DV Journal

Plane loads of people rejoiced when they learned a Trump-appointed federal judge struck down the mask mandate on planes, trains, and buses Monday.

But the Biden administration’s Department of Justice plans to appeal that ruling.

“Once again, the Biden Administration defaults to government overreach and fighting for forced mandates, rather than trusting Americans to make smart decisions on their own, or actually trying to lead people in a certain direction,” said Christian Nascimento, a Republican running for Congress in Montgomery County. “I was actually on a flight when the announcement came over that the airline would no longer enforce the mask mandate. Passengers broke into applause.”

At Philadelphia’s airport, people must wear masks inside, as required by the city’s latest mask mandate, but they can remove them once they are on their plane.

Heather Redfern, airport public affairs manager, said, “While our airline partners are no longer requiring masks on planes, a current City of Philadelphia Department of Health mandate requires everyone to wear a face mask in public indoor settings in the city…Enforcement includes signage and employees reminding passengers and staff of the city’s mandate. The airport has free masks available for all that need them.”

If the Biden administration is counting on support from Pennsylvania’s elected officials, it will be disappointed.

Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) spokeswoman said he was “part of a bipartisan majority who voted to strike this mask mandate down.”

“We are at a place where those who want to be vaccinated can be readily vaccinated,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester/Berks). “We are at a place where people have educated themselves on the benefits of masking. And we are at a place where our schools, businesses, offices, and services are open. Because we have done the work over the past two years to successfully allocate federal resources to provide things like therapeutics, tests, vaccines, boosters, and masks to our community, I’m not supportive of a mask mandate at this time.”

She also said she is “continuing to push for bipartisan COVID funding” and plans to keep wearing her mask and getting tested.

Guy Ciarrocchi, one of the Republicans running in the May 17 primary to oppose Houlahan in November, said, “Biden’s decision to appeal this ruling is outrageous. Mandating masks in April 2022 defies science and common sense. Moreover, it shows how out-of-touch he is. I call on Congresswoman Houlahan to join with me in demanding that Biden drop this appeal.  If they won’t stop this madness, I will be part of the next Republican Congress that will.”

“I think it is complete nonsense,” said Ron Vogel, another Republican in the 6th District primary. “The only good thing that has happened in this country since Joe Biden has been in charge is that the mask mandate was lifted.  It was lifted because President Donald Trump appointed a judge with the courage to do it.  My opponent, Chrissy Houlahan, is anti-science. She supports all of the draconian mandates and lockdowns. Earlier this week, she held a town hall that ignored the science. She specifically picked a venue that required everyone to show a vaccine card in order to enter.”

Former Ambassador Carla Sands, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, cited a 2020 Danish study that showed no statistical difference between wearing and not wearing masks.

“I am opposed to any mandates. I think they’re unconstitutional. I think people need to read and educate themselves and make the best decision for themselves,” Sands said during a Delaware Valley Journal podcast.

“Dave is vehemently opposed to government vaccine and mask mandates and supports the rights of individuals to make decisions that best suit their unique situation. What we’re seeing in Philadelphia and elsewhere to reinstate mask mandates shows that science has been replaced by woke virtue signaling,” said David McCormick campaign spokesperson Jess Szymanski. The Republican is also running for the U.S. Senate.

“Biden promised to ‘follow the science’ back in September. But his policies smell of virtue-signaling rather than pragmatic policy-making,” said GOP Senate candidate Kathy Barnette. “We have children wearing masks on busses but not in school, families wearing them to board the plane but not during the flight, people putting on and taking off masks as they cross jurisdictions, and the government coercing private companies into maintaining mandates which have no documented relationship to health concerns.

“The bottom line is that these mandates are a means of control, not responsible health policy.  The judge is right to reject them, and the administration just can’t bear the idea that they don’t get to tell us what to do,” she said.

And Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for the Senate, told Greg Kelly on Newsmax TV Wednesday surgical masks should be changed every few hours and worn correctly to be effective.

“I don’t think (masks) make a difference on planes…50 percent of the air on a plane comes from outside the plane. There is no COVID at 35,000 feet, and the rest of the air is purified so cleanly it’s better than being at home,” said Oz.

David Galluch, a Republican running to oust Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Delaware/Philadelphia), said, “Vaccines and natural immunity provide highly significant protection against COVID for the vast majority of Americans. The recent ruling doesn’t preclude people from wearing a mask. It simply gives Americans a choice. Those who have underlying conditions, are at risk, or are concerned about contracting COVID should continue to do what they feel is best for their health and safety after consulting a medical professional. But I believe it’s time Americans have a choice when it comes to masking.”

Several DelVal residents posted their thoughts on Facebook.

Walter Plotnick of Elkins Park said, “Personally, being sandwiched shoulder to shoulder with often sneezing, coughing members of the general public unmasked in recycled air is a deal-breaker for me.”

