I’ve often said that if given the choice between telling the truth and telling a lie, some people will choose the lie automatically.
As we lurch toward war, seemingly unable to assemble the diplomatic chops necessary to prevent one, you’d think that at the very least we could be honest with ourselves about how much oil we’ve stored up just in case.
MSNBC brought the lies, which means I’m bringing the math (and the receipts).
They said Joe Biden is an oil trading genius having already refilled 20% of what he sold off while making more than half a billion in profits.
The reality is that Joe sold off a whopping 290 million barrels (Mb) and has only refilled 17 Mb, which is only 6%, not “one-fifth” as MSNBC claimed.
The math is stupidly easy to verify at the EIA website:
Next, the claim that “Biden made $582 million …and managed to time the market to perfection” is pure fiction.
As you can see above, Biden sold oil in 2021, 2022 and 2023. To then claim “he made money” requires a sort of accounting that will get you in real trouble in real life.
Out here you can either use LIFO (Last In First Out) or FIFO (First In First Out) inventory accounting.
What MSNBC did is called “Cherry-Picked Accounting” where they took the absolute highest-priced barrels sold, ignored all the rest before and after, and then claimed the refilled barrels should be counted against those. This is not a valid method of accounting for the oil stocks. But, to be fair, perfectly within the bounds of ordinary lefty lying.
The period in yellow shows when oil was sold. Anything above the red line (the current price) would have been sold for more than the current price and represent a potential profit if oil can be bought and replaced at the current price.
Everything below the red line would have been sold at a loss compared to today’s price. 44 Mb were sold in 2021 and virtually all of those would have been below the current price. On a FIFO basis, Biden lost money by replacing some of those 44Mb with 17Mb all rebought at a higher price.
This is just basic accounting, nothing fancy. It’s an insult to be fed the garbage accounting of MSNBC.
Why the perpetual inability to comport with reality and lie in Joe Biden’s favor? I don’t know, but it’s depressing to think an MSNBC producer’s vote counts the same as mine.
Just kidding, neither of our votes actually count.
But more to the point, it shouldn’t even be the case that the President is day-trading oil at all. They should not be using the SPR for political points or gain by selling off the national security treasure for a quick pop in the polls.
It’s gross and awful. And MSNBC is for it. The only reason why that I can figure is they hate the US.