Gas, Ass or Grass, No One Rides for Free

Gas, Ass or Grass, No One Rides for Free

October 18, 2026

That’s one of my favorite phrases I recall from the 1970s. Given the prices today, maybe you should skip the ass or grass and take the gas. Yes, gas and diesel (petroleum products) prices are quite high today and while there are many factors behind this price increase, it’s reasonable to point at the turmoil in the Middle East as the main (but not the only) cause. Iran’s continued threats against the strait of Hormuz (a key hydrocarbon transport route), Gulf States’ and Saudi Arabia petroleum infrastructure damage caused by Iran and now, led by the Houthis, threats against the Bab al-Mandab strait (another important hydrocarbon transport route) are collectively the primary reason for the majority of the price increases. Let’s just be honest about it.

(image from imgflip.com)

Two articles have been posted recently, by me, regarding Iran war strategy that drive towards regime change while protecting the strait of Hormuz and the Gulf States. Apparently, no one in the White House or the Pentagon has read these recommendations. To summarize from the “Important Win” series,

1. a buffer zone including the entire Persion gulf plus the strait of Hormuz along with the Northern Arabian Sea and then gradually 50, 100 and further miles inland (maybe up to 150) along the Southern coast of Iran can be established. Taking out all offensive and defensive military assets is possible and once done any new threats in this area can be handled with low-cost weapons such as gravity bombs dropped from manned and unmanned aircraft and artillery shells from manned and unmanned naval vessels. The buffer zone also allows additional warning time to defensive systems so they can intercept drones, rockets and ballistic missiles fired from outside it.
2. along the Southern coastal areas of Iran (up to 100 miles inland), establish insurgencies with abundant weapons, intelligence and tactical support which can include destroying Iranian regime forces that are engaging with or in the way of insurgent forces.

It looks like a similar program needs to occur in Houthi controlled Yemen. Look for another article to update strategies to win against the current Iranian regime and the Houthis.

No one seems to be listening for now. Sure, you can disrupt all communication and transportation capabilities which includes blockading vessels trading with Iran. That’s a given, but #1 and #2 above don’t seem to have been considered as aggressively as needed and they are vitally important. Until those happen, the current Iranian regime (and their friends the Houthis) will continue to have sway here.

But what are the Democrats going to do about high fuel prices? They are screaming about affordability and high prices because they want power and this is an election year and some uninformed people will fall for their scheme and vote from them. Sure, fuel prices impact everything from manufacturing to transportation. But the Democrats love high fuel prices. This is a wet dream come true for them. They’ve been squashing new refineries and killing off existing ones in the US for decades. There is no tax on fuel they don’t like. In fact, California (an overwhelming Democrat run state) is the poster child here. By crushing exploration, drilling and refining and adding tax upon tax to fuel, they have the highest fuel prices in the country.

The Democrats have desperately been forcing transitions from gas-driven vehicles to electric ones, mandating what you can and can’t buy over the next 10 years. Never mind that electric vehicles, which I think are fine as long as you aren’t forced by law to buy one, also have issues that are still being resolved which can make them less desirable than gas-driven vehicles. Doesn’t matter to the Democrats, you will do what they tell you. But one of the keys to forcing you into electric vehicles is to keep suppressing petroleum production while increasing fuel taxes to make the supply so bad and the cost so prohibitive that you feel you have to go electric (or something else like hydrogen which is also fine as long as you aren’t forced into buying one). They don’t believe in free markets at all. They have been trying to squeeze you into doing what they want with the rule of law from all sides here.

Democrats love high gas prices. This is what they’ve been driving towards for years to get you to stop using hydrocarbons and to start buying electric cars. The only reason they claim to hate it now is because there is some temporary pain with current prices while Republicans, and notably Trump, are in the power majority and they think you are foolish enough to vote for them because they are implying they will do something about it. No, they won’t, at least not past a few months of dangerous window dressing.

What might be some things they will do to pretend to care about high fuel prices, temporarily?

