The average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded is now about $4.50 – so up about 30 cents per gallon since the last War Tax Report, which was published on April 28 – about one week ago. That means the meme I’d been using with Was Tax Reports up to now is out of date. It shows an Exxon sign indicting regular unleaded for sale at $4.49 – with Trump’s face and “America’s Back” on a billboard behind it.
What’s “back” is 2008. The last time the economy cratered on account of (among other things) catastrophically high gas prices.
What was exaggerated and even hyperbolic just a couple of months ago is now factual. 
In just four months, the cost of gas has gone up by about $1.70 per gallon, which means that it now costs just shy of $70 to fill up a typical crossover’s roughly 15 gallon tank – as opposed to about $42 in December of 2025, when the average cost of regular unleaded was $2.80 per gallon. The average crossover thus now costs about $30 more to fill up than it did a little more than four months ago. Put another way, it now costs almost as much extra to fill that crossover up than it cost to fill it up just four months ago.
What will happen when it costs twice as much to fill up – for everyone?
That point will be reached about one dollar and fifty cents from today – when the cost of gasoline hits $6 per gallon. Then everyone’s fuel costs will have at least doubled. It will amount to a war tax for the average crossover owner of about $45 per tankful extra, or about $2,160 annually, assuming four fill-ups per month. It will be the largest – and fastest – single tax hike at the federal level in decades, if ever.
And it will be catastrophic – for everyone except, of course, Donald Trump. 
After all, what does he care? He has literally said he doesn’t, to begin with. He says it is “worth it,” too. To him. Meaning, it is worth it in the context of whatever the real agenda is. Some think that agenda has to do with furthering the Greater Israel project and there is almost certainly truth in that evaluation. It is obvious that the state of Israel – specifically, the non-Semite whose grandfather changed the family name to “Netanyahu,” which renders that which is Eastern European into something vaguely Semitic-sounding, wanted this war.
It is something along the lines of the changing one’s name from say Frizzell Gray to Kweise Mfume, to conjure an “African” patina. In his defense, Mfume is at least actually descended from black Africans. “Netanyahu” is descended from Eastern Europeans – people with no ancestral ties to the land they claim as theirs by divine right. 
In any event, “Netanyahu” and the immensely powerful interests behind him wanted war and they bought (or blackmailed) Trump to deliver it. The Epstein Business is now very much off most people’s radar – because as awful as all of that is, people are focused on the awfulness at the pump. It tends to refocus one’s attention.
Some – the people who believe in a different “plan” – think it is all part of Trump’s 55D chess maneuverings that have as their end goal the shoring up of the American empire via the crippling of the rising Chinese (and BRICs, generally) empires. They say what is going on in the Middle East is the next move after the Venezuela move of a few months ago, which aimed to seize control of the oil that the Chinese were depending on to fuel their growing empire. By cutting off the supply from Iran, the argument goes, Trump is masterfully securing America’s near-and-long-term hegemony.
How that works is hard to understand since the effect of all of this is something along the lines of Remdesivir on “COVID” patients. It is difficult to see how America – more finely, Americans – benefit from having to pay twice as much for fuel on top of how much more they’re already paying for just about everything else, too. Probably, we are now very close to a tipping point – the point at which it is no longer that people are merely grumbling about having to pay more for fuel but are unable to pay for it anymore. At $6 per gallon, the owner of a pick-up or SUV that has a 23 gallon tank will be spending close to $140 to fuel up.
The war tax, for this person, will be about $3,313 annually. 
What if the “plan” – not the one trusted by the Red Hats – is to usher in the Great Reset they thought they were Voting Harder to kibosh? It sure appears to be the “plan,” doesn’t it? If you go by effects – as opposed to rhetoric – that is.
The Great Reset assumes – it requires – general impoverishment; the enserfment of working and middle-income Americans – the very cohort that comprises Trump’s Vote Harder support base. So long as working and middle income Americans can afford things like trucks and SUVs and single family homes and food, there can be no Great Reset. When all of those things are taken away, many of them will beg for the Great Reset. They will forget all about the truck and SUV and their single family home. Lack of food will do that.
And $6 per gallon (and $10 per gallon diesel) will do just that.
Cue up that odious Lee Greenwood song.
. . .
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But how many people NEED these big ass, gas guzzling SUVs though? How many of them could make do with a Toyota Camry instead? How many could better use a new one, which is hybrid only and gets 50 mpg? Then, even $10/gallon gas wouldn’t matter! Ah, but when you’re getting 10-15 mpg, $4/gallon will hurt plenty, let alone $6/gallan and more.
Trump is full deep state now. This war makes the cronies in the military industrial complex and big oil lots of money. And that’s what it is about, plundering the american people.
Morning,Brent!
I recognize now that he always was. Like all too many of us, I set aside the facts – what he did during 2020 especially – and let myself believe that, maybe, he wasn’t actually evil but rather just a bumbling fool who’d learned his lesson. Now I have learned my lesson.