But, others disagreed.

Cheltenham resident Dawn Pitts Tollett Johnston said, “I fly a lot and am thrilled that the mask mandate will be lifted. The air is not stale. It’s filtered and recirculated continuously. So yes, I am perfectly comfortable with flying. I refuse to live my life in fear.”

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Greyhound said masks are now optional on buses except when crossing into Canada or Mexico or disembarking in a local municipality that requires them.

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Average gasoline prices in Pennsylvania hit $4.42/gallon last week, an all-time high. That is $1.40 a gallon higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy. It is not, however, the most costly gas per gallon when adjusted for inflation. That happened when gas hit $4.11 on July 17, 2008 — or about $5.25 in today’s dollars.

The highest nominal price today is under Democratic President Joe Biden. The highest in real dollars was under Republican Presidents George W. Bush. And there were wild swings in gas prices during the terms of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Fairly or unfairly, presidents tend to get blamed when gas prices rise. According to energy reporter Robert Rapier at Forbes.com, “The macro factors involving oil prices are far greater than the impacts from the decisions a president makes. A president can try to move the markets but those impacts are fleeting.”

But that gives little solace to Delaware Valley residents, who have taken to Facebook to express their feelings about pain at the pump.

“My corner Wawa just went up .26 cents overnight. It is now $4.459 per gallon. Home heating oil is up over $2 per gallon since August 2021. And the president wants everyone to go back (to) working at their office building instead of working at home? He is a joke!” said Philadelphia resident Andy Grant.

Elyse Fels, a Cheltenham resident, said, “It is what it is – I’ll handle it – hopefully it’s not forever!”

“If everyone drove a hybrid we wouldn’t need foreign oil,” said Radnor resident John Fisher.

And Sara Pilling of Bryn Mawr said, “I’m gloating, as I bought a Toyota Prius plug-in, get 125 mpg, yet continue to conserve in my driving!”

Not surprisingly, Pennsylvania’s political candidates are promising to act.

In a recent interview with ABC27, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democratic candidate for governor said, “Energy prices are up this year and will likely keep rising. “I want Pennsylvanians to know that there is help available for everyone and that we are going to do all we can to make sure that these resources remain available to Pennsylvanians over the spring and summer.”

Shapiro proposed elimination of the cell phone tax, expanding real estate and rent tax rebates, and sending gasoline tax rebates to Pennsylvania drivers.

Former U.S. Attorney and Republican candidate for governor, Bill McSwain, agreed the solution is to increase domestic manufacturing, though he blamed the Biden administration for much of our current predicament.

“Sky-rocketing gas prices are a direct result of President Biden’s weak leadership and disastrous energy policies. We should not be dependent on countries that hate us, and it is wrong and immoral for Biden to beg foreign nations to produce more oil rather than increasing production domestically,” McSwain said.

“As governor, I will harness the full potential of Pennsylvania’s energy resgources to eliminate our reliance on foreign oil and create thousands of jobs for hard-working Pennsylvanians. I will also call for a permanent and drastic reduction of the crippling state gas tax put in place by Harrisburg career politicians and supported by many of my opponents in this race.”

Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf has agreed with McSwain that the gas tax should be removed. The question is what should replace it.

Democratic senatorial candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, speaking live from the pump while he was filling his truck said, “People are getting squeezed whether folks want to call it inflation or not…but there is a solution, and it would solve more than gas prices…. We need to use American energy to make American energy cheaper for American workers…We should do more manufacturing right here in America and create more jobs here to drive down prices… It should be common sense that we can lower prices if we make more sh*t in America and here in Pennsylvania. We don’t need to be outsourcing any more jobs to China.”

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick blamed the Biden administration.

“The record-high gas prices we’re seeing today have been a year in the making thanks to Joe Biden’s terrible energy policies,” said McCormick. “From killing the Keystone XL pipeline to banning new federal natural gas and oil leases to the regulatory blanket he placed across our energy sector that’s chilled capital investment, Joe Biden has hamstrung American energy production which has invited Putin’s aggression and skyrocketed prices at the pump for all Pennsylvanians.”

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Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity joined the growing list of Republicans calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw his nominee for a top Federal Reserve post. 

Many Republicans believe Sarah Bloom Raskin, Biden’s pick to become the Fed’s top banking regulator, is too extreme for the job. On Wednesday, a group of 48 congressional Republicans sent a letter to the White House asking Biden to pull Raskin’s nomination as vice-chair of supervision, warning her past statements indicated she would “irreparably politicize the Federal Reserve and destroy what remains of its credibility and independence.”

Two weeks ago, Garrity joined a group of state financial officers who released their own letter expressing reservations.

“We oppose Ms. Raskin’s radical banking and economic views and are deeply concerned that she would use the supervisory authority as Vice-Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Bank to disrupt the private banking sector, reliable energy supplies, and the U.S. economy,” the state financial officers wrote.

