Yesterday’s consumer price index(CPI) bolted across 4%. The stock market didn’t like that one little bit.   It’s due in part to surging gasoline prices.  The national average for a gallon crossed $3.00 this week.

Of course, this isn’t the real news on either coast.

On the east coast, there is a shortage. Colonial Pipeline was the target of a ransomware attack that forced it to shut down operations.  Long lines are the norm and will be for a few more days.

On the west coast, the average price already surpassed $4.00/gallon.  Fuel transportation costs, taxes, and more taxes always hit Cali and other left-leaning left coast states.

On the first day of Biden’s presidency, he issued an executive order canceling the Keystone XL pipeline making good on his promise to the climate activists who helped get him elected.

So, seemingly on our way to energy independence a few months back, America now waits in line (assuming the station has it) and pays the highest prices at the pump since 2014.

So what to do, what to do?  Let’s ask our government leaders for help.

At a Tuesday press conference, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm was asked by a reporter about the “feasibility of using rail cars” to transport fuel across the country as the nation faces a gas shortage from a Russian cyber attack.  Her response was that they were looking into it, “but it’s – the pipe is the best way to go.”

Hmmm.  So why cancel the Keystone XL?  As stated above-politics.

Speaking of politics, remember when ole Mayor Pete Buttigieg suddenly folded in his quest to be the next President of the United States?  His newfound support of Joe Biden, and by extension the support of his supporters helped usher in the Biden presidency.

So what did the Mayor Of South Bend get out of it?  Voila, he’s your Transportation Secretary folks.

And he’s making a difference.  Just a few months back Pete was captured on camera hopping out of a government SUV caravan, putting on a bike helmet, and riding the last mile or so to the White House for a photo-op, oops, we meant an important meeting.  How environmentally friendly of him.

What’s he peddling now?  He’s speaking to the press about the $3 gas.

When asked directly by a reporter about his message to Americans who were facing the high cost of gasoline yesterday, Buttigieg replied, “My message is that we understand these concerns that we’ve seen in a lot of the impacted geographies, that this is a real issue.”

Anyone can tell you that step one of any good 12 step program is recognizing that you have a problem.

He also urged Americans not to hoard gasoline and to wait for future announcements from the federal government.  “I will say that this is a time to be sensible and to be safe,” Buttigieg said.

There you have it,  Be sensible, be safe, and wait for future announcements from your government.

The opposite of independence is, of course, dependence.

This situation is enough to make your hair stand up.

“Only in America,” Don King was known to say.