Bad news – Israel just gave goy stooge Trump new orders:
https://citizenwatchreport.com/israel-just-told-washington-to-bomb-irans-energy-infrastructure-into-total-destruction-in-24-hours/
In related news: Ben Shapiro called on President Trump to deliberately crash the global economy and send oil prices skyrocketing by launching a ground invasion of Iran, arguing that America must do whatever it takes — including causing economic collapse — to secure Israel’s regional dominance.
source: https://thepeoplesvoice.tv/ben-shapiro-says-trump-should-sabotage-u-s-economy-crash-global-economy-israeli-victory/
PS Ben Shapiro, along with Mark Levin and Laura Loomer are the three Jew intelligence agents steering Trump and the USA into hell for Israel. All 3 should be arrested and executed for treason, along with Trump, of course.
Where did the Jew touch you? Was it in the naughty no-no place? Your situation? Nevermind that because it’s gonna be alright, you just buck up you. I am now telepathically sending you candies – bambas, bisslis, krembos, milkys and a kippah full of shuk candies. You got this!
Hi Max,
Yes, but can you give me an example of a lobbying apparatus comparable to AIPAC in terms of its influence over American legislators? Why is it that almost all American lawmakers are obviously afraid to say anything negative about anything the state of Israel does?
According to Brian Berletic of The New Atlas, if you add up all of the lobbying $ from all sectors (auto, MIC, finance, big oil, big ag, etc) and compare it to AIPAC lobbying, the latter is not a drop in a bucket, but a drop in an ocean. I haven’t added it up myself because I’m lazy.
Those lawmakers ought to be afraid to criticize the most successful proxy of the U.S. empire.
Hi Max,
Yes, but it;’s not the amount – in the aggregate – but the specific influence. No other lobby is as powerful as the Israeli lobby. Is it even a debatable point? Have any laws been proposed to criminalize, say, “big oil”?
Hey Eric, thanks for the response.
I was just coming back to say that adding up all of the lobbying $ is only an academic exercise, since nobody would claim that a tiny made-up country in the ME (which is dependent on constant flows of U.S. cash, weapons, logistical support) has more to give to politicians than our “bigs”. As for “influence” that is subjective and I don’t know what to say to it, but that just as with our fake punching bag politicians, having a tiny made-up country to take the fall for what you’re actually doing is a political no-brainer, and it is spelled out in Ch.5 of the 2009 Brookings paper “Which Path to Persia?”
Big Satan > Little Satan
Sure thing, Max!
The amount of “pro-Israel” money is enormous, especially proportionately. You have individual donors such as Miriam Adelson who have funded politicians such as Trump to the tune of $100 million dollars. She is by no means a unique example. And it goes far beyond just the money. Most American politicians are obsequiously, sometimes hysterically defensive of Israel. I know of no other country that is treated with such reverence – and fear. I understand that part of this stems from evangelical Christianity and its adherence to End Times eschatology. But it goes beyond this. People – most people – are terrified of saying anything critical about anything the Israelis do. Why? Because they are terrified of being accused of “anti-Semitism.” But it is not just that. The charge carries a very real threat of consequences. It is understood that to criticize the Israelis is to risk career suicide. Who has such power? The Israelis do.
‘Since 2022, AIPAC has spent more than $221 million through its traditional PAC and its super PAC, according to Federal Election Commission filings between December 2021 and January 2026.’ — AP
https://tinyurl.com/4mbde8d7
Show me another PAC that spent this much. You don’t get to just make shit up. I deal in stone cold facts. You deal in hasbara.
It’s not the money they’ve spent. It’s how it was spent that matters.
Top shelf Liquor, drugs, broads, video monitoring, high end destinations with ultra exclusive glory holes, and of course, the ever present availability of children, or whatever sick shit is needed to cement a lifetime relationship with said politicians, and influencers.
Friendly reminder, we must remove Trump ASAP before he makes his next stupid move, Trump is literally taking the world to hell for his Judaic masters.
IMO assassinating Trump ASAP is what responsible people do at this point.
Paid fucking 5.50 for premium regular was 4.39 every time I go buy it seems to have went up again looking for a second car that’s better on gas but everything is 3x what it’s worth welcome to America today.
I’m not for subsidizing anything but government will and does it always so why not do it for gas to take price down some but I feel this is all to take out what is left of the people who have anything.
How does one know that the lede photo is AI slop?
Because profoundly stupid AI doesn’t grok that the customary fractional unit for gasoline retailers is nine-tenths, not nine-ninths.
4-10, good buddies! /sarc
On the other hand, Trump’s being stupid enough to think that an electronic 7-segment display needs to be changed manually lends some legitimacy to the image.
Here’s the deal about how Trump operates. Trump is a con artist. He says shit so you will like him. For instance he said he was going to give out tariff rebates, but never did, and when pressed this week, he said he didn’t remember promising them.
One thing Trump does consistently is never admit he lied, did something wrong, made a mistake, lost money. Trump is always winning even if he is losing everything – or you are losing everything.
So Trump is always saying shit to get accolades for himself – with no intention of following through. I believe Eric covered some of these small car promises.
A big one was to rid the nation of illegals. Everyone wanted that, that is why they voted for him, but he didn’t follow through, he did ICE gestapo and not the obvious way to rid the nation of illegals – cut all their funding, no health care, make it illegal to feed them.
What I learned about Trump is that his campaign promises were intentional lies. He said shit that people wanted to hear. Like a carnival barker, big on promises, short on delivery.
I will be glad when that POS is gone.
How could he have cut the funding for illegals? He tried, remember? Then the courts shut him down. Unlike a Donkey or most of the Elephants, he complied with the court ruling.