Republicans charge that acting on her progressive climate change views would result in severe job losses in the petroleum, natural gas, and coal industries. Democrats say the job losses are countered by those that would be created in the green energy sector or jobs would be lost anyway due to the continuing climate crisis that they believe confronts the world.

“The nominee is a risk to reliable energy companies and the millions of people who are employed by them here in Pennsylvania and across the country,” Garrity said. “[Raskin] has claimed that the fossil fuel industry is a ‘dying industry’ and actively worked against it. Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration’s preliminary data for 2020 show that energy produced from petroleum, natural gas, and coal accounted for about 79 percent of total U.S. primary energy production.

“These energy industries are critical to our nation’s economy, and it’s clear that Ms. Raskin is not the right person to serve in this position. If President Biden doesn’t withdraw the nomination, the Senate should swiftly reject it,” Garrity added.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) had similar objections to Raskin.

“Today’s hearing is not just about vetting [Biden’s nominees], it’s really about the Fed’s independence and whether or not we’re going to abandon a core part of our democracy,” Toomey said.

Democrats argued many of these attacks have been overblown and are politically motivated.

“We have seen a coordinated effort by some to paint her as a radical… that characterization requires a suspension of common sense,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Many of the objections to Raskin stem from a New York Times piece she wrote in 2020 entitled, “Why Is the Fed Spending So Much Money on a Dying Industry?”

“The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare just how vulnerable the United States is to sudden, catastrophic shocks. Climate change poses the next big threat. Ignoring it, particularly to the benefit of fossil fuel interests, is a risk we can’t afford,” she wrote. 

In the article, she lays out how she thinks the fossil fuel industries had fallen short of addressing the climate crisis and accrued impossible amounts of debt as they continued to expand, often without turning a profit. She argued continuing to fund those industries “undermines urgent efforts to counter surging carbon dioxide and methane emissions, which are bringing us closer to the catastrophe of an unliveably hot planet.”

Not all Republicans consider that line of thinking controversial.

“Among the future trends that will impact our national security is climate change,” said Republican former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. When retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis took office as secretary of defense, he urged the armed forces to battle the effects of global climate change.

“Climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today,” Mattis said in written testimony addressed to the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2017. He claimed that, “While Trump downplayed the problem, his Pentagon quietly continued to follow a ‘climate change adaptation roadmap’ to protect against catastrophic storms that put coastal bases at tremendous risk.”

The Republican criticism that addressing these concerns would have serious economic ramifications is serious. In their letter to Biden, Garrity and the other fiscal officers explained that they feared Raskin “would use the supervisory authority as vice-chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve Bank to disrupt the private banking sector, reliable energy supplies, and the U.S. economy.”

To switch to a fully green economy would be an enormous undertaking and might ultimately cost millions of jobs in the fossil fuel sectors. Still, many progressive Democrats fear that the time for politics as usual in confronting the climate issue has ended and demand action.

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U.S. Senate candidates at a forum at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia last week criticized Republicans and not each other.

Although Rev.  Alyn Waller said he invited all the candidates of both parties who are running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Pat Toomey (R), only three Democrats came: Montgomery County Commissioners Chair Dr. Val Arkoosh, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia) and Congressman Conor Lamb (D-Beaver).

The three answered questions submitted by area Black clergy and one by moderator Sharrie Williams, a co-anchor for Channel 6ABC. Williams asked them what they would do if elected about record levels of homicide and violent crime in Philadelphia. None of the three mentioned any culpability for DA Larry Krasner, a progressive Democrat.

Instead, Lamb, a former federal prosecutor under the Obama administration, spoke about passing laws to restrict gun ownership.

“Guns are multiplying fast in our society. We have 400 million…The least we can do is make sure the people that possess them actually qualify to have them under the law,” he said. Lamb also supports spending more money on community programs to try to curb violence and “direct interventions” with young people who are “most at risk” for violence. He would also like to target more federal dollars on preventing gun crime and less on prosecuting drug crimes.

“The DEA gets three times what the ATF does,” said Lamb.

Congressman Conor Lamb

Kenyatta mentioned violence in his neighborhood.

“I’m going to go home tonight to my home in north Philadelphia. It’s probably likely I could hear gunshots ring out.” There have been “folks tragically cut down blocks from my home,” he said.

“We cannot have another year in Philadelphia where we’ve had 550 people murdered on our streets and more who were shot but survived. The first thing we have to treat this like the emergency that it is,” he said.

He has asked Gov. Tom Wolf to declare gun crime an emergency “as we did with the opioid crisis.” He would also like to see more laws regulating gun ownership.

“So many of the weapons that ended up being used in a gun homicide were weapons that did not belong to the person who did the shooting,” he said. “Dealing with lost and stolen weapons, trying to get to the root cause of the consistent straw purchasing that we’re seeing, is critical.”

