BREAKING: Biden Bans Russian Oil & Gas

Breaking news as President Biden bans Russian oil and gas. He also blames Putin for price increases that began before the war in Ukraine.

Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy. That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports, and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine. We want to hear from you.

Share and post your comments. Or call 1-800-684-3110. Since Putin began his military build-up on Ukrainian borders, just since then, the price of the gas of the pump in America went up 75 cents. And with this action, it's going to go up further.

I'm going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. Hey, welcome to Sekulow. We're taking your phone calls too.

1-800-684-3110. President Biden just addressing the nation. As you heard in the opening of the broadcast, the U.S. unilaterally has now banned the import and sale of Russian oil and gas.

In the remarks, President Biden offered no relief for the American people. He said 30 million new barrels will come from the strategic reserve. We're going to go through that in two days in the United States, so that's not going to change prices at all. That would be more like if you were having really a problem with getting oil and gas.

You had an actual shortage. The second part is, he got no other countries to buy into this. Well, I'm glad that we're not funding Putin's war machine from the United States buying his oil and gas. What is so just disturbing about this, though, is that by not getting any other countries to buy in, it's a very limited impact on Russia. Second, he blamed the price hike on gas on Putin's price hike. Let me recall, people were putting stickers on gas pumps around the country with Joe Biden pointing to the numbers saying, I did this long before there was war in Ukraine. We were already seeing massive inflation, including prices at the pump.

So while what's happening in Ukraine may exacerbate the situation, it was already on a bad path. His main solution? Green energy.

So it was clear in the remarks this morning that new Green Deal Democrats own Joe Biden on this issue. He is not willing to talk about opening up Keystone. He's not talking about opening up actual new ready-to-go oil reserves. He's not talking about, oh, we got 9,000 permits. We're going to debunk all of that for you, by the way. That whole 9,000 permits thing is a joke.

I mean, it is absurd. We have almost 40,000 permits in the U.S. Those 9,000 may mean that they get a permit, but they haven't even filed for the next paperwork. You know what the next paperwork takes, Dad? Ten years. Ten years if you haven't started the drill already. If you can start drilling today, at best case scenario, you might strike oil in six months.

Worst case, years. He also said it's not true that our policies, his policies, are holding back oil production and energy production, which is not true, it is. And he says we have to become energy independent. Now, our answer to that was we were energy dependent 14 months ago, but it's also how they define energy independent. Energy independent is not based on oil, coal, these kind – it's the new technologies.

It's the green new energy. And this is the problem where – this is all – would be a very interesting academic discussion if there wasn't a war in Eastern Europe. But there is. And then there was another telling aspect to this, and we'll get into it in the next segment. He said our European friends can't do this. So this is the United States doing this on their own.

The lack of EU, European Union buy-in on this is another sign of the problem. Let me encourage you folks, if you're watching the broadcast, I know most of you are listening, but if you're watching the broadcast, if you're over at Facebook, we encourage you to go over to Rumble. The link's right there because we know we won't be censored, we know we won't be taken down, we know we won't get flagged if you share it with your friends and family. So check it out over at Rumble.

You can keep watching at Facebook if that's where you want to be, on YouTube as well. And folks, we encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ. Today on the broadcast, you're going to see a team of our experts all on this issue. So we've got that kind of depth at the ACLJ to break down this oil price issue, the economics of the issue, and the economics of war. So we're taking your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. What do you think about Joe Biden banning Russian oil and gas, but not doing anything to alleviate the pain at the pump, saying it will go up.

That's what he said today. Support our work. Double the impact of your donation through the entire month of March by donating at ACLJ.org.

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Take part in our Matching Challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

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Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to Secular. So the breaking news this morning, which was already announced, but we wanted to see exactly how Joe Biden was going to lay this out.

I think it was the worst case scenario, honestly. So we've banned Russian oil and gas. You can feel good as an American now that you're not funding the Putin war machine directly. The rest of the world, sorry, they can't do it, is what Joe Biden said. He also said that your prices are going to go up, and he called it the Putin price hike, except for gas prices were going up before the war in Ukraine.

