AP Photo/Evan Vucci
According to President Biden, financial resources are the key ingredient to helping Israel and Ukraine. If that is true for our allies, then it’s also true for our enemies, but that’s the part Biden continues to ignore.
During his nationally televised remarks from the Oval Office, Biden tried to establish two main points. First, he argued the moral cause for supporting Israel is the same as supporting Ukraine. Second, both need our money specifically, $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. According to Biden, the current price tag for helping our allies is $74 billion, and that’s an important number when contrasted against what Biden has allowed to go to Iran.
During his speech, President Biden made clear: “Iran is supporting Russia in Ukraine, and it’s supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups in the region,” he said. “We’ll continue to hold them accountable,” he quickly added.
President Biden did not offer any specifics on how he plans to hold Iran accountable, but there is one thing he could do that would cut off a pipeline of cash into the hostile regime: enforce sanctions on Iranian oil now.
By his own admission, Iran is a central player in the two biggest conflicts in the world. There’s no doubt they are getting their money from illegal oil sales brought on by lax enforcement from the Biden Administration. Since Biden took office, Iranian oil exports have practically doubled to over 3 million barrels a day. The industry is such a boon that they hit record high exports at the end of 2022. Since exporting oil means importing money, Iran is cashing in, to the tune of $40 billion by some estimates. Keep in mind, this is in addition to the $6 billion Biden unfroze for Iran just over a month ago as part of a prisoner swap.
For context, the Biden Administration has allowed Iran to collect over 50 percent of the amount of money he is now asking for Ukraine and Israel. Cutting off Iran’s oil pipeline is critical, and Biden is shockingly quiet about it.
Side note: According to reports, chief among Iran’s biggest customers is China. In his Ukraine/Israel aid package, Biden is also asking for $7 billion to aid Taiwan. By enforcing oil sanctions, he would not only cut into Iran’s revenue, but also send a warning to China, which poses the biggest threat to Taiwan.
Biden has a solution to his foreign funding, cutting enemy cash and even fighting inflation problem…increase domestic energy production. In the spirit of offering solutions, here are four steps President Biden could take to accomplish his goals:
Enforce Iranian oil sanctions. This could be done quickly and it would impact Tehran’s balance sheet, plus it has the added benefit of undermining China.
Increase American energy production to compensate for the loss of Iran’s oil from the world market. If Biden would add a mandated 3 million barrels a day of American oil production to his Ukraine/Israel aid package, it could help it achieve more support in Congress. And it would also…
Help increase revenue to pay for his foreign aid. Biden could make assurances to only use the money from increased energy production to fund his request. Federal, state, and local governments already receive a whopping $138 billion a year from oil and gas revenue, President Biden could add to it by increasing production. Additionally, more American oil in the market would be a huge step toward helping lower prices.
And while we are putting together a wish list, President Biden could agree to allow for more energy infrastructure in the United States. That is more pipelines and more refineries. These would be privately funded at no cost to taxpayers and would create critical revenue and jobs. Not only would it help combat inflation, but it would put us in a stronger position to export energy to our allies.
Of course, all of this is little more than a pipe dream. One day before he unfroze $6 billion to Iran, President Biden declared climate is the worst threat to mankind. Strangely, climate did not get a mention during his Oval Office remarks.
If money helps our allies, so does our energy. Joe Biden has a real solution right in front of him. Sadly, his green agenda prevents him from discussing it.
