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Today’s edition starts off with my conversations with Senate Republicans about skyrocketing gas prices. To my surprise, the lawmakers I spoke with all agreed that the increases are the direct result of President Trump’s war against Iran. Some of the Republicans conveyed concerns about how the case for the war is being made to voters, while others said the pain is simply worth it in the long run. Regardless, gas prices are top-of-mind for all of them as they head into a midterm election season that seems to be forever getting worse for the GOP.
In addition, one of the prediction market companies is opening a temporary physical bar in Washington, D.C. this week, and Silicon Valley is attempting to find a shortcut to “taste” and coolness. I’m not sure it’s gonna work out for those dorks. All that and more, below.
Skyrocketing Gas Prices Could Lose the Senate for Trump
Republicans worry about the midterms but insist it will all be worth it in the long run.
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Gas, break, dip
The skyrocketing price of gas is one of the most ubiquitous and easy-to-grasp financial difficulties that Americans across the country have to deal with. It makes every little stop at the pump harder, and everyone who notices it tends to cast it on to the greater economy. Even people who don’t buy gas see the prices displayed in giant, neon lights all over the place.
Fluctuations in gas prices typically result from complex policy decisions, global events, and supply-and-demand issues. But after the average national gas price jumped from under $3 per gallon to almost $4 in just a couple of weeks, it became clear that the most recent changes at the pump have a very simple cause: President Donald J. Trump and his war of choice in Iran.
The causal picture here is clear enough that even members of the president’s party don’t disagree with the basic outline. The Senate Republicans I caught up with on the Hill over the past few days acknowledged to me that the rapid rise in gas prices is Trump’s doing...
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