• make a deal with Iran which means surrendering to Iran and letting them stay on their path of “death to the USA” which does actually  include nuclear weapons; this also continues to destabilize the region with everyone walking on eggshells around Iran to appease it; Iran will hold the area hostage and do whatever it wants which means this is not a solution as it’s just a matter of time, which is short, before everything gets crazy again and prices go back up (but that’s what they want) while a lot more people get killed including Iran’s own citizens desperate for freedom
• maybe let some petroleum out of the strategic reserve, established for emergencies, which is already low but will only ease prices for a few weeks

DEMOCRATS WILL NEVER ACTUALLY LOWER PRICES. IN FACT, THEY WANT THEM TO GO UP. It is part of their religion to destroy oil and gas and high prices have always been their goal. Don’t be fooled.

As long as Republicans are in charge, the prices will go down. The world (notably, the US) is still awash in hydrocarbons and the recent Venezuela deal, plus Republican support to increase domestic supply and the continuing important relationship with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States plus the creeping increase in transport across the strait of Hormuz, will result in a drop in prices of 20-30% over the next 4-6 months. If the White House will go after tasks #1 and #2 mentioned earlier everything will drop 20-30% in just 6-8 weeks. The Democrats don’t want this – they hate hydrocarbons. They were pushing programs to suppress domestic output and punish people for not buying electric cars just a couple of years ago. In fact, they are still doing it in states they control. Here in New Mexico, the “guvna” mandated (without the legislature and bypassing your democratically elected lawmakers) that 80% of new cars shipped to New Mexico for sale starting in 2032 have to be zero emissions, which means primarily “electric” because the “guvna” knows better than you what you should be driving. In the meantime, the state is forcing you to rely on wind and solar for that electricity. Worse, most of the recent wind projects here are deals made by the Democrats that ship the power out of the state. My guess is you have the same nonsense going on in your “blue” state as well. It’s hard to wrap your head around the incomptence and the corrpution which surely underlies much of this.

But how high could fuel prices really get? The average price of gas and diesel in the US in 2000 was $1.49 AND $2.10, respectively. According to an online inflation calculator (Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar’s Value From 1913-2026), $1.00 in the year 2000 is $1.96 today. That means, in inflation adjusted dollars, the average prices for gas and diesel might be $2.92 and $4.12 across the US today. In fact, that is similar to prices before the Iran war. Average prices today, across the US, for gas and diesel are now closer to $4.35 and $6.20. But consider where we would be across the US if Democrats had enough national control for long enough to implement their dream, which looks like California.

Keep in mind the following (all led by Democrats) in CA (Why Gas Prices Are So High in California – California Globe):

• between $0.47 and $1.15 are added per gallon for compliance with environmental rules
• $1.64 per gallon in taxes go to the state
• only 23% of its need is produced there even though it could be a net exporter; at one time it supplied a substantial portion of the total US need
• refining capacity keeps dropping; another 8.6% is expected this year
• since 2018, 350 energy related companies have left CA due to the financially destructive climate of harrassment

I’m sure there’s more.

Let’s do some basic math and we’ll use gasoline since this information is easier to find (most of this shows up at the top of the 1^st page on search engines):

• average price in CA before the Iran war – $4.58 per gallon
• average national price in the US before the Iran war – $2.95 per gallon
• average national price in CA today – $6.18 per gallon (the image below is from a CA gas station)
• average national price in the US today – $4.35 per gallon

(image from shutterstock.com)

Granted, the CA price is included in the national average so this is not a completely independent analysis. Its presence adjusts the US average upward. If the Democrats had their way, you would have already been paying a higher price for gasoline before the Iran war than after it: $4.58 vs. $4.35. Can you see that? Now CA pays $6.18 per gallon. Guess what, that’s 42% higher than what you pay now.

So, if you are thinking about voting for Democrats because they convinced you with the lie that they will make life more affordable and that affordability is being compromised today because of high fuel prices, please check yourself because your wrecking yourself (adjusted lyrics from the Ice Cube classic and a favorite). By the way, the primary driver of affordability issues is actually the cost of government and all the taxes you pay but that’s in a different article.