So... profit for wealthy shareholders seems to be taking precedent over lowering the price of gas.

Absolutely. No company is going to spend extra money on a venture that would only devalue their product. Cheap gasoline is not a corporate goal of Chevron.

what justifiable reason might he use to avoid being accused of abusing that power.

He doesn't need one. Accuse away.

How can it be explained other than abuse of power?.

The President has the power to pardon. Pretty simple. The scope is quite broad.

How will that be excused?

Why does it need to be excused? He can do it if he wants to.

For some numbers, in 2023 the US produced 12.9 million bpd of crude oil, but consumed 20.25 million, for a deficit of 7.35 million bpd.

I have to ask, what is the difference?

Crude oil is a petroleum product. So is gasoline. You need crude oil to produce gasoline. If you don't have crude oil, you can't make gasoline.

It may be true that you export more gasoline than you import crude oil, but if you didn't have the imported crude you can't produce the gasoline to export.

The US exports very little crude oil... only the stuff the domestic refineries can't handle.

so, if the United States is exporting more oil than it is importing,

It's not. Don't confuse "Petroleum products" with crude oil. Another way, if the US is exporting more oil than it is importing, why is it importing any in the first place? Last year crude imports were around 6.5 million barrels per day,

What do they know about the oil market?

They think the US produces enough crude oil to sustain themselves. They are wrong.

an overt expression of ignorance

That would be in character.

"Drill, Baby, Drill," energy policy that he pledged will cut energy prices in half. ...

Does he not know that the people doing the "drill, baby, drilling" do not want energy prices cut in half?

But the first step in eliminating that waste is not, imo, an expression of unfettered fealty to Pres-elect Trump.

Ramaswamy's federal bureaucrat reduction plan was simpler. "Here's how: if your SSN ends in an odd number, you're fired,"

I think we're going to buy one!

You know, to match the Dubai Trump Towers he's building now.

He is building nothing. He is operating nothing. He is sticking his name on things other people are building and operating. As usual.

I know a woman who was in the Navy for a couple of years.

That sounds really true.

It will, and should be, leaked.

Probably. The media loves that kinda stuff.

Looks like the top 5 go $512,000 - $558,000.

The average salary for a doctor in the United States in 2023 was $363,000

What's the high and low?

lucky enough to be where they are because they kissed the ring of Trump

And dumb enough not to know how fleeting of a thing that is.

Oh well, everyone not part of "the fish" should make out well.

It's too bad none of these House Representatives have enough confidence in themselves

Confidence is nothing. They need money more than they need oxygen.

I could not render a fair verdict on a jury

I think we all know that.

so if you flood the market with gold doesn't that bring the price down?

Yes, but this find is in the middle of nowhere and up to 6500 feet deep so it's not going to be on the physical gold market any time soon.

Sounds like they are backpedalling on this.

It's cute people think Lewzer wouldn't do something if someone else hadn't done it already.

He never would have pardoned Bannon and Stone and his Ambassador to France, etc. if Joe hadn't pardoned Hunter.

And it will be a barbaric, unjust decision counter to our constitution.

If it wasn't for those dang e-mails.

A lot of discussion when everyone knows how SCOTUS is going to rule on this already.