The state has also “released millions into the hands of organizations to disrupt gun violence,” he added. The other factor to reduce crime and violence is to end poverty, he said, explaining that if people have good jobs, kids are in good schools, and families have houses, that would reduce violence.

“We need to treat gun violence as the public health crisis it is,” said Arkoosh. She would like to see what she called background check “loopholes closed, and she would like to keep those charged with domestic violence or at risk for suicide from legally owning guns. She also opposes ownership of “military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”

“I don’t see any use for weapons like that on our streets,” said Arkoosh. She also favors more after-school programs and mentorship to keep kids on the right track.

Their comments echo those of President Joe Biden and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who blame America’s gun laws for the recent surge in crime. Academics note that while gun sales did rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is not a significant change in the number of guns today versus three years ago when gun crime rates were lower.

Asked about the role of senators in approving federal judges and Supreme Court justices, Kenyatta said, “Right now we have a radical, conservative Supreme Court that is out of control, out of control.” He supports increasing the number of judges on the court to give it a liberal majority — a practice known as “court-packing.” However, he praised the judges who have been appointed Biden.

“We need to suss out and extinguish this conservative judicial philosophy that believes money is equal to speech and any corporation or wealthy person in society can spend as much as they want on politics in the name of speech. That is ruining our politics,” said Lamb.

Montgomery County Commissioners Chair Valerie Arkoosh

Arkoosh said the Supreme Court now is in a “very fragile place” and that matters coming before it that should be handled legislatively.

“Washington is so broken that somebody like Mitch McConnell can not only steal a Supreme Court seat but he can block all this other legislation from ever even getting to a vote. And my pledge to you, if I am your next United States Senator there will be hell to pay if Mitch McConnell or anyone else tries to steal a Supreme Court justice seat.

“And of course, I will be a vote against the filibuster so we can move on this critical legislation,” she added.

Kenyatta and Lamb also pledged to do away with the filibuster.

During her opening remarks, Arkoosh brought up the recent hostage crisis at the synagogue in Texas.

“We must speak out with one voice against antisemitism, which has no place in our commonwealth and our country, just as racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Asian hatred have no place in our society,” said Arkoosh.

Kenyatta said, “In this moment in this campaign we should answer a simple question. Who should government work for? I know my answer: It should work for working families like mine and so many others.”

He promised to focus on inequity.

“I’ve been all across this commonwealth, folks get it. But I will tell you who doesn’t get it so often: the 100 folks in the Senate who don’t know anything about what we’re going to talk about today,” said Kenyatta.

Lamb touted his electability, saying that he won twice in a red district that had elected Trump and that as a congressman he has sought out the advice of his African American constituents.

“I will never make false promises to the Black community. I will do my best to speak to you about the achievable, the doable,” said Lamb, who touted Biden’s Build Back Better bill, which passed the House but has not made it through the Senate.

All three supported the “Freedom to Vote Act,” the proposal to override state election laws and impose federal rules on voting. The proposal was defeated in the Senate last week when an effort to end the filibuster was defeated in a bipartisan vote, 48-52.

“Republicans are working every day to disenfranchise Black and Brown voters and doing everything they can to reduce the voter confidence in the election process,” Arkoosh claimed. “We need to make it easier to vote.” She suggested making Election Day a national holiday and allowing people to register on Election Day. She also said voting by mail “worked incredibly well in Pennsylvania.”

Kenyatta said that in the state legislature he fought Republican efforts to audit the 2020 election and used community organizing techniques to turn out protestors at Senate Pro Tempore Jake Corman’s house.

And Lamb accused Republicans of trying to “limit the right of people to vote” in Houston, Texas, and that they “looked at ways people of color vote and targeted them.”

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Calling her views “out of line with American principles,” Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity joined with 21 other state fiscal officers from 18 states asking President Joe Biden to abandon his progressive nominee for the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.

“The nominee has repeatedly expressed views that are completely out of line with American economic principles,” Garrity said. “She has said that she wants to ‘end banking as we know it’ – and earlier this year claimed that we should want the natural gas, oil, and coal industries to ‘go bankrupt’ in order to address climate change. It’s clear that she is not the right person to serve as Comptroller of the Currency. If President Biden doesn’t withdraw the nomination, the Senate should reject it.”

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is responsible for chartering, regulating, and supervising all national banks.

In a letter to the president, Garrity and the other fiscal officers wrote they “are opposed to Ms. Omarova because of her radical views and have a deep concern that she would abuse her supervisory power as Comptroller to expand political control over the private banking sector, disrupting the economy. … Omarova’s professed worldview is incompatible with the free market and is therefore disqualifying.”

Saule Omarova

The letter further noted, “We share the general belief that the U.S. Senate should defer to the president on most nominees, but not one who has made such reckless and irresponsible comments regarding the institutions and system she would regulate. We hereby call upon you to withdraw this nomination on the grounds that Omarova’s professed worldview is incompatible with the free market and is therefore disqualifying.

