Gas Prices Are Now Below The 10-Year Average, And They're On Track To Keep Falling

     Republicans love their made-up crises. Supply chains, inflation, and unemployment: these are all real issues that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and they were no worse in 2021 than in 2020. So, why all the media attention on these issues now? In 2020, our president took to Twitter on the daily to spread conspiracy theories, spout racist rhetoric, and otherwise shake the world's faith in America. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that these things don't happen with Joe Biden in the White House.

     In terms of unemployment, Joe Biden has made more progress in a year than any president in history. Between January 2021 and January 2022, it is projected that nearly seven million jobs will have been created. Unemployment will return to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2022, unemployment claims are at their lowest level since 1969, and states around the nation are seeing record lows in unemployment. On the supply chain front, President Biden took unprecedented steps to open America's ports 24/7, something that is normal in almost every developed nation except for the United States, and strengthen America's trucking industry. As a result, most major retailers reported no problems meeting demand as retail sales surged 15 percent over last year, and IRL shelf availability was on par with what it was during the Christmas season in 2020. Meanwhile, Congress has already introduced bipartisan legislation to make President Biden's improvements to America's supply chains permanent.

     Lastly, let's talk about gas prices. The average price of gas in America rose as the rate of the U.S. population fully vaccinated rose and the rate of COVID cases declined. With the virus in full swing, most Americans were unwilling or unable to travel, which forced gas prices to record lows in 2020. This wasn't exactly some brilliant policy decision by Donald Trump and his allies in Congress, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the Keystone XL Pipeline, folks. President Biden started his career as a senator focusing on consumer protection, so gas prices have been a priority for him. As they rose, he took a series of actions to lower them, ordering the largest release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in U.S. history and ordering the FTC, which has been more aggressive under the Biden administration than any in U.S. history, to investigate unscrupulous business practices. These two policies alone, both of which Republicans criticized him for, led to the average price of gas falling by more than 30 cents across the country. Today, it sits at $3.28 per gallon, below the 10-year average of $3.30 per gallon. Unfortunately, the Omicron variant will also play a role in lowering gas prices, and they are on track to keep falling. Gas prices are on track to dip beneath the 20-year average of $3.18 by mid-January. Gas prices are already below the 20-year average in 21 states, red and blue, including my home state of Wisconsin, and they should dip below the 20-year average in at least 14 more within the next few weeks. 

     Gas prices are falling, supply chains have returned to normal, and unemployment is dissipating years ahead of when even the most optimistic economists predicted it would. My question to the GOP and their media pundits is this: what will the next made-up crisis to befall America be?