Let's talk about Trump not keeping up with the Jones Act.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump keeping up with the Jones Act and the price of oil.

Okay. So, in the latest example of that's not going to work the way Trump thinks it will, Trump is looking to waive the Jones Act for a couple of months in hopes of tamping down the rising cost of oil caused by his elective war in Iran. His press secretary said, "President Trump's decision to issue a 60-day Jones Act waiver is just another step to mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market.”

That should be taken as a clear sign that the administration's version of short-term will be months long. That means it'll still be disrupted for the US switch over to a more expensive summer blend gas, but it looks like Trump is waiving that, too. If you want to know how much higher they're really expecting gas prices to get, they're pulling out all the stops now.

Ironically, the Jones Act is a byproduct of the American First ideals of the early 1900s. The 1920 act basically requires ships moving between American ports to be American made, American crude, and American flagged. The idea is that waving this act will open up domestic routes to foreign flag ships.

The problem for Trump is that the protectionist and nationalist policies of 100 years ago are similar to his current protectionist and nationalist policy failures. They didn't really work as intended.

The American Maritime Partnership, which is a lobbying group, says, "The law sets a high bar. This waiver exists solely to address an immediate threat to military operations, not to displace American workers or reward foreign operators. We also reiterate that this waiver will not reduce gas prices. The maximum potential impact of domestic shipping on the cost of gasoline nationwide is less than one penny per gallon.”

A penny a gallon. That sounds about right based on the napkin math I've heard, but to be fair, that's coming from a lobbying group that primarily represents US interests. Let's check in somewhere else.

Former commissioner of the US Federal Maritime Commission under the Trump and Obama administrations said “the impact will be minimal.” He went on to note that the biggest share of the cost of gasoline is the price of oil. He put the impact at fractions of a penny.

Okay, so this isn't likely to work in any meaningful way to reduce gas prices, but it might make people feel better and for once, a Trump fix for a problem he created won't make the problem worse. So that's cool. And then there might actually be a benefit. The Jones Act is actually pretty harmful to a lot of the US and raises costs on other things. I'm sure Puerto Rico would love to see the act go away permanently. Maybe the waiver could give the data to show that this isn't actually working for everyone.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.