Garrity joined treasurers and other fiscal officers from Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming in calling for Biden to withdraw the nomination.

They are not alone. As Delaware Valley Journal has previously reported, the graduate of Russia’s Moscow State Univerity is opposed by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more radical choice for any regulatory spot in our federal government,” Toomey said. “I know that is a very sweeping statement to make. I think I can stand by it.”

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Environmental activists call it a “methane fee.” The energy industry calls it a “natural gas tax.” Either way, Pennsylvania consumers are likely to feel the effects in their pocketbooks.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on its version of the budget reconciliation bill — also known as the “Build Back Better” bill — which includes increased fees on methane emissions. Methane is a byproduct of oil and natural gas production, and as a result, the fee would be an increase in the cost of production.

Environmentalists say reducing methane is essential to the fight against climate change. At the COP26 meeting in Scotland last week, the United States announced it will participate in the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions 30 percent by 2030.

“Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere,” says Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on its website. “Even though CO₂ has a longer-lasting effect, methane sets the pace for warming in the near term.”

As National Geographic reports, “Whereas carbon dioxide persists for centuries, most methane converts to carbon dioxide or gets cycled out of the atmosphere within about a decade.”

Meanwhile, two of the world’s biggest methane emitters — China nor Russia — refused to sign the Global Methane Pledge.

And energy producers point to America’s surging costs to heat their homes this winter and the wider inflation problem as evidence this is the wrong time to add costs to consumers’ utility bills.

“This is nothing more than a tax on natural gas at a time when policymakers should be focused on solutions that support affordable, reliable energy while reducing emissions,” says API Senior Vice President of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Frank Macchiarola.

“We must continue to drive down methane emissions without adding new burdens on American families and businesses,” added said Karen Harbert, President and CEO of the American Gas Association. “Our analysis indicates that the proposed tax could increase natural gas bills from 12 percent to 34 percent, depending on the variation of the proposal assessed.”

Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat representing natural-gas producing West Virginia, has been reluctant to support legislation with a tax or fee on methane. As a result, House Democrats have been trying to find ways to change the terminology and get Manchin’s blessing once the bill is approved in the House and sent to the Senate. Democrats’ have a razor-thin majority in both chambers and need the support of every Democrat in the Senate.

Winning over Manchin has not been, and will not be, easy.

“Major oil and gas companies are actively investing in, developing, and using new technologies to detect and repair leaks, which are known to be a public health risk and contribute to climate change,” Manchin said in August 2020.

Delaware Valley U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean (D), Mary Gay Scanlon (D), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R) declined to respond to requests for comment about the upcoming Build Back Better bill vote.

Meanwhile, API’s Frank Macchiarola says methane is already being regulated.

“The direct regulation of methane by the EPA is the most impactful way to build on the downward trend of methane emission rates in key producing regions rather than a duplicative and punitive natural gas tax that would only hurt American consumers and undermine the economic recovery,” says Macchiarola.

Gordon Tomb, senior adviser to CO2 Coalition, does not see a need for the regulations.

“Methane makes up a minuscule portion of the atmosphere — less than two parts per million — and together with carbon dioxide contributes an estimated 0.012 degrees C a year — an amount too small to even measure,” says Tomb. “Regulating emissions of either gas has no basis in science and imposes an unnecessary burden on businesses and the people who buy their products.”

And, Tomb added, “When politicians are talking about regulating methane, they are usually talking about taxing methane that gets leaked to the environment during production operations, treating that methane as a pollutant,” says Tomb. “Of course, methane is put into the atmosphere from all kinds of sources, and in the scheme of things the amount in the atmosphere is quite small irrespective of where it is coming from.”

The Marcellus Shale Coalition has also warned that taxes or fees would be bad for everyone.

“Layering more taxes on strongly regulated domestic energy production increases costs for those who produce and rely on these essential resources, with low-and fixed-income families shouldering the disproportionate share of the tax hike,” the group wrote in a September letter that included the Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia and the Ohio Oil & Gas Association.

And while organizations including the Sierra Club say fossil fuel organizations do not care about the environment, Marcellus Shale Coalition begs to differ.

“Our members are fully committed to improving air quality and further reducing all emission sources, particularly methane since it is the very product we sell, through leveraging best available technologies and practices.”

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Milk costs more. Meat is more expensive.  Clothing is pricier. New cars, even used cars–forget about it!

With the Consumer Price Index released on Wednesday showing a 6.2 percent increase over the last 12 months, inflation is now at a 31- year high. Wholesale prices are also rising, up 8.6 percent since this time last year.

What does that mean for families in the Delaware Valley?

Deanna Doane, president of the Wayne Business Association, said her members are seeing prices rise every day and have no choice but to pass costs on to their customers. For restaurants the price of food is higher and so is the cost of labor, she said.

