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| Trump Finally Taking a Hit with Evangelicals - What Took You So Long? | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, DC May. 09, 2026 - A new MPR/PBS News/Maris Poll indicates that Trump is finally taking a hit with one of his most important voting blocks - white evangelical Christians - in late April. He is down 5 points to 69 percent approval, with a 29 percent disapproval. This is a 10 point decline in three months. Read more... |
| A Look at Historic Gas Prices Adjusted for Inflation and the Presidential Blame Game | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  May. 08, 2026 - This is Larry McDowell here for Christian Press Daily News and Commentary. Today I am not reporting events, but taking a hard look at one issue that is having a great effect on Americans, in fact on the world today - gas prices. Often the heads of governments often get the blame for gas prices going higher, but more often that not, they have little or no control over world oil prices that affect these prices. As a historian myself, I have looked into this and found that only twice in the last eight decades has the price gone up because of actions of the president of the United States when you actually take a look at prices adjusted for inflation. It is not a surprise that both times, the fault was actions from a Republican president, including the one in office today. But, let's go back and look at it.
When you take a look at the price of gas with inflation taken into account, we are not paying much more now than we paid back in 1940 for gas. As you can see, although gas was only 18 cents per gallon in the national average, that comes out to $4.21 in today's money. We are paying about 32 cents more than that today because of the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Over the last year, we were paying a whole lot less than the 1940 value.
When I was born in 1950, you got gas adjusted for inflation even cheaper at $3.73 in today's money, $3.44 in 1960, then slightly up to $3.56 for each of the first seven years of the seventies. It stayed flat if you take into account inflation, however, in actual dollars of that day, it hit over a dollar a gallon by 1980, even though if adjusted to inflation, it was still $3.56. That jump to over a dollar contributed to a one-term presidency for Carter, though he had absolutely nothing to do with it. The Iran revolution caused it. Americans are not smart enough to realize, that when you adjust for inflation, the gas price really did not go up between 1970 and 1980. We are too stupid, and must blame someone, so we vote for a Hollywood actor who is praised by Republicans as the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln, when his Reaganomics trickle down economics has caused three recessions by Republican presidents using that failed economic policy to include George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump. This does not include Reagan policies that stripped military retirees of dental benefits and wasted money on pipe dreams in the space and Defense departments.
Looking at Clinton, we have a pretty steady price in at $3.16 to $3.27 with the dollar at the time pushing gas up 40 cents, as well as the best economy in two decades.
Looking at Junior Bush, we have a pretty steady price adjusted for inflation at $3.16 to $3.27, but this time with the dollar at the time pushing gas up $1.81 from $1.46 to $3.27. But when you take into account that inflation was caused by Bush's economic policies, it was poorly received. It was followed by a serious recession caused by the same Reaganomics and unnecessary wars that caused the higher gas prices. This is the first president that actually caused the higher gas prices by their inept war policy in the Middle East. Some pundits at the time thought it was an intentional move to raise the value of oil stocks for friends and family of the president, but that might be reaching. I personally believe Junior Bush was probably not that smart.
Prices for gas during the Obama terms was high (if you do not factor in inflation) and he took a lot of heat for it. However, when adjusted for the inflation caused by George W. Bush, they were actually lower and lower still by the end of his second term. They stayed at that level for the first Trump term until the Pandemic hit and lower travel lowered the gas prices.
The pandemic kept gas prices low under Trump as demand was low. So, he looked good and took credit for the lower price when he left office, but it had nothing to do with him.
While gas prices appeared to go up under Biden when you adjust for inflation, they deviated only a little, and even that was not due to Biden's policies but due the easing of the pandemic bringing demand back again and raising the price. That was not on Biden.
Trump is the second president I mentioned that caused the higher gas prices due to his policies. Like George W. Bush, who used subterfuge to con Congress into two wars in the Middle East, Trump lied about nuclear ambitions of Iran, but unlike Bush, he decided to start a war with Iran without Congressional approval, disregarding the Strait of Hormuz and paying the price. You can attribute this huge jump in price of real NOW dollars of $1.30 directly to the inept war policy of Donald J. Trump. However, this can be traced back to the first term of Trump when he threw out the carefully crafted treaty with Iran that ensured Iran would not have a nuclear weapon. When he did that, he set himself up to this war he started because, after Trump threw out the Obama accord, Iran began rebuilding their nuclear program once again. This caused him to bomb that program last year, then start a full-out war this year as Netanyahu conned Trump into attacking Iran. Now we have gas climbing to a high of $4.58 a couple days ago, and now still around $4.53. When you elect a person as president who has no ability to handle macroeconomics and no experience, you get what you vote for. However, America voted for a guy who went bankrupt six times. Shame on us.
Through this tour of gas history, we often saw rises in prices that were not reflected on presidential policy, but two Republican presidents caused large jumps due to their inept starting of wars in the Middle East. That, and the economic crash of 2008, brought a Democrat president for the next eight years in Obama. Poor handling of the Pandemic brought Biden for four years, yet Americans made the same mistake again. This unnecessary war with Iran will do the same in '28, assuming he doesn't get Impeached or removed with the 25th amendment in the meantime. Will we learn this time? Republicans has a historical ineptitude when it comes to fostering good economies, causing the Great Depression and all but one of many recessions. If we only voted for our own economic self-interest, we would quit voting Republican.
But that is just one man's opinion, but one who looks to God's Word as a minister of God and always asks, what would Jesus do? Certainly, the party of billionaires and white supremacists versus the party who takes care of people's welfare and health is an easy decision. I reach out to my fellow Christians and ask them to be careful where you get your news. The Deceiver is busy out there. This is Larry McDowell for Christian Press.
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| Trump Calls for War Crimes in the War in Iran | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, DC Apr. 08, 2025 - Welcome back to Christian Press Daily News and Commentary for April 8th, 2026. I am Larry McDowell and today we will again concentrate on one story, but with many facets this time - The War in Iran. Let's start with where we left off yesterday. Read more... |
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