I hate the fact he was not able to keep his promises, but at least I acknowledge who it was who prevented it.
Yeah, I heard that. Not following the story closely, but here in SW Oregon we are surrounded by literally hoardes of illegals who can not speak english. Amerika is the only nation you can walk into and get free everything. It has to stop.
The head of ICE, Greg Bovino, dropped a bombshell last week, he said the real number is 100 million illegals, he estimates 100 Million Undocumented Immigrants in U.S.
Right. So how do we move forward? Do we just do the tyrant thing and ignore the tyrants in the courts?
I saw the 100 million thing. Good Lord, imagine it. 20% of the housing stock being occupied by illegals? At least 20 years worth of homebuilding? That would absolutely crash the housing market, which would be good for pretty much everyone except those whose only savings are their homes.
With Mass Deportations, of course! Haven’t you been watching the news? Just google: “MASS DEPORTATIONS”
5.8.26 “We had a historic illegal immigration crisis for four years. So what’s required now? A historic mass deportation,” Homan said in an interview Tuesday with CBS News on the sidelines of the Border Security Forum conference in Phoenix. In another appearance at the conference, the border czar said he spoke with Mullin about their strategy for the next couple of months, telling the audience that critics were just “keyboard warriors” who “don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“You ain’t seen shit yet,” Homan said. “Mass deportations are coming.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/08/trump-immigration-mass-deportations-criticism-00910678
From your lips to God’s ears.
God forbid, Steve –you know the trope about the Nazi Holocaust: NEVER AGAIN!
Hitler wasn’t averse to sending the Jews to Palestine or any other country that would take them after he had confiscated most of their assets. But no country wanted them. There was an idea to
“resettle” them in the East (like Israel wants to do with the Gazans who are currently suffering rat infestation in their tents and garbage now that Israel has destroyed their country–ready made for the hantavirus). I don’t know if some actually were not resettled there. Most it seems ended up in detention centers and died of exposure, starvation and disease (typhus rat infestation). The same thing is happening now in U.S.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/05/08/trump-immigration-voluntary-removal-ice-detention/
AI: “Deportees are being sent to third countries—nations other than their home country—primarily to bypass countries that refuse to accept return flights, such as Venezuela, and to deter future migration through a strategy of “outsourced” detention. This strategy aims to speed up mass removals, especially when returning individuals home is deemed impractical. Destinations: While many are sent to Mexico, others are sent to countries like El Salvador, South Sudan or Rwanda, sometimes with no prior connection to the deportee.
IRAP. “Trump Administration’s Third Country Removals Put Migrants in Harm’s Way…Initially, the Trump administration purported to be abiding by its obligations under the Convention Against Torture by obtaining surface-level “assurances” from countries that no harm would come to individuals whom the United States removed there. In March 2025, DHS issued guidance stating that removing someone to a country that had not given such “assurances” would require further advanced notice – though the proposed process was still highly flawed and insufficient.
“However, more recently, the Trump administration has given up even this facade of concern. An internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo from July 2025 reportedly stated that individuals can be removed within 24 hours even to a country that has offered no “assurances” of safety. The government compounds this extremely short timeframe further: in some instances, not providing any notice whatsoever, and adding further restrictions like precluding retained counsel from raising fear claims on their clients’ behalf.”
How long before USG just starts killing them, PLUS any leftist, marxist, enemy of the Trump/Biden administration that they decide to throw in with the 100 MILLION (according to SS Gestapo Bovino on what evidence?)? Who would care? Same way Ben Gvir/Israel is going to start hanging the Palestinian ‘terrorists.’ They’ve broken the law–why not? Trump has set the stage blowing up people on the high seas. He is a pirate not subject to any law but his own morality.
Well said Jack. Plus, he’s just lazy and has no patience for legislating. Hence the endless amount of EO’s which are meaningless. Not that he cares at all about the issues anyway. I just hope that his idiocy hasn’t completely tarnished some of the ideas he campaigned on.
The Amerikan people are still 100% MAGA because this is an existential crisis, we have no choice but to fight for our right to exist. Trump, on the other hand, is a slimy piece of shit who lied to the MAGA base to get elected.
https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/component/content/article/eight-weeks-to-empty-shelves-sixty-days-to-famine-what-caused-it-and-what-you-need-to-do-immediately?catid=17&Itemid=101
‘On May 4 … Trump tweeted a montage of himself holding UNO game cards with the text proudly proclaiming that he has “all the cards.” The picture is a perfect example of the mental inabilities of the current White House inhabitant and his staff. UNO is a shedding game:
“Players start with a hand of cards, and the object of the game is to be the first player to discard all cards from one’s hand.”
‘Trump may well have all the cards. But the winner of the game is the first player who has none. Those still holding UNO cards are losers.‘
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/05/war-on-iran-destroyer-battle-iran-can-sustain-losers-hold-cards.html
Stupid idiot can’t even get a freaking meme right. Off with his head.
Consider the possibility that he purposely got it wrong to create a specific impression. Believe it or not, our intelligence agencies are big on memes. And ever since I learned that fact, I could no longer stomach them – my apologies to Ann Barnhardt of barnhardtmemes.com, but I can’t stomach hers anymore either.
Interesting. I, too, roll my eyes at a lot of her memes.