“Now we are going to have to increase prices and that hits the local community. We are a restaurant town and it’s very hard for restaurants. (Inflation) makes it hard on small businesses,” said Doane, who owns Click Canyon Digital Marketing.

Asked on Facebook to comment on what they’ve bought recently that’s more expensive, Radnor resident Amy Wishner said paint, while Frank Clayton of Hamilton Square, N.J. said wood. He spent $400 for seven cedar planks for his deck.

“Inflation is the cruelest tax as it hurts everyone, everywhere, every day,” said Guy Ciarrocchi, president of the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry and a Republican candidate for governor. “It’s been caused by very bad decisions—like stopping American energy production. It reduces the supply and forces us to import. That hurts us at the gas pump and heating our homes.

“Gov. Tom Wolf has made things worse by creating a workforce shortage, critics say. That also harms the supply chain and causes prices to go up—and gives consumers less selection. This government-caused problem must be fixed by government—now—so that private citizens can move on with our lives,” Ciarrocchi said.

Meanwhile, Nate Benefield, senior vice president at the Commonwealth Foundation, a free-market think tank, put the blame squarely on the federal government.

“The fact that inflation is at the highest level in decades should be no surprise to anyone,” said Benefield. “That’s what happens when the government prints more money to fund massive deficits. Voters are increasingly aware of the consequences of “free money”—higher prices, smaller packages, and shortages, all of which hurt low-income households the hardest. Policymakers—at the federal, state, and local levels—need to act now to rein in government spending to protect working families.”

But U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) rejected the often-made argument that federal spending leads to inflation during a Zoom press conference to tout the recently approved $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

“This bill, the infrastructure bill, will be an economic engine,” said Dean. “It will relieve inflationary status right now…As we do invest in infrastructure, the supply chain problems will be eased.”

Republican Christian Nascimento, who is running for Dean’s seat, thinks Dean’s stance runs against basic economics and real-life experience. “People are finding that stores are out of stock on goods, and what they do have is more expensive than ever.  When consumers spend more on everyday goods, they have less money to save for an emergency. That puts families in a precarious position and can keep people from rising to the middle class.

“The local businesses that I speak with every day are being forced to raise their own prices due to their cost of goods rising – and that’s assuming that they can find employees to help them remain open. All that the (Biden) administration and members of Congress have been able to do lament high gas prices and suggest that we lower our expectations and consider this a ‘new normal.’

“My fear is that all of the impending and proposed government spending will make this situation that much worse, and continue to increase prices in anticipation of a flood of spending, without a significant improvement in the supply chain,” Nascimento said.

And David Galluch, a Republican candidate for Congress in Delaware County, said, “Inflation is taking its toll on everyone. Last month we saw the largest jump in prices on a yearly basis, 6.2 percent, in over 30 years. People are paying more for food, more for gas, and more for daily essentials they can’t live without. Growing up with a single mom, who worked two jobs most of my childhood, I know first-hand how hard these price increases are on all of us.

“Unfortunately, this spike in inflation may very well climb due to President Biden’s intention to increase government spending further. If he and Congress continue on their current course, inflation will continue unabated and the Fed may eventually need to raise interest rates sharply to counteract inflationary pressure. At that point, we risk a recession, which would further compound the pain American families will feel,” Galluch said.

Jeff Bartos, a Montgomery County businessman who is running for the U.S. Senate, agreed the Biden administration is to blame.

“As a direct result of Joe Biden’s disastrous economic policies, inflation is running away to record highs and is impacting Pennsylvania families every day,” Bartos said. “From the grocery store to the gas pump, working families are feeling the devastating effects of the Biden administration’s inflation crisis. Whether you are running a small business or in charge of your family’s finances, your hard-earned dollars aren’t going as far, and the rising price of everyday necessities is impacting your life. Make no mistake, this is Joe Biden’s tax on Main Street businesses and working families.”

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In a newly-uncovered video, President Joe Biden’s nominee to help oversee the nation’s banking system says that if small U.S. oil and gas companies went bankrupt, that would be a good thing.

It’s a suggestion that in the current climate — gasoline prices soaring and some consumers looking at 50 percent hikes in energy costs this winter – may not be such a “good thing” for getting her nomination through a 50-50 Senate.

Saule Omarova, tapped by Biden to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, has been embroiled in controversy since her nomination was first announced. While she did hold a minor role in the George W. Bush Treasury Department, her economic resume is nontraditional at best.

While a student at Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia, not Moscow, Idaho) where she was a “V.I. Lenin Personal Academic Scholarship” recipient, Omarova wrote her thesis on “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital.” Now that she’s been nominated to one of the top financial positions in the administration, Republican senators like Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania moderate, want her to release a copy as part of the vetting process.

Thus far, she has refused.

