It's All About The Oil

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Russia Is Getting Richer Off Oil Sales

Remember when the United States and the western powers were going to hold Russia accountable for it's unjust invasion of Ukraine? Remember how fiercely Joe Biden and the White House spoke on the subject? Well, here we are half a year later and Russia is making more money than ever, selling its oil on the global market, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sales are booming in Russia’s export market, the world’s largest in crude and refined fuels. And new trade arrangements have given Mr. Putin cover to use natural-gas exports as an economic weapon against Ukraine’s European allies. Before the war, Russia supplied Europe with 40% of its gas. It has since throttled flows through the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany and other conduits, driving prices higher and putting pressure on European households and businesses.
Oil revenue more than makes up the difference. “Russia is swimming in cash,” said Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the Institute of International Finance. Moscow earned $97 billion from oil and gas sales through July this year, about $74 billion of that from oil, she said.
The country exported 7.4 million barrels of crude and products such as diesel and gasoline each day in July, according to the International Energy Agency, down only about 600,000 barrels a day since the start of the year.

That's some really stellar accountability.

But Louisiana Wins In Domestic Oil & Gas Fight

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Jeff Landry and a handful of other state AGs won a big fight in court against the Biden administration and its moratorium on oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Landry, of course, took a (well-deserved) victory lap.

“I am pleased the Court recognized that the President stepped outside his authority,” said Attorney General Landry who led the multi-state lawsuit. “Biden’s energy policies have crushed American families with higher energy bills for their homes and vehicles.”
Agreeing with Attorney General Landry, Judge Doughty ruled that Biden’s policy violated the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). President Biden’s order, the judge wrote, was “beyond the authority of the President of the United States”: “Even the President cannot make significant changes to the OCSLA and/or the MLA that Congress did not delegate.”
“We will continue to ensure that American energy policy is crafted by the Legislative Branch, not the Judiciary or Executive,” added Attorney General Landry. “We must keep fighting and winning to bring relief to American consumers.”

Scott McKay at The Hayride has more.

The Crime Wave Continues

As crime continues to be a problem across the country, but especially in larger urban areas, it's getting harder to ignore the impact that soft-on-crime rhetoric has had on public safety. According to NPR, homicides haven't gone back down to pre-pandemic levels.

When the U.S. homicide rate jumped nearly 30% in 2020, experts hoped it was a temporary blip — a fleeting symptom of pandemic pressures and civil unrest.
"I lost a couple of people around that time, due to gun violence," says LaMaria Pope, who works for a youth outreach program in the Seattle area called "Choose 180."
Three summers later, she says that violence persists, and young people are more likely to be armed with a gun.
"Sixteen, and 17, 18 and up — they only feel safe if they have one. It's becoming a jacket — they can't leave the house without one," she says.

There is a reason that a new poll out of Georgia has Herschel Walker up 9 points among suburban voters. That is exceedingly bad news for Democrats.

Headlines Of The Day

Cantrell Recall Collects Thousands of New Orleans Signatures Over The Weekend (KPEL)
Republicans Want Communications Between Facebook and FBI Turned Over After Hunter Laptop Story (RedState)
DOJ to file lengthy response to Trump's request for a special master to oversee Mar-a-Lago search review (CNN)
Top FBI agent resigns amid claims he shielded Hunter Biden from probe (New York Post)
'There’s enormous frustration’: Trump forces Republicans off-script… again (Politico)

Tweet Of The Day