I still support her through her .biz page, but I often wonder whether I’m doing the right thing, based on her meme page.
Thanks for the tip. Those are some great memes.
‘”Netanyahu” wanted war.’ — eric
And the Orange Flake peremptorily declared that Iran can never have nuclear weapons, though belligerent little Shitrahell has had them for five decades. Absurdly, the US feigns ignorance of Israel’s illicit nukes, since US law prohibits military aid to nuclear proliferators. But this silly game of pretend just ended. Email to muh Senators today:
‘On May 4, thirty Democratic House members wrote to Secretary Marco Rubio, demanding answers to eleven questions starting with, “What nuclear capability does Israel have?” Here is their letter:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/35bfe5a0-d479-4d5e-987b-68c3f05c6e03.pdf
‘This is a watershed moment. Five decades of nuclear ambiguity by successive presidential administrations have served three purposes: 1. To lie to the American people; 2. To mislead Congress; 3. To circumvent the Symington amendment, prohibiting military aid to nuclear proliferators.
‘For the US to make war against Iran for the ostensible purpose of securing a nuclear-free middle east, when its so-called ally Israel has illegally possessed nuclear weapons and launchers for decades, is no longer a tenable stance. It is an embarrassment. Moreover, it is a crime.
‘Please urge your colleagues, Chairman James Risch and Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen of the Foreign Relations Committee, to demand Secretary Rubio’s full and truthful testimony as to Israel’s nuclear capabilities. The long-running conspiracy to conceal Israel’s nuclear proliferation is over. Now the Senate can turn the page on a new era of full disclosure and compliance with the law.’
____________
Israel is our misfortune.
Jim, did you know it is illegal to give Israel one dime?
https://www.whatreallyhappened.com/NEW/sites/default/files/inline-images/dimona_1.jpg
In 1982, US Secretary of State General Alexander Hague said, “Israel is the largest American aircraft carrier in the world that cannot be sunk, does not carry even one American soldier, and is located in a critical region for American national security.”
https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2024/01/us-aid-to-israel-unsinkable-aircraft.html
The U.S. sees Israel as a critical “strategic ally” in the Middle East. During his recent meeting with Herzog, President Joe Biden repeated a line he famously said in 1986: “If there were not an Israel, we’d have to invent one.”
https://theconversation.com/biden-says-the-u-s-would-have-to-invent-an-israel-if-it-didnt-exist-why-210172
Does anybody else notice that a destabilizing and destructive force in the middle east benefits the American Empire more than anyone else?
In Ch. 5 of the “Which Path To Persia” white paper from the Brookings Institution, titled “Leave it to Bibi” it is clearly stated that a first strike from Israel on Iran can be advantageous since it directs the brunt of public outcry and physical retaliation upon Israel.
So there you go, Israel gets thrown under the bus and America smells like roses!
Why does everyone here think that tails wag dogs, and when do I get my hasbara pay that the wits here have assured me is due?
Nothing good has ever emerged from the relationship.
Indeed, Jim –
Since I am not religious, I am unpersuaded by the religious claims made by some that Israel is something “special.” In a way, of course, it is very special – but just not in the way meant by some religious people. I regard Israel as a state founded by Zionists and I regard Zionism as a destructive, alien ideology. As Riddick said, I’m not with these people. They can take their Bronze Age derangement and leave me out of it. Of course, there’s the rub. Their Bronze Age derangement requires them to not leave us out of it.
The ‘Spanberger’ entity loses big in Virginia’s Supreme Court:
‘The Supreme Court of Virginia has denied a request from Democrats and state officials to lift a lower-court order blocking certification of the April 21 redistricting referendum, leaving a voter-approved congressional map that could flip four Republican U.S. House seats in legal limbo just months before the 2026 midterm elections.
‘On Friday, the Supreme Court of Virginia denied an emergency request from Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones to allow the State Board of Elections to certify the results of the April 21 special referendum. The move keeps in place a Tazewell County Circuit Court ruling that halted any state action on the map, which Democrats designed to flip up to four Republican-held U.S. House seats and create a 10-1 Democratic advantage in Virginia’s 11-member delegation.
‘The move comes as the Supreme Court continues to review whether Democratic lawmakers followed proper constitutional procedures when they placed the mid-decade redistricting amendment on the ballot.’
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/virginia-supreme-court-blocks-democrats-voter-approved-congressional-map-midterms
Reportedly, the ballot included words about ‘fairness.’ That’s a judgement for voters to make, not an objective description. But being nanny-staters with an ideological agenda, Demonrats just couldn’t resist editorializing. Now court smacked them down. 🙂
Indeed, Jim –
We get a breather; the noose is a little looser… for now.
I just bought myself $60 of ethanol free gasoline at $5.27/gallon. As usual, I pay ~ $1/gallon more than the people who choose corn.
The oil companies are having their most profitable period ever right now, which is much more important than whatever the American public’s feelings are.
Brian Berletic just posted a new one from his homestead in Thailand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a5jVp0LkI4
Yes! Exactly! Why is gas $4.50 and rising, when oil has been stable or declining? The Biden Thing might have gone after “gouging” which any libertarian worth his salt recognizes as a scam, but 47 has not. Why not thank your lucky stars that the Feds have not been interfering in the free market?