“Republicans will overwhelmingly oppose this self-described radical,” Toomey said last month. Professor Omarova “has been celebrated on the far left for promoting ideas she herself has described as radical,” including advocating for “effectively end[ing] banking as we know it.”

Now a video of Omarova addressing the Jain Family Institute’s 2021 Social Wealth Seminar in March has raised new concerns.

“Here what I’m thinking about is primarily coal industry and oil and gas industry,” said Omarova in a video clip unearthed by American Accountability Foundation (AAF). “A lot of the smaller players in that industry are going to probably go bankrupt in short order — at least, we want them to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change.”

Omarova went on to say that “we cannot afford” the economic fallout and job losses that would ensue if the U.S. were to bankrupt oil companies. But given her progressive politics — she’s proposed having all private bank deposits go to the federal government in order to “democratize money” — her sentiments are hard for the energy sector to ignore.

“This is ludicrous,” says Dan Weaver, president and executive director of Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association, a membership organization with businesses large and small, some of them family-owned operations. “That idea is preposterous and sickening, to say the least.”

“This is a reminder that there are opponents of oil and gas who are in high positions or seeking high positions in the Biden administration,” says Dan Kish of the Institute for Energy Research (IEA) and American Energy Alliance (AEA). “I think people see that at the pump. They’ve seen reports that they’re going to pay more this winter.”

The timing of the new revelation is problematic for Biden and his Democratic allies. The White House has taken several high-profile actions to discourage domestic fossil fuel production, even as consumers have been hit with higher gasoline prices and warnings that home heating costs this winter will soar.

The Biden administration even asked OPEC to increase production to help people dealing with high gas and heating oil prices. OPEC declined, leading critics to say the administration should rethink its steps against domestic oil and gas production.

Locally, U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Valerie Arkoosh is calling for a statewide ban on fracking, despite the billions in economic impact from the industry.

“We’ve already seen Keystone XL pipeline workers lose their jobs, we’ve seen people’s businesses and their family budgets hurt by higher gas prices and ultimately that’s the game,” says Kish. “The game is to drive energy costs to skyrocketing levels and make it very difficult for people to use a kind of energy they use in the hopes that they’ll go and use the stuff that they want to use.

“Natural gas generation is leading to a cleaner atmosphere,” added Weaver, pointing to data from EIA. “The science is there, and if we were to ‘bankrupt’ all the oil and gas companies here, where is the energy coming from? What about the thousands of products that we use every day that don’t come from anything other than those feedstocks?”

The White House continues to back the troubled nomination. “Saule Omarova is eminently qualified and was nominated for this role because of her lifetime of work on financial regulation, including in the private sector, in government, and as a leading academic in the field. The White House continues to strongly support her historic nomination,” they said in a statement to Fox News.

And while Toomey has been an outspoken opponent, Pennsylvania’s other senator, Democrat Bob Casey, has been silent.

All things considered, Kish says it does not surprise him that somebody connected to the Biden administration feels this way about oil and gas.

“What surprises me is that she mistakingly said it publicly, or at least in a way that became public,” says Kish. “I don’t think she expected it to become public.”

Delaware Valley U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) called the newly-passed infrastructure bill “an economic engine” during a Democratic Zoom press conference touting the legislation.

Several Pennsylvania Democratic members of Congress joined the call Wednesday to take a victory lap over the passage of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Biden administration says it will bring more than $15 billion to Pennsylvania over five years.

Asked whether the bill, coupled with the pending $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, will add to what is already a 31-year high level of inflation—up 6.2 percent in the last year–the Democratic lawmakers insisted it would not.

Congresswoman Susan Wild (D-Lehigh/Northampton) said “responsible journalists” would not suggest these massive spending bills would “directly affect the current state of inflation.”

Dean agreed.

“I think a lot of what we’re doing here is actually going to curb inflation over the next few months…We’re going to see getting people back to work, getting our supply chains working…I hope nobody is going to tie the passage of these two bills to the current inflation rates because there is simply no relationship.”

President Joe Biden was careful to look at where the resources are coming from to pay for these bills, she said.

“I am mindful, and I want to acknowledge, my constituents asked me about their concerns about inflation, cost of goods, cost of gas, so that is real. But these two bills are not the problem. The problem is multi-faceted and it’s certainly deeply connected to COVID and an economic closure and then once you reopen an economy, how you rebound from that closure. These two bills are going to be extraordinary economic engines for our future.”

Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-Wayne/Pike/Lackawanna) said the last time there was a similar investment in American infrastructure was under President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s, when the interstate highway system was built. And he added “top economists” note that when companies produce more it will bring the prices down and this bill will “grease the skids” to allow them to do that.

“These inflationary pressures that we’re seeing, they all have to do with reopening our economy after COVID,” he said. “Obviously, the demand has outstripped the supply.” He also noted that Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, has tools “at his disposal” to put the brakes on it.

