Why blame gas stations for high prices. Not concerned midterm. Harris now working on bringing down

California has become the first U.S. state to guarantee free health care to undocumented immigrants. The expansion of the state’s Medicaid program will provide coverage to an additional 764,000 people at an expected cost of about $2.7B a year. It’s part of a $307.9 billion operating budget. It pledges to make low-income adults eligible for the state’s Medicaid program by 2024, regardless of their immigration status. The expansion in healthcare is part of Medi-Cal, which already offers coverage for illegal immigrants younger than 26 and over 50 – as well as recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

On 7/5/2022, during press conference, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre “How did the President go from blaming high gas prices on Putin to Big Oil to small-business owners now?”

JEAN-PIERRE: Well, here’s the thing about that, Peter, is when you look at — as of this morning, when you look at the crude oil and when you look at wholesale oil prices as well, they’ve declined about 15 percent. And so, retail gas prices, however, have only declined just about 3 percent … So what the President is saying is that everyone along that chain, around that production chain line, needs to — needs to make sure that they’re doing what is possible, their part, in bringing down the costs for the American people. That is what we’re asking. Consumers should not — should not be the first to pay and the last to benefit.

Doocy: Jeff Bezos says the President’s tweet about this is “either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.” Which is it?

JEAN-PIERRE: As you know, we completely disagree with Jeff Bezos. Look, we will continue to call on everyone along that distribution chain, as I just mentioned — from oil companies, to refineries, to distributors, to retailers — to pass their lower cost through to consumers. That is what is important: to make sure that we should not make, again, consumers pay first and get that re- — and get that relief last.

On 7/5/2022, Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg chuckles when Neil Cavuto points out hard truth about gas prices. on Fox News in his interview on “Your World with Neil Cavuto”, when Neil Cavuto correctly pointed out that gas prices surged well before Russia, “Half of that increase started prior to the first Russian soldiers arriving near … You can’t blame it all …, right?” Cavuto asked. “What about the other half?” Buttigieg laughed. “What about the other half? That’s a pretty important half.” “Your administration has blamed this on the war, and that was certainly a big factor but gas prices had gone up 50 percent already before the war,” Cavuto clapped back. “A very big factor,” the secretary replied. “So, to me, that’s half the blame, not all the blame.” Cavuto said.

Buttigieg said he had no intention of raising the retirement age for pilots after a holiday weekend of flight cancellations amid airline staffing shortages. Buttigieg said he would not raise the retirement age, even though Americans are living and working longer - like his 79-year-old boss Joe Biden. ‘I’m much more interested in raising the bar on things like compensation and job quality than lowering the bar on something like safety,’ he told Fox News. Anchor Neil Cavuto probed further, saying that ‘65 was the new 55 and we have a president who’s almost 80.’ ‘That regulation is there for safety reasons …’

Reporter: why do you think so many members of your own party, elected leaders, voters, activists, pundits — why did they all seem to, in this moment, disagree with that assessment you just gave?

JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I can’t speak for them. I can only speak to what we’re trying to do. I can only speak to — Reporter: But why do you think that’s not coming through, what you’re trying to do?

JEAN-PIERRE: Again, I — again, I’m not going to speak for them. I would — I would speak — I would go directly to these folks, these activists, and our Democratic colleagues and speak to them directly … this is a President that has been working tirelessly, day in and day out.

Reporter: is this administration concerned about how the Democrats will perform in the midterm elections? JEAN-PIERRE: Well, as you know, I can’t talk about the midterms from here. That will get me into big trou- — (laughs) — Reporter: Is the President concerned? JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I — I’m just saying I got to be careful about that. Reporter: Has he expressed any concern? JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.) He has said if we are in a position where Congress does not act … then the American public should make their voices heard. They should make their voices heard at the ballot box.

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