That means the meme I’d been using with Was Tax Reports up to now is out of date. It shows an Exxon sign indicting regular unleaded for sale at $4.49 – with Trump’s face and “America’s Back” on a billboard behind it.
You didn’t have to AI something that unrealistic. Not yet, anyway. You could have used the real image you used back in 2022 with Biden’s mug on it with gas over $5. Change out Biden for Trump, obviously. But that would have suggested you aren’t completely in the tank.
Right, Steve –
I’m “completely in the tank” for pointing out that the meme of gas prices just shy of $4.50 is now the actual price. And that it has gone up 30 cents in one week and more than $1.70 since December, 2025. But you – like Trump – warble about Biden. “Sleepy Joe” was even worse! It’s like the Talmudists defending slavery in the OT because it was better (for the slaves) than killing them outright!
You’re not in a good place. Defending the indefensible, I mean. I hope gas isn’t $5 per gallon. by next week – but it may well be. And if it is, will you still say I am “in the tank”?
I’m not really defending it, just saying we’ve seen much worse. Particularly if you do like someone further down did, and price gas in gold. BidenGas would be, what, $15, $20?
The main problem with being a doomer is you lose out on so many opportunities. I know. I used to be a doomer, back during the Chimp. It blinded me to what could be available to me. Realizing, for instance, that I could use an on-line broker to play oil futures. A standard commission is $0.65 per $1000. Dirt cheap, and you could have had 30% gains over a matter of days if you weren’t so pessimistic. Personally, I’ve been making about 15% per week. Vastly better than I’ve ever made working for a living.
Seriously, look at what you could have had. This last few weeks has been the best opportunity in recent years, and maybe the best opportunity ever. Definitely better than boomers ever had with housing.
What a brilliant idea! People who are struggling to pay for their food, rent, gas, and other expenses and have no experience playing the stock market, can just invest their non existent savings in stock market futures! People in Iran and the gulf states who are being bombed and having their infrastructure blown up can take comfort knowing that you are making good money in the stock market. Let them eat cake!
Why does anyone with an income have non-existent savings? Seriously. If you had a mere $20 to spare, you could have doubled it a couple times over the last 3 weeks. I mean, $80 wouldn’t have left you fantastically weatlthy, but compare to what you had?
Or is that the point? You have no income, and are suckling off the teat of the taxpayer?
Steve, AI disagrees with you (so does Charles Schwab): “While roughly 167 million American adults (62% of the population) invest in the stock market, only a fraction can realistically afford to “short” oil to capitalize on the war with Iran. Shorting is a high-risk strategy that requires specific financial qualifications and significant liquid capital.
“Barriers to Shorting OilMargin Account Requirements: Most brokers require a margin account with a minimum equity balance (often $2,000 or more) to enable short selling. Shorting via futures often requires an “initial margin” deposit of 2% to 12% of the contract’s total value.High Capital Outlay: Shorting a single standard crude oil futures contract, which has a notional value of roughly $100,000, can require $24,000 in cash upfront.Net Worth & Income
“Restrictions: Direct investment in certain oil and gas working interests or private placements often requires “Accredited Investor” status. This means having:$1 million net worth (excluding primary residence), OR$200,000 annual income ($300,000 joint) for the past two years.
“Who Can Actually Do It?The Top 10%: Wealth distribution in the U.S. is highly skewed; the top 10% of households own 87% of all stocks. This group has the necessary liquidity to meet margin calls and absorb the infinite risk associated with short selling (where losses can exceed the initial investment if oil prices continue to skyrocket).
“The Bottom 50%: Conversely, the bottom 50% of Americans own just 1% of stocks. For these individuals, the war’s primary impact is financial strain at the pump, with national gas prices reaching $4.30 – $5.00 per gallon.”
That is absurd. True, only a small number of people will be able to short the market, but that’s largely because only a small number are even trying. Y’all are smart enough that you’ve been able to recognize the fact that oil futures are likely to be impacted by Hormuz, but evidently, none of y’all are smart enough to use that knowledge.
Fidelity, for example has no minimum stake. Within minutes you could set up an account and short the market, though most likely, you would have to have enough in your account to cover the expected loss. Robinhood is amazing, particularly for those with a small stake. E*Trade even offers commission-free options trades if you are small time.
Why trust “AI” when you could look it up?
https://www.bestmoney.com/investments/compare-stock-brokers?utm_source=brave&utm_campaign=4aa78153-51b6-4894-b41b-307435bdcef9&groupid=f8f66513-24ab-4bae-87f2-59761c216068&c=9893529b-2630-4a26-b217-d73e0290a26b&campaignid=4aa78153-51b6-4894-b41b-307435bdcef9&customizer.year=2026
Hi Steve,
This business of “shorting” things strikes me as predatory, nihilistic and destructive. Yes, I understand it is how one can make money these days. But it makes me sick.
Steve, Trump promised to help middle class Americans if they would vote for him. But just like his 1st term, Trump and his anti-Christ get rich off the taxpayer thru gov’t grift, tariffs, and stock manipulation cronies are sucking their last drop of blood.
This poll was published B4 the Iran fiasco:
12.5.25 “New poll paints a grim picture of a nation under financial strain. Rising costs are crushing Americans — and they’re running out of room to adjust. Americans are struggling with affordability pressures that are squeezing everything from their everyday necessities to their biggest-ticket expenses.