And remember, we all know that. Inflation began before the war in Ukraine. It was affecting gas prices, too. Certainly, this is increasing gas prices, and Joe Biden is acknowledging it will. But the other part of this is that will it really damage the Putin war machine when we are still a small buyer? It's really Europe who's the major buyer. So I think it's good that we did it. But he didn't release America's power.

He didn't open Keystone XL that would affect the oil's future market, that would actually bring your prices down. They are using this 9,000 permits excuse, which we'll get into further in the broadcast, which is just absurd when we walk through some of the numbers there. A permit could mean your land could be used for it, but you haven't even put a drill there. You've got to apply for another permit to do that. It could take up to 10 years to get that permit. Let's say you already do have that permit, you can start drilling today. At six months, at best, you might strike oil and start it pumping, but it usually takes years. Well, you've got to do the environmental impact studies.

Oh, yeah. All right, let's play this sound first from, this is President Biden this morning talking about the cost on the American people and we're going to get Professor Hutchinson to weigh in. The decision today is not without cost here at home. Putin's war is already hurting American families at the gas pump. Since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders, just since then, the price of the gas at the pump in America went up 75 cents. And with this action, it's going to go up further. I'm going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home. Okay.

Well, there was a way to do that and that would have been the Keystone Pipeline, which would have produced hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day. So, here's the problem. The problem is we're doing this, Europe's not. Harry, how does this shake out? What do you see here is the actual outcome of all this? Well, I think the actual outcome is a demonstration once again of President Biden's commitment to weakness. So, for instance, he blames price increases on quote unquote Putin.

75 cents per gallon of gas, except prices in the United States have already gone up a dollar and 14 cents per gallon before the invasion. And so, if you look at the oil and gas industry in the United States, it requires something that President Biden has failed to provide, and that is long-term certainty. So, remember last year we were talking about what?

The Green New Deal. We were talking about new regulations. We were talking about President Biden's failure to allow the Keystone XL Pipeline to be built. And so, at the end of the day, that is costing us.

So, if you look precisely at the quote unquote sanctions that President Biden has announced, they are not real sanctions. Why? Because our European partners are not joining with us.

That's number one. Let's talk about that one for a second, because, you know, this is a political issue, too. And it's also, Jordan, it's not that the EU partners, I don't believe it's that they can't do it. It's they won't do it. Yeah, I think that's the situation, is that they are not willing to do what we are just willing to do today to their own constituents and countrymen and women.

They know that it would affect the prices. And even though they are much further along in, like, green new energy deals, they are not willing to do this. I mean, President Biden said it. He could not build a coalition of even a couple more countries in Europe that were willing to say no to Russian oil and gas. And I think that speaks volumes to who we are actually dealing with in our NATO partnership. When they talk about how united NATO is, this would have been an act that NATO could have done without having to go to war that would have put together, combined, a serious squeeze on the Russian economy that's already occurring through some other sanctions.

This was that remaining one-third. But now, the U.S. going alone, listen, I'm glad I'm not paying for those missiles and rockets to rain down on civilians. If our prices go up, I'd still rather do that. But he was not able to buy in the coalition, and he is absolutely lying to the American people when he said this in his press conference by 46. It's simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production. That's simply not true. That simply is true.

I mean, go ahead, Harry. It's simply true. As I suggested earlier, energy prices were rising rapidly well before the invasion.

That's number one. Number two, if President Biden announced sanctions on Russia with full buy-in from our European partners, and he coupled that with a commitment to U.S. energy independence, that would mean something. That would lower, long run, world oil prices.

