North Pima News

After more than a year of historic inflation, the Biden administration is blaming Russian President Vladmir Putin for economic woes in the United States.

The president and his administration have recently publicly coined '#PutinPriceHike' to divert Americans’ anger towards the Russian leader, Fox News reported. However, historical data shows inflationary gas prices have been an issue since early 2021 when Biden took office and immediately stifled U.S. energy production.

According to Fox Business, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, "Let me first say that Americans are paying a higher price at the pump because of the actions of President Putin." She then claimed, "This is a Putin spike at the gas pump, not one prompted by our sanctions."          

According to a February report from Statista, U.S. inflation has been steadily increasing since Biden took office in January 2021. That month the rate was 1.4% and in January 2022, it was 7.5%.        

As inflation has steadily increased over the past year, so have U.S. gas prices, as reported in historical data from YCharts. The site reports that the average price in March 2021 was $2.94 per gallon. At the start of February, the price was $3.53, which jumped to $3.70 Feb. 28, four days after Russia invaded Ukraine.                            

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) believes the Biden administration is to blame for high energy prices.

Newhouse wrote March 8, "By effectively shutting down our own supply of critical oil and gas, the Biden administration increased our reliance on foreign countries for our energy needs, increased global emissions, and increased gas prices for American families."       

In early 2021, President Biden stifled domestic energy production by signing a series of executive orders that prioritized climate change, CNBC reported.                  

The president announced in a tweet March 8 an immediate ban on all U.S. imports of Russian oil, gas, and energy  

Americans are paying the highest gas prices since 2008, according to a report by the American Automobile Association. The national average has reached $4.32 per gallon.

Jon Gabriel wrote in an Arizona Central op-ed that, "We can blame Putin for a host of evils in the world. When it comes to our pocketbooks, the blame lands squarely on President Biden." Gabriel is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that oil prices have been on the rise for months due to the global economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that petroleum refiners have not been able to produce the amount of oil they were before the pandemic. The U.S. imported about 8% of crude oil and refined products from Russia in 2021.