Nearly half of Americans said they find groceries, utility bills, health care, housing and transportation difficult to afford, according to The POLITICO Poll conducted last month by Public First. The results paint a grim portrait of spending constraints: More than a quarter, 27 percent, said they have skipped a medical check-up because of costs within the last two years, and 23 percent said they have skipped a prescription dose for the same reason. The strain is also reshaping how Americans spend their free time. More than a third — 37 percent — said they could not afford to attend a professional sports event with their family or friends, and almost half — 46 percent — said they could not pay for a vacation that involves air travel…Half of those surveyed said they find it difficult to pay for food.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/10/poll-affordability-cost-of-living-00678076
This CNBC article was published 6 days into the War: 3.6.26 “‘E-shaped’ economy is replacing a K-shaped one in 2026, economist says: The middle class is ‘spending in a nervous way’ now. middle class Americans is where you start to see signs of the affordability crisis, Long says. They’re still spending on their necessities and some discretionary categories, but “the middle class is treading water so they can still pay their bills,” she says.
“Long calls this tier the “Costco economy,” referencing consumers who aren’t necessarily in a full-blown panic yet, but are increasingly shopping at discount and wholesale retailers like Costco and Walmart to get the most bang for their buck.
“They’re obviously spending in a nervous way,” she says, “They feel they need to stretch every dollar they feel they need to buy in bulk, to do whatever they can [to save].”
“Regardless of where they’re shopping, a growing number of American households are living paycheck to paycheck. Nearly 24% of households had expenses eating up the bulk of their earnings in 2025, according to data from Bank of America Institute published on Nov. 10. The bank’s report defines “paycheck to paycheck” as having costs for essentials like housing, groceries, utilities, gas, child care and more that exceed 95% of income.
“The share of paycheck-to-paycheck households has been on the rise since at least 2023, the bank’s researchers found.
“Middle-class households may be getting by for now, but Long says they’re experiencing stress in waves. “Not only are they facing high prices, but it’s every couple of months, something else surges,” she says. Eggs, for example aren’t nearly as expensive in 2026 as they were in 2025, but in January, beef prices were up 22% from the previous year, per the Labor Department.
“It’s just whack-a-mole inflation,” says Long.”
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Job security/employment outlook/”career ladder” for both blue and white collar Americans was bad with AI, but with the war it is worse. Like Louis XIV/”Sun King,” Trump and his billionaire cronies deserve the guillotine. Probably their grandchildren will get it.
I think it’s a level of expectation. 27% have skipped a medical exam? BFD. I haven’t been to the doctor in over 20 years.
37% can’t afford to go to a sporting event? About 40 years.
Child care? Why bother getting married if you don’t intend to have one or the other stay home? Preferably to homeschool?
Groceries? Like I said earlier, get rid of a third of the population, most of whom are suckling at society’s teat and groceries get “affordable” fast.
Why don’t they stay home, eat cake and short the stock market, huh, Steve? Trump could have talked like you B4 the election, but then he wouldn’t be trashing the country with his corrupt anti-Christ cronies. Here’s another IDF ‘soldier’ making a virgin mary statue smoke a cigarette — this is why Americans need a $1.5 TRILLION defense budget, have to pay $2 more for gas, $20 more for food, $100 more for a/c so Israel can destroy and deface other people’s property and commit genocide in Gaza and Lebanon! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYFNirzoCuZ/
Stay home, eat cake, short the stock market? Well, the first two have been the go-to like forever. I have no idea why you think people have some right to enjoying clubbing.
Eat cake? Not for me. I’ve had to switch to keto.
The rest, I have no idea what you are talking about, and, obviously, neither do you. You evidently have no idea that Lebanon, a formerly Christian country, wants Shia Hezbollah out?
Israel wants Shia out — even reported in the NYT that Israel is ‘ethnically cleansing” S. Lebanon of Shia (going to Christian and Druze communities telling them they can stay if they expel Shia from their villages), but it’s ok because for a “security buffer.”
3.28.26 “How can we as Christians in this area not be with Hezbollah? They protect our churches,” Rifaat Nasrallah, a 60-year-old quarryman from the village, told the Telegraph. “They helped us fight IS. During Covid they gave us free care in their hospitals. When there was no electricity, they gave us generators. How can we not be with them now?”
The relationship between Ras Baalbek’s Christians and Hezbollah runs so deep that the group provides villagers with a Christmas tree annually.
Mr Nasrallah proudly hangs a crucifix in his home alongside a devotional image of Hassan Nasrallah (no relation), the Hezbollah secretary general killed in 2024. …”The relationship between the village and Hezbollah is stronger than with the Pope.
“The Vatican did nothing for us when Isis attacked, but Hezbollah spilt their blood to protect us. The Pope only has prayers.”
https://www.gbnews.com/news/christians-hezbollah-lebanon-christians-alliance-isis-israel
PS You never have any idea what anyone is talking about after you began the whole thing by advising Trump voters to stop throwing lemons and short oil instead. You’ll be saying the same thing as they lead you to the scaffold.
Me thinks not. Anyone with a brokerage account can easily buy calls, or puts on the USO, oil ETF. Doesn’t exactly track the spot price, but mostly moves in tandem.