“We’re not particularly worried about inflation getting out of hand. We can control that,” said Cartwright.

In her remarks on the bill, Dean said her district is “an older ring suburb of Philadelphia which is crying out for this type of investment.”

The bill will bring $11 billion to roads and bridges to Pennsylvania: $100 million to broadband, 2.8 billion for public transportation, $355 million for airports, $240 million for weatherizing, and $1.4 billion for safe drinking water.

Congressman Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia) said the bill will bring money for improvements to public transportation and add more jobs.

“It is very beneficial,” said Evans. “SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) just settled a contract because of the American Rescue Act. And now the infrastructure…When you talk about SEPTA and what it means to the entire region…And all of us who are on this phone today all played key roles in making this happen, working with the president and vice president.”

“This is building on what we did before at the state level,” said Evans.

“It’s something everybody Democratic and Republican can be proud of,” said Dean.

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks), who was one of 13 Republicans who voted for the bill, was not on the Democrats’ virtual press conference. However, he released this statement: “This is a victory for not only the people of Pennsylvania but for the entire country. The federal government has created the crisis of deteriorating roads, defunct bridges, and vulnerable dams and levees through its inaction. These types of arteries are the lifeblood of American commerce and must be improved. America’s infrastructure has reached a breaking point, and this is a challenge we can no longer ignore.

“From the start, I have insisted on the passage of a hard infrastructure bill, delinked from any other partisan, social spending package. This bipartisan, physical infrastructure bill, which passed the Senate in August with strong Republican support, is entirely separate from the partisan reconciliation bill, which I oppose.

“The bipartisan infrastructure package is completely paid for, primarily by unspent COVID-19 relief funds, and will create a dedicated funding stream for our nation’s infrastructure network. I look forward to the President signing this landmark physical infrastructure legislation into law so that we can bring America’s infrastructure network into the 21st century, create jobs, and improve the health and safety of the American people,” Fitzpatrick said.

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Pennsylvania private businesses with 100 or more employees could face fines ranging from $13,653 up to $136,532 for violating the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate, officials said Thursday.

Nearly two months ago, President Joe Biden announced two mandates on American workers: Federal employees and contractors must get the COVID-19 vaccine or face punishments up to and including being fired; and large private businesses must require employees to either get vaccinated or undergo regular testing.

“We’ve been patient,” Biden said on September 9, “but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us.”

In the weeks that followed, American businesses anxiously awaited the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue its emergency temporary standard (ETS) forcing businesses to comply. On Thursday, the regulatory shoe finally dropped.

“The ETS requires covered employers to develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, with an exception for employers that instead establish, implement, and enforce a policy allowing employees who are not fully vaccinated to elect to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at the workplace,” the order reads. The implementation has been delayed until January 4, 2022.

OSHA will conduct onsite workplace inspections in an attempt to enforce compliance.

The Biden administration recently released rules surrounding its small business vaccine mandate, which would hit small businesses with fines from $13,653 to $136,532, if found in violation of the vaccine rules. Businesses with 100 or more employees have until Jan. 4 to comply.

Chris Gustason, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association,  said Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration have embraced and praised Biden’s “job-killing mandate,” meaning huge fines are on the horizon for small businesses across Pennsylvania, he said.

Also, Attorney General Josh Shapiro helped Wolf shut down small businesses and stood by the governor’s COVID policies, Gustason said. Shapiro, a Democrat is running for governor.

“After forcing countless Pennsylvania small businesses to shutter, leading to a 6.2 percent unemployment rate, you’d think Tom Wolf would have changed course, but apparently his war on small businesses is just getting started,” said Gustafson. “By adopting Joe Biden’s federal vaccine overreach, Wolf is all but ensuring Pennsylvania’s lackluster economic recovery will only get worse.”

Republican candidate for governor, Lou Barletta, a former congressman and mayor, called the policy unconstitutional.

“Joe Biden doesn’t have the authority to impose this unconstitutional mandate on people requiring them to inject something into their bodies against their will or face unemployment. Biden’s failed policies have already crushed the economic recovery that was underway when he took office, and this mandate will make things even worse. Further, while he claims to ‘follow the science,’ his mandate fails to recognize the natural immunity of people who have already recovered from COVID, which studies show is just as effective as, or stronger than, the vaccine.

“People should get vaccinated if that is their personal choice,” said Barletta. “But the government has no business ordering people to do it. Josh Shapiro no doubt supports this unlawful exertion of federal power, proving that he is even more unqualified to be governor of Pennsylvania than we previously thought.”

And Elizabeth Stelle, director of policy analysis at the free-market Commonwealth Foundation, said, “In a time when workers are choosing to leave their jobs and there are ongoing supply chain shortages, the last thing our economy needs is another mandate that makes it more difficult to hire. The key to jumpstarting Pennsylvania’s economy is changing the way we regulate and tax small businesses.”

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