wants you to know that standing up for democracy is, like, expensive. Play clip 1.

BUCK: Oh. Oh, Clay, not without cost, apparently, huh?

CLAY: Well, not only that, Buck, you’re talking about the power that Russia has as it pertains to Europe and the distribution of oil and gas, this also gives the Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, an awful lot of control as well because even Jen Psaki is admitting there, I guarantee you the White House is on the phone with Saudi Arabia right now saying, “Guys, can you please increase your overall production, because we’re not sure what’s going to happen with Russia right now.”

And, meanwhile, while they’re begging for them to increase production, Saudi Arabia, the price of oil is skyrocketing. They’re making so much money. If they really wanted to, if they really wanted to — with OPEC and everything else — they could curtail the production of oil even more, and they could drive the price up. This is not crazy, Buck. I mean, they could drive up the cost of oil to $125, $130, $150 a barrel.

And everybody out there — not just Americans, but everybody — around the world is gonna be standing there with the gas pump in their hands in disbelief over what it costs to drive to and from work, to drive around your communities, take care of your families. And with inflation already at 7.5%, how much higher could it go as we know the price of gas is gonna be going up from here?

BUCK: Clay —

CLAY: This is just a mess, man, and it’s a big mess for everybody.

BUCK: People need to know that it’s not just about the gas that you put in your car. That’s certainly a component of it. That’s one that everyone sees, and people know ’cause they’re staring at the price — or you’re sitting there, you’re watching the dollars come out of your —

CLAY: You might be making a choice, Buck, to go somewhere where it’s four cents cheaper, right? You’re looking on both sides of the street.

BUCK: But what’s fascinating and important to keep in mind is that petroleum is also used — a huge portion of it is also used — for products, making stuff. So a lot of the things that you buy are actually directly a product used not just in the transporting of them but used in the making them involves petroleum. Therefore, when the price goes up, everything goes up. So everything’s about to get a lot more expensive for everyone.

And to the comment there that the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, made, “Standing up for our values not without cost.” Clay, you’re a very rational guy. Where is the line here with our values? What cost? You brought up $150. Okay. Are we keeping the sanctions on Russia at $160, $170 is there are a barrel? I just want to know. At what point do people say, “Hmm, well, then all of a sudden my principles feel a little bit different to me,” and then you think about China is an “authoritarian dictatorship.” So is Saudi Arabia, by the way. Are we supposed to not do business with those countries? Where do these principles stop and start is a worthy discussion right now.

CLAY: Not only that, this Biden White House hasn’t been able to or willing to stand up for a lot of principles that matter to me, like being able to choose whether or not I can get a covid shot, like being able to choose whether or not my kids can go to school and wear a mask or not, whether or not my kids could even be in school. There’s an awful lot of things now that the Biden White House wants us to sacrifice for when they weren’t willing to stand up for basic constitutional rights all over the place during this past year and change of their covid monstrosity administrative state.