Downside fully limited to the contract price, still might take a few hundred bucks, but 10-20X upside if you get the direction right on the front end of your timeline, if not your loss is limited, as contract expires worthless. Not sayin its for everyone, but its not just for the wealthy.
Steve,
I have some savings. I also have no interest in gambling with my savings. On the got-damed stock market. The whol point of saving is just that. To save. I want my savings to be just that – savings. As in, money set aside for a rainy day that isn’t bled of value by greasy shysterism. That scumbag Hamilton was in favor of the latter. He wanted everyone constantly wheedling – not saving. He wanted people goaded to wheedle by using the government to punish saving via the bleeding away of the value of their savings.
And his dream has come true, making things a nightmare for honest people.
About 50 years ago, a kid at school told me that his uncle made $1000 every week betting on horses. When I told my grandfather that, he said “That man’s a fool!”
“Why is he a fool, Grandpa?”
“Because all he’d have to do is double his bets, and he could be making $2000 a week.”
Yeah, if he had a good system, spot on. If he was consistently pulling in a grand a week (maybe 15 grand a week now), yeah, your grandpa was right. He was a fool.
Amen, Martin –
This whole “invest in the stock market thing” is – as I see it – a kind of moral cancer. Instead of productive work, just wheedle the stock market. Bet on things, like a guy at a casino. This attitude and actuality is greatly responsible for turning America away from a nation of productive people who work to create productive goods and services to a scammy/scummy nation of grifters and shysters looking for a quick buck. It is the apotheosis of Babbitry. Everyone a Little Trump with the hope of becoming a Big Trump.
Steve, you have no moral compass. You are complicit. You should also be investing in Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop grumman and so on. If you aren’t already then you’re missing out. All the dollars in the world won’t earn you the respect of an honest man, but I’m aware that your type couldn’t care less about that.
Why do you say I have no moral compass? Have you ever even met me?
Like has been said multiple times, it’s wrong to marry for money, but there’s nothing wrong with marrying where there is money.
My guess is you are just another one of those from Aesop’s Tales about the fox and the grapes.
Oh, incidentally, defense stocks absolutely suck in terms of ROI. Raytheon is maybe 2.5%. Better than a savings account, yeah, but you would be better off buying bonds or T-Bills, let alone anything else.
The financialization game will come to an abrupt end and it will be glorious.
The tide is going out and everyone will see who is wearing pants.
This young man is dialed in
BREAKING: US & UAE LAUNCH MAJOR ATTACK IRAN, VIOLATE CEASEFIRE!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26PpUS4WAnk
WA checking in, as of yesterday
Seattle area average
Mid grade gas $6.18
Diesel $7.01
Trump is attacking Iran again, thus gas could keep going up. Gas in south Oregon is around $5.50 midgrade
it’s changing daily
How high can gasoline go? Inquiring minds want to know!
I asked Goolag Ai, you can try also and see what you get:
“what should gasoline cost based on gold price”
Based on the current gold price of $4,748.30 per ounce, the implied cost of gasoline ranges from $5.49 to over $20 per gallon, depending on which historical valuation model you follow.
————-
Like another commodity, Lumber (RB00), it went through the roof to insane price levels then came back down. Same will happen, or could happen again. Gasoline could go to insane price highs, cause demand destruction, the high price will encourage more production, prices will settle down – but to a higher level before the shock.
Hopefully, Trump gets assassinated and we are rid of that monster. First he fucked us with Covid, now with Gas. Trump has to go, and why assassination is necessary and moral:
https://www.unz.com/kbarrett/staged-conspiracy-theories-are-everywhere/#comment-7611326
outtakes:
There is a moral argument why Trump should be terminated. He refuses to resign when sexually compromised, Congress has failed to impeach and remove him, the military has failed to arrest him, and he is an existential threat to our people in the United States.
Bible blowhard Brandon Biggs (the preacher who predicted the bullet going by Trump’s ear) is making a Trump assassination prediction. He says Trump gets assassinated by a .50 sniper while coming down Air Force One, this happens when Usha Vance is heavily pregnant, so pregnant that her bellybutton can be seen poking thru her clothing.
No one should feel bad about ridding the planet of Trump. I, for one, will breath a sigh of relief. Most of the planet will jump up and down in joy. I bet the entire US Navy will be glad with Trump gone, Trump is making them sitting ducks to be sent to the bottom of the sea. Trump doesn’t give a damn about any of them. Trump only cares about himself, getting richer, using the office as his personal bank account. Retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski says Trump is destroying the military from within. I think that is an understatement.
We, the people, did note vote for Trump to screw us. Therefor we must act to remove the traitor. We have no other choice. We must act. Sane people must regain control of this government. The problem with impeachment after the midterms is too long, because Trump is an existential threat right now. Why are we allowing the mad orange loon to roll the nation? How about we rid ourselves of him and tell Israel to go to hell?
Trump is a pathological liar who is using his power to harm the Amerikan people on behalf of a foreign state. Since Trump will not resign of his own accord (like Nixon) he needs to be removed by some extrajudicial means. We the people should encourage our brave assassins at the CIA to do some local wet work.
Trump is an actor. He plays his role so well that almost everyone buys it, and places the blame on either his doorstep, or Israel’s. The most obvious cointel channels I’ve found on the alt-right are talking your exact same book. Most of them are “ex Green Beret” and etc. Question why Joe Kent (that handsome devil!) was fired for talking your exact same book, and then immediately went on tour. He certainly has a future in politics. Just remember that ex CIA guys are not to be trusted, not even when they happen to reinforce your bias.
