Biden's new inflation scapegoat: oil giants racking up profits amid record gas prices
CNN
In his latest attempt to stem raging inflation affecting almost every American, President Joe Biden has a new target -- oil giants that are banking high profits even as gasoline prices at the pump hit record levels.
Biden rebuked the wealthy sector after he announced a trip to Saudi Arabia, which he blasted as a "pariah" nation but is expected to ask to pump more oil to alleviate some of the pressure on Americans as inflation pummels his own approval ratings and the prospects of Democrats in midterm elections. His moves coincide with an expected aggressive interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, which could help cool the overheating economy but is part of a strategy that also risks tipping it into a recession.
"At a time of war, refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable," the President wrote in a letter dated Tuesday to Marathon Petroleum, Valero Energy, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Chevron, BP and Shell.
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A month after losing her job at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Corinne Bazarnyj is still waiting to be approved for unemployment benefits.
An explosion on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock set off fires and power outages Wednesday, leading school officials to issue evacuation orders for several buildings and cancel classes for the rest of the week.
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