And so, for instance, it will take up to six months to ramp up production of shale oil in the United States. Why weren't we planning to do that in March of 2021 when Russia had troops massing on the Ukrainian border? Absolutely right. Now, I just saw on the monitors here, and this is, folks, this is where this is really serious. Zelensky, President Zelensky was addressing the U.K. Parliament, and it was in the House of Commons, and they were all on their feet standing like when Winston Churchill was rallying the people of England. You've got to ask yourself this question. How in the world did we allow this to happen?

And here's how. Documents from the government, positions of the current administration gave a sense that Ukraine might be up for ascension into NATO. And that, you know, Putin had these aspirations to begin with.

You just give him an excuse when you do things like that. Yeah, that's right. I mean, watching the U.K. Parliament just moments ago, this is, you know, I'm studying Winston Churchill, I've been doing this in-depth study on Winston Churchill for a couple of years, and he's giving these kind of Churchill-esque speeches. He's not getting the response. No, he's not getting the global response of that, but I mean, but they're clapping and cheering, but this is a real problem. Yes, it is. And, you know, I just want to encourage you to call 1-800-684-3110.

I want to ask you this. These gas prices now at the pump, your President just told you they're going to go up. They're going up higher now because of his decision. How is it impacting you? Is it starting to impact you? Are you starting to have to make different decisions because of the price at the pump? I was joking a little bit with our producer, Will, that I needed to fill up my car on the way in. I didn't have time, but now I kind of wish I did because by the time I'm out of work today, the price may be up another 25 cents at my local gas station.

I mean, that's the kind of stuff people are dealing with, but I want to hear from you on it. Give us a call, 1-800-684-3110, because it's affecting different parts of the country very differently. If you're coastal places where there's higher taxes on it, you might already be paying outrageous numbers. So share that with, people need to hear that from you because they may be used to say, oh, well, a little over $4 is what I'm paying right now, and they say it's the average.

That's the average. That means that some people are paying up to $7 a gallon. I want to hear from folks at 1-800-684-3110, because let me tell you, as COVID, as that's decreased, people are back on the roads more. They're back at work more. They're having to spend more on transportation.

So, Harry, we've got two minutes left here. What do you think the impact of this is? Well, I don't think the impact on petroleum prices will be as dramatic as perhaps President Biden is now suggesting. But I would say this, that there is a knock-on effect, which is agricultural prices will likely explode at an even faster rate than energy prices. So President Biden's policy, I think, is weak and feckless. He's always playing catch-up with respect to sanctioning Russia. But at the end of the day, what is the administration beginning to do about exploding agricultural prices, which everyone has to deal with?

Well, listen to this. This is back in November, okay? Well before war in Ukraine, the Secretary of Energy has asked about oil prices and production in America by 54 from Bloomberg. What is the Granholm plan to increase oil production in America?

Oh my God, that is hilarious. Would that I had the magic wand on this? They do.

The thing is, they do have the magic wand. Keystone Pipeline. I saw people in the chat saying, Jordan, it doesn't take that long. It's not that it takes so long to put these rigs in place, it's to get the permits. Even if you've got a permit for your land, you've got to get new permits and all these studies done to actually get it done.

You'd have to ramp that up. Cut the red tape. Geez, the Secretary of Energy will point that out. When you were dealing with Democrats, you were dealing with the bureaucracy that they love. And they love bureaucracy. That's the king of red tape. And it was Donald Trump who cut through that red tape and said, unleash America's power. And it took only, his administration was only four years.

And it was done. We were energy independent. We were exporting energy. We had so much we could be a seller like Saudi Arabia. Now we're going to go beg the Saudis, beg the Venezuelans. We haven't gotten into it yet. More on the Iran nuclear deal.

So yeah, you've got to be trading your Russian oil and gas out for the number one exporter of terrorism in the world, oil and gas from Iraq. Fill up your truck with that. 1-800-684-3110 to talk to us on air. And let me encourage you to support the work of the American Center for Law and Justice. You go to ACLJ.org. Throughout the month of March, we have a matching challenge. You double the impact of your donation at ACLJ.org.

We'll be right back. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases. How we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists. The ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later. Play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry. And what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. Whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy, and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.

