Donald Trump and maga Republicans abandoned their message about "affordabability"- guess it had too many letters difficult to spell

 Echo opinion published in New York Magazine Intelligencer by Ed Kilgore: Trump Waging War on His Own Affordability* Strategy #SIASD

(This opinion essays seems prophetic, in my opinion, creates the sense of a looming world wide depression.  #ImpeachTrumpNow❗ #SenatorSusanCollins)

Donald Trump’s “war of choice” against Iran is a big departure from his administration’s alleged determination to focus on improving the domestic economy and addressing concerns about affordability before crucial midterm elections this November. 

But, aside from the Donald Trump's spectacular failure to stay on message, there is a more specific problem with the sudden lurch into a regional war in the Middle East. 

To the extent Trump had an actual affordability agenda (other than calling concerns about living costs “a hoax”), a central pillar was keeping energy prices low by demolishing any obstacles to maximum exploitation of fossil-fuel resources. Aside from the beneficial effect this might have on prices for other goods and services influenced by energy costs, the “drill baby drill” mentality was designed to reduce gasoline pump prices, one of the most visible inflation indicators from the perspective of regular folks.

Suddenly, the United States has produced an energy-price crisis for itself and for the whole world, Reuters reports:

Traffic through the Strait ​of Hormuz was closed for a fourth day after Iran attacked five ships, choking off a key artery accounting for about 20% of global oil and LNG supply. …

The conflict risks triggering a renewed spike in inflation that could choke off economic recovery in Europe and Asia if the war is prolonged in a region that accounts for just under a third of global ​oil production and almost a fifth of natural gas.

Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, on Tuesday said it may be forced to cut production by more than three million barrels per day ​in a few days if oil tankers cannot move freely to loading points, according to two Iraqi oil officials.

While other countries face the most dire immediate economic consequences from a war that Trump is now projecting to last a month or more (“whatever it takes,” to be precise), it’s about to affect Americans too:

American motorists will pay more at the pump amid spiking oil prices due to the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, with experts predicting gasoline prices could rise sharply this week.

The price of West Texas Intermediate crude, a type of oil primarily produced in the U.S., jumped 6.2% on Monday to $71.19 per barrel, according to data from FactSet. Brent crude, the international benchmark, surged nearly 9% to $79.31 per barrel on Monday, its highest point in more than a year.

Gas prices in the U.S. will move higher, according to GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan, who predicted that some gas stations could be charging as much as 30 cents more per gallon. 

And the indirect effects could be even more severe, as Canadian energy expert Rory Johnston told our own Benjamin Hart:

I think if this lasts a couple more days, we’ll see it reflected at the gas pump in terms of overall gas prices. 

Diesel will be even more acutely affected. I think the big impact will be on freight and shipping rates, and that’s going to hit consumers more on the price of produce, the price of random consumer goods. That’s the type of stuff that diesel will complicate more. So I think you will see an impact at the price of the pumps, but the biggest impact won’t be as visible to consumers immediately. It will take a while to work through the supply chain.

As part of their furious spin about a war that’s already unpopular outside Trump’s Republican base, administration gabbers are arguing that Trump’s expansion of fossil-fuel production is giving him the strategic flexibility to wreck global oil markets without catastrophic consequences, notes the New York Times:

The Trump administration said that it has more leeway to act aggressively in the Middle East because the world is flush with oil and gas, thanks in part to record U.S. production, and has less to fear than it once did from energy price shocks.

The ongoing war in Iran could put that theory to the test.🤥

While it may be comforting to Americans to be told they won’t be paying as much for this war as they might have had Trump not impatiently brushed aside environmental fears about fossil fuels, it doesn’t explain the decision to subordinate economic policy to another Donald Trump (bone spurs❗🦴❗)military adventure. 

Yes, MAGA true believers are buying Trump’s claim that Iran’s nuclear-weapon and missile programs posed an immediate threat to the United States, but other Americans are not persuaded at the moment. So, Donald Trump's reckless decision thrusting in this radical direction sure looks like a conscious choice to subordinate the daily concerns of our American people to a globalist agenda and an alliance with Israel that already troubles a majority of Americans.

Shortly before the 2024, presidential election, I was filling up my car with gas in California, and someone had placed on the pump a little decal of Trump pointing at the per-gallon prices and saying, Biden did this! If pump prices continue to go up in 2026, it will be even easier to show that Trump did this❗ And the price will be paid not just by consumers, but by Republican candidates whose affordability arguments have been blown up by the explosions in Iran.

*Affordability is defined as the state of being cheap enough for people to be able to buy.