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Why Are Oil Executives Warning of a Catastrophic Price Shock at the Pump?
A senior oil industry executive has a message for America. The pain at the pump hasn’t started. Dan Pickering, chief investment officer at Pickering Energy Partners, told Politico that when summer driving season hits, gas prices will deliver a shock that hits people in the face. His exact words. It will be painful. With Trump’s Iran war dragging on and the Strait of Hormuz still choked off, oil and gas executives are openly furious at Trump’s market-manipulating happy talk. They warn another spike is coming around Memorial Day. National gas prices have already jumped from $2.94 the week before the war to nearly $4. Some experts now predict $5 a gallon. Trump’s war of choice is bleeding working families dry, and the oil bosses know it.
Big Oil Pockets Obscene Profits While Working People Bleed
Who’s making out like bandits while you pay $4 a gallon? The world’s 100 biggest oil and gas companies pocketed more than $30 million in windfall profits every hour during the first month of Trump’s Iran war. That’s the Guardian’s analysis. The biggest winners are Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum, and ExxonMobil. If oil stays around $100 a barrel, Big Oil will rake in another $234 billion in war profits this year. Patrick Galey of Global Witness calls it Christmas for fossil fuel companies. They sit back and watch profits multiply while ordinary people pay the price. Greenpeace and climate groups gathered this week in Santa Marta, Colombia demanding governments tax these obscene profits. Every American driver is funding Big Oil’s biggest payday in history.
Democrats Lead the Polls, But Voters Are Begging for New Blood
Democrats are surging in polling for the 2026 midterms. Trump’s approval has cratered to the low thirties. A new Yale Youth Poll has Democrats up 23 points among voters 18 to 22, 30 points among voters 23 to 29, and 39 points among voters 30 to 34. Numbers Democrats haven’t seen since Obama in 2008. But here’s the catch. Young voters don’t want the same old faces. According to fundraising platform Oath, more than 80 young Americans have launched campaigns for Congress this cycle. Four times more than last time. They’ve already raised over $10 million. Oath’s CEO Brian Derrick says there’s a real rift between younger voters and older Democrats who seem more focused on hanging on for another term than fighting for working people. The message to leadership is clear. Make room.
Is Netanyahu Helping Putin Loot Ukraine?
This should outrage every American who supports Ukraine. Russia has industrialized the theft of Ukrainian grain. More than two million tons looted from occupied territory in 2025 alone. And Israel keeps letting it in. On Sunday, the Panama-flagged ship Panormitis arrived at Haifa carrying over 6,200 tons of stolen wheat and 19,000 tons of stolen barley. It’s the second time this month. Earlier in April, the Russian carrier Abinsk dumped nearly 44,000 tons of stolen Ukrainian wheat at the same port. Egypt refuses these shipments. Israel takes them. Ukraine’s foreign minister has summoned the Israeli ambassador. The EU is warning of sanctions. So why is Netanyahu running cover for Putin while Russia arms Iran and ships drone parts that kill Ukrainian civilians?
Bait and Switch? Whatever Happened To The Private Donors Paying For Trump’s Gilded Ballroom?
Remember when Donald Trump bulldozed the historic East Wing of the White House and swore up and down that private donors would foot every penny of his $400 million ballroom? Here comes the bait and switch. After Saturday’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Senate Republicans Graham, Britt, and Schmitt rolled out legislation Monday dumping the cost on taxpayers. Of the $400 million, $332 million would be taxpayer dollars paid through customs fees on imports. Graham said with a straight face that private donations could be used for buying china and stuff like that. So the gilded ballroom Trump promised would be 100% privately funded suddenly becomes a national security event. You pay $4 at the pump, and now you’re paying for Trump’s gilded ballroom too.
America Shuts Down on May Day
This Friday, May 1st, working Americans plan to shut this country down. The May Day Strong coalition has organized over 3,000 protests across all 50 states demanding workers come before billionaires. The action is simple. No school. No work. No shopping. The movement got its spark in Minnesota on January 23 when 50,000 protestors marched in 20 below temperatures after an ICE agent shot and killed Renée Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis. Hundreds of Minnesota businesses closed their doors. Now it’s national. Major unions are joining in, including the AFT, NEA, and National Nurses United. Rebecca Winter of Mass 50501 said it best. We pay more for everything while those in power cash in. We the people are the economy, and we decide when it stops.
And that’s the way it is, Today Tuesday, April 28, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
