Transcript for Podcast: "I Feel Snitty," Episode 191: "Do as we tweet, not as we vote." is now available!

Podcast: I Feel Snitty

Episode 191: Do as we tweet, not as we vote.

Premiere Date: 5/24/2022

Length: 11:53 (1,700 words)

Link: https://ifeelsnitty.podbean.com/e/do-as-we-tweet-not-as-we-vote/

Transcript: 

Welcome to I Feel Snitty, episode 191, entitled, “Do as we tweet, not as we vote.” I’m your host, Craig Rozniecki.

 

The Republican Party has had a two-track mind over the past couple of weeks: 1) Inflation and 2) Baby formula. In their partial defense, inflation is at the forefront of just about everyone’s minds, but not exactly for the same reasons. Unlike everyone else, Republican politicians have been obsessively discussing inflation for merely political reasons – to pin the blame on President Biden; lower his approval ratings; and increase the odds of them winning seats in the upcoming midterm elections. The same holds true with their constant talk on baby formula. To give you a clearer picture of the party’s recent two-track mind, I’ll now read a few tweets from GOP politicians on the subjects.

 

New York Representative Elise Stefanik: “Democrats have: No plan to secure our southern border. No plan to address inflation. And make no mistake, they had ZERO plan to address the baby formula crisis. Biden’s latest scramble wreaks of a cover-up. I’m fighting for answers and solutions.”

 

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst: “Under President Biden, crises just keep arising. Whether it’s the Southern border, American energy, inflation, supply chains-you name it, the Biden admin does not have it handled.”

 

California Representative Kevin McCarthy: “Since President Biden took office, Democrats have ignored every single crisis facing our nation. Afghanistan. Inflation. Crime. The border. The list goes on and on.”

 

Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert: “The national average for regular gas is now at $4.59/gallon – another all time record for gas prices. JP Morgan says it could reach as high at $6 a gallon by August! ‘No mean tweets’ has become pretty expensive, hasn’t it?”

 

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Since Biden took office he cancelled the Keystone Pipeline, released half of our strategic petroleum reserve, is canceling oil and gas leases, and is waging a proxy war with Russia with sanctions that line Putin’s pockets and empty ours. Dems are blaming price gouging. :: hand to face emoji ::”

 

Texas Senator Ted Cruz: “Skyrocketing gas prices are the intended effect of Joe Biden and the radical left’s war on energy.”

 

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley: “Let’s review. Upon taking office, Biden canceled Keystone, halted oil & gas leases, imposed new regulations on energy production, and cut off support for fossil fuels. But SecGranholm says: no effect on gas prices”

 

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson: “The reasons why so many Americans continue to suffer under the Biden administration is their continued war on fossil fuels and refusal to invest in American energy independence. We will continue to set record high gas prices due to these harmful Democrat policies.”

 

Louisiana Senator John Kennedy: “Pres. Biden blames the energy industry for sitting idle on drilling permits, but HIS Commerce Dept. is slow-walking the permits companies need to do exploration work before they can start drilling. Biden is sabotaging American energy.”

 

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul: “Democrats say, ‘oh, inflation is caused by greed.’ Well, what a ridiculous notion. Did people just in the last two months all of the sudden decide that people are greedy and never were greedy before?”

 

Florida Senator Rick Scott: “Under @JoeBiden’s failed leadership, food prices are up 10.8% - the HIGHEST increase in decades. Our poorest families, like mine growing up, are suffering most. It’s time to fix it. Americans are SICK & TIRED of seeing Biden blame others for the inflation crisis he created.”

 

California Representative Darrell Issa: “Just this month, the Biden Administration has delivered a baby formula supply crisis, 10 days in a row of record gas prices, and the most illegal border crossings ever. If this was a boxing match they’d stop it.”

 

Texas Representative Lance Gooden: “Biden was warned about the baby formula shortage. Biden was warned about inflation. Biden was warned about the Taliban in Afghanistan. Joe allowed each of these crises to happen!”

 

Texas Representative Ronny Jackson: “There still hasn’t been ANY action on lowering gas prices. There’s NO excuse for this. Democrats WANT this to happen. They don’t care about your family’s tight budget. They’re only concerned with pushing more WOKE green policies. We MUST return to Trump-era ENERGY DOMINANCE!”

 

…and lastly, Utah Representative Chris Stewart: “The White House wants to pin 100% of the blame for inflation on Putin and Covid. Don’t buy it. Inflation is the result of Biden’s endless spending. Deflection and misdirection from the White House won’t help the country, but less government spending will.”

 

That’s not even the tip of the iceberg – far from it, but I digress. Do these GOPers have a point? Is President Biden the sole, or at least the main force behind the rising prices and baby formula shortage?

