“Out of everything lousy,” Joe Biden told reporters yesterday, “something good will happen.” Biden meant high gas prices, but everyone else might see this as a reference to Jimmy Carter. For the second time in less than a month, Biden made high gas prices sound like a deliberate policy to push America into his vision for the future of energy, calling them a “chance to make a fundamental turn.”

I guess Biden’s “incredible transition” went past its expiration date, eh?

Biden: "My mother had an expression: out of everything lousy, something good will happen. We have a chance to make a fundamental turn toward renewable energy, electric vehicles, and across the board." pic.twitter.com/Si4oJ7ROFg

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 20, 2022

When people are giving you an average 34/61 job approval on the economy, they want to hear a little more response to rapid inflation other than “make lemonade.” This is nearly a Marie Antoinette moment, with Biden basically telling Americans that he will let them drive EVs — cars that the current energy profile on the grid won’t support en masse, by the way. Rapid increases in gas prices are hammering American households now, and only became a problem when Biden became president. Just to remind everyone, this is the latest chart from EIA on gas prices, although the new record high will come out later today:

That “fundamental turn” happened in March 2021, and it hasn’t even leveled off yet.

Biden then tells reporters that “his team” will meet with oil executives to demand answers as to how they made $35 billion in the first quarter. Estimates for the entire industry put their Q1 profit margin at 11.1% — not a bad rate of return, but not even in the top twenty for profitable industries in the US. Assuming Biden’s right on the numbers, and that’s almost always a very bad assumption, the answer would be that they made it on $318 billion in revenues after paying $283 billion in costs. According to CSI Market, that puts the oil industry at #36 in terms of net profit margin — up from #59 in the previous quarter, but hardly a runaway top investment.

While Biden refuses to talk directly with oil executives, we’ll talk with API president and CEO Mike Sommers on the Hugh Hewitt show to discuss Biden’s “incredible transition” and/or “fundamental turn”. This morning, I’ll be filling in for our pal Hugh on his syndicated radio show, airing from 6-9 am ET, live from the home studio deep in the heart of Texas! We will have a great lineup of guests and regular contributors:

• David Drucker of the Washington Examiner
• Byron York, also of the Washington Examiner
• Cam Edwards, my partner on VIP Chats and managing editor of Bearing Arms
• Mike Sommers, American Petroleum Institute

We’ll also take your calls to the show at 800-520-1234, and you can watch the show live at The Hughniverse. There’s a great chat room that goes with it, and lots of original content in the troll-free websurfing experience for subscribers. The audio also streams at HughHewitt.com.