Trump is a fucking disappointment. It’s not going to,get any better, so why bother bitching about it?
Morning, James –
Bitching is a form of awareness and I think that is important, because awareness tends to displace passivity and fatalism. I think there is still an opportunity to save the nationalist/populist movement. But this cannot happen until Trump and “MAGA” are no longer synonyms but antonyms.
Exactly Eric,
I forget the source but a writer on Substack explains how that’s the plan of our overlords, to “flood the zone” with so much outrageous BS that the average person just can’t cope with it all and just surrenders in despair. Never give up, be pissed and push back on these MAGgots at every turn, we can’t let them win.
We all need to work as one consciousness to remove Trump from office. Trump is an existential threat to our survival. Forget Israel or Iran, Trump is the threat to us right now. No ifs, ands, or buts, Trump has to go. We can not wait to midterms, he has to go now.
Nixon was forced to resign from Watergate. What Trump has done, in his past, is a thousand times worse. There are thousands of people in D.C. who know Trump’s past and can leak information to remove him.
All we need is a new ‘deep throat’ who leaks intel that sticks to Trump and forces him out. Trump screwed us with Covid, now with gas prices, and I suspect Hanta virus is just a new psyop to distract us. (Bill Gates said yesterday he has the Hantavirus shot ready to go, this meant to me he is behind it.) Trump, of course, is best friends with Gates. Epstein files shows pics of Trump with Gates and Epstein.
Immigrants are by far the biggest threat. Every one, whether he’s working on an H1b or an illegal, is both depressing wages to Americans, living in housing, increasing prices for Americans, and buying food, whether from wages or more commonly welfare, driving up prices at the grocery store. We also know they are disproportionately defrauding the various levels of governments, including using resettlement funds to buy luxury cars.
I get that the NAP forbids you from opposing illegals, but FFS, their mere existence here is stealing from Americans. Maybe you need to consider at least the second-order effects in the NAP.
I saw a reporter ask Trump a day or so ago about the price of gas and oil and the effects they are having on people. According to the genius he thought oil might have gone to $200 per barrel and that since it was ‘only” at $110 he was doing better than planned. Typical Trump nonsense always trying to make everything he does seem like a win. Of course, if you take him at his word and he was truly planning on $200 oil what does that say about him? We’ve never seen oil that high. It would have crushed the economy.
I paid 4.04 yesterday in Metro Detroit. Seems like that map is off. Still 4 bucks is BS in any event
When the bottom gets squeezed from higher prices like from gas that they can’t avoid, discretionary funds aren’t there. When the reports start coming in about restaurants struggling, hotel bookings declining, staycations become a thing again, you will know we are already in the next recession.
Credit cards are already being used to fill the gap.
If Trump thinks he can end the war before the midterms and all will be normal again, I think he missed that window of opportunity.
People cannot see the historical precedents for our current predicament. Sad to say people of my generation largely still seem to trust the “authority” of all the institutions behind the current situation…..the Covid hoax was the great separator of the sheep from the critical thinkers, regardless of political leanings. I have often predicted that many people will be in denial as they are marched onto the trains into the camps…..tis an intersection between Brave New World, 1984 and Farenheit 451….
My personal recollection and assessment is that, in 2008, when gas eclipsed $4.00/gal, the recession then started. My judgement is that people had to get to work, and had to feed their families, so what gave? First, not buying stuff, then eventually not paying their mortgage or rent! Then everything crashed. I remember spending $650+/month on gasoline then! (100+ mile daily commute, wife running 4 kids around multiple times daily, etc., etc.)
The term is “inelastic demand” which pretty much means your consumption doesn’t really change much, and there are few pivots to make. (such as steak > hamburger > chicken > bean for protein!) I wasn’t about to hitchhike or ride a bicycle on my 100+mile daily commute…
The only “elastics” are what are you not gonna do with the dollars that you are now having to spend on gasoline. Every dollar I spend on gas is a dollar I cant do something else with, which pisses me off.
Oh, and I reckon $4 gas in 2008 would be akin to $8 gas now. So, what happens then? I sleep in my office for a day or two. No joke. Or my car. Or milk as much “work from home” as I can, until I *get* canned. Or forced early retirement. None of those are in the least appealing.
Yes. 2008 was a far bigger problem than people realize. In 2008 the economy collapsed — but they merely re-inflated the bubble.
In 2008, the national debt was “merely” $10 trillion, which was double what it was in 2000. Today it is nearly $40 trillion. That’s how they did it.
The next crash is going to make 2008 look like child’s play by comparison.
For those of us who require real/pure gasoline without the alcohol, here is a way to easily remove it without paying and extra $1.00 plus a gallon at the the non-ethanol pump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdDEL7WLN5U
So easy.. thought this might be worth sharing. 😉
Great information. Probably not well known. If you also build a still, you can produce the equivalent of Everclear from the aqueous layer, too. Maybe you aren’t a drinker, but it’s definitely worth storing up in case SHTF. At least for antiseptic.
Arguably, the 2008 “Great Recession”
was caused by a similar spike in gasoline prices, which made all those McMansions suddenly unaffordable and undesirable.
Will it happen again?