 

Well, for the former, we can simply ask the question, “Is this problem isolated to the U.S.?” If so, then chances are President Biden has contributed to the rising prices rather significantly. Is that the case, though?

 

When it comes to gas prices, out of 171 listed countries, the U.S. ranked 65^th cheapest, at $4.66 per gallon. The world average is $5.13 a gallon. A few countries who currently have higher gas prices than the U.S. are: Japan ($4.86), Australia ($4.88), China ($5.20), India ($5.50), Canada ($6.35), Italy ($7.23), UK ($7.70), Israel ($8.12), Germany ($8.26), and Hong Kong is the most expensive, at $10.97 a gallon.

 

Inflation in the U.S. is currently at 8.3%, which ranks them 112^th out of 185 listed countries. Who has it worse? UK (9.0%), Brazil (12.1%), Poland (12.4%), Egypt (13.1%), Sri Lanka (29.8%), Iran (35.6%), Argentina (58.0%), Syria (139.0%), Lebanon (206.0%), and Sudan has it worst at 260.0%.

 

So, in other words, no, rising prices are not isolated to the U.S., so unless President Biden is an omnipotent God of the world, it’s probably not accurate to blame him for the inflation.

 

As far as the baby formula shortage goes, I’ll allow renowned fact-checker FactCheck.org to fill you in:

 

“The U.S. shortage has been driven largely by a recall from Abbott Nutrition, a major manufacturer of formula, and ongoing supply-chain issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts.”

 

The reason for the recall was that, between September of last year and January of this year, four babies who had consumed powdered formula from an Abbott facility fell ill, with two of them dying. I find it interesting the self-described “pro-lifers” didn’t seem to much care about this. Then again, they only seem to care about a being for the 9 months it spends in its mother’s womb.

 

In addition to the COVID-prompted supply-and-demand issues starting on his watch, Donald Trump also signed a North American trade agreement in his final year in office, which discouraged baby formula imports from Canada, who just so happens to be our largest trading partner. Yep, genius.

 

Speaking of genius, former Russia Vice President Donald Trump never took the COVID pandemic seriously. The guy thought it’d vanish with warm weather. Then he offered the sound medical advice of taking anti-parasitic drugs; injecting disinfectant; and/or shining lights up your butt. If he had taken the pandemic seriously from the outset, and surrounded himself with more than yes-men, we’d have better tackled COVID’s impact on not only human lives physically, but also professionally, and with that, financially. So, if any president is to blame, it’s not Biden; it’s Trump. I know, I know, Republican politicians love to ironically point the finger that we’re pointing the finger at Trump, but as my 3-year-old niece is known for saying, “It is what it is.”

 

Seriously, though, when a person takes an active part in tearing a city down, and then hands the torch to someone who just entered the area, they don’t get to say, “This is all on you.” That’s not how reality works. The COVID pandemic didn’t begin on Biden’s watch, nor did the supply-and-demand issues which went along with it. These are things he inherited and has actively tried to fix. If crimes were nothing but games of tag-you’re-it, we’d be a lot healthier as a country.

 

Speaking of fix, okay, so the GOP has come after Biden for inflation and baby formula shortage, acting genuinely concerned about the well-being of others during these trying times. So, if a bill came their way which could decrease prices at the pump or increase the supply of baby formula, surely they’d immediately hop on board and vote “yea,” right? I’m so glad I asked.

 

This past week, Democrats proposed a bill which would have allowed the Federal Trade Commission to punish companies who were guilty of price-gouging at the pump. While the bill passed in the House by the count of 217 to 207, guess how many Republicans voted in favor of it? Not a single one. Zero. If they could have gone sub-zero, I think they would have.

 

Democrats also proposed a bill which would have provided the US Food and Drug Administration with $28 million in emergency funding to both help with the current baby formula shortage and better prevent such shortages in the future. The bill did pass 231 to 192, but out of 208 GOP Representatives, only 16 voted to support the measure. But yes, once again, Republicans care for you. Whoops, autocorrect removed a few words. What I meant to say was Republicans care about conning you to believe they care for you enough to vote for them. Ducking autocorrect!

 

So, to sum up, Republican politicians have tweeted ad nauseum that families are hurting because of inflation and baby formula shortages and that Democrats are doing nothing to stop these painful and panic-inducing matters, but when called upon to help these very families by voting for them to save money on gas and be supplied with more baby formula, 16 Republicans said “yea” and 400 Republicans said “hell to the nay.” Not only that, but these problems didn’t start under President Biden; they started under Donald Trump, and it’s high past time more in the mainstream media noted that fact.

 

That’s it for today’s episode. Until next time, you can check me out on Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, Podbean, and Blogger. This has been I Feel Snitty, with Craig Rozniecki. Take care.