Americans are experiencing more pain at the pump as gas prices jumped more than sixty cents in a month, now averaging $4.95 a gallon according to AAA.
“We now have 14 different states where the average has already surpassed that $5 gallon mark and seen some tremendous increases,” said Patrick De Haan, head of Petroleum Analysis at Gas Buddy.
Across the country prices have continued to rise in just the last week.
In Michigan, drivers are paying 51 cents more to fill up. In Indiana, gas shot up 48 cents and rose 46 cents in Ohio.
Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen blamed Russia’s war in Ukraine and the global oil market for higher prices across the board.
“Putin’s war in Ukraine is having impact on energy and food prices. Globally, we’re not the only country that’s experiencing inflation,” said Yellen.
Republicans point the finger at President Biden’s polices which target domestic oil and gas production.
“The president’s executive orders have shut down the XO pipeline,” explained Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) “They have stopped issuance of more leases. They have stopped the progress of permitting of those leases, stopped offshore oil. The fact is we were energy independent.”
Yellen backed the president’s agenda to transition from gas and oil to green energy sources.
“Over the medium term, the critical thing is we become dependent on the wind and the sun that are not subject to geopolitical influences,” said Yellen.
The action comes as the nation is seeing an 8.3% inflation rate, a 40-year high.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) blamed massive government spending, citing the president’s $1.9 trillion American rescue plan.
“There’s no question that the two-trillion bill last year overheated the economy and it’s why we have the mess that we have today,” argued Thune.
Yellen said the measure was necessary to pull the economy out of a post-pandemic slump. “The overwhelming risk was that Americans would be scarred by a deep and long recession,” she said.
The worsening economic crisis is likely to hurt Democrats in November’s midterm elections.
“The Biden administration and the Democrats are going to pay a massive price this November,” said former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, more than 70 percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of inflation.
Fifty-one percent said inflation and the economy will play a key role in how they vote in the midterms.
Meanwhile, Secretary Yellen admitted the administration missed early signs of the dangers of inflation and should not have described it as ‘transitory.’ She now says she expects unreasonable prices to remain for an extended period of time.
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