For that, we are grateful. Now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's Matching Challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.

A $50 gift becomes $100. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support. Take part in our Matching Challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. All right, welcome back to Sekulow. We're going to start taking your calls at 1-800-684-3110. I want to play this byte from President Biden.

This was this morning, barely this morning if you're on Eastern Time, but he got it in before noon. And the announcement about we're not going to the U.S. will no longer purchase Russian oil and gas. But what about the rest of Europe and our allies in NATO?

Take a listen by 34. We're moving forward with this ban, understanding that many of our European allies and partners may not be in a position to join us. The United States produces far more oil domestically than all the European countries combined. In fact, we're a net exporter of energy.

So we can take this step when others cannot. But we're working closely with Europe and our partners to develop a long-term strategy to reduce their dependence on Russian energy as well. Okay, you know, long-term strategies are very interesting when you're in a negotiating posture or you're trying to figure out what my long-term energy policy will be for the European continent. Not so great, Andy, when you're in the middle of a war, which Europe's in the middle of. No, it's not that good at all trying to determine long-term strategic policies when actually you're in a shooting war in the Ukraine and Russia. But I think the thing that concerns me very much is he sort of elided and glided as quickly as he possibly could over this statement the President did. Many of our European allies and partners may not be in a position to join us.

Sort of glossed over that. But that sends a tremendous message out to Putin and to those who are our enemies. And that is that the Europeans and our allies and partners, NATO, is not 100 percent behind us.

There is this fragility, if I may call it that. Maybe it's even, Jay and Jordan, a fracture in the Western alliance that is what Putin was counting on happening and indeed did happen. The President announces today long overdue, may I say, that we are banning the import of Russian oil. But then he's got to clarify that and say, but not all our European allies and partners are behind us. He is saying not only that with respect to oil, but with respect to so much else. He also defined energy independence differently. Right. I mean his idea of energy and of his oil, we could still sell it overseas.

But he's not talking about the prices at the pump for the American people. And that is what I ask people to call in about. We've got a lot of calls about it. Let me go to Nanette first in Colorado on Line 3. Hey Nanette, welcome to SECIO. Thanks for calling.

You're on the air. Thanks for taking my call. So here's my dilemma. I'm an independent contractor and I use my own vehicle. I pay for my own gas. I've been doing this for three years. I don't get a raise with gas prices.

I drive 250 miles a day, five days a week. I am not going to be able to continue to do this with the price of gas the way it's going, where we're at right now, not even to mention the fact that if it's going to go up. This is just, I don't get it. It's crazy. This is the real economic consequences of a lack of policy and foresight. And when you've got an energy secretary who's saying, I wish I could wave a magic wand, that's what she said.

She's the secretary of energy. This is troubling. And you're calling Nanette with a real world problem. And that a real American problem is that you drive for a living and now the cost of your doing your work is going to increase exponentially. Jordan said, you know, he's afraid you'd leave the studios this afternoon. It's going to be 25 cents more a gallon. I mean, in your job Nanette, that would be huge.

This is the problem of not having a strategy. Yeah, I mean, I want to take another call. Ralph in Louisiana on Line 6. Hey Ralph, welcome to Secular. Hey, great day.

Great to be with you, man. I just wanted to say that I'm a single daddy. I take care of a little girl and I've been doing it since she was nine and a half months old by myself.

She's 13 years old now. I don't have any family. I left the state of Florida at 17 and I have never returned. Since I have lived here in Louisiana, I have taken a $7 pay cut because of inflation. I drive 90 miles round trip to work every single day.

I do this. I have to pay for everything out of my own pocket. This is the real problem, Andy, that real Americans are going to have.

That's why I wanted people to call. It's not just a talking point for TV news. I sympathize with Ralph so much because this is the plight of so many Americans who are driving on the road today and their gas is going to go up.

I think up to $10 a gallon if not more for premium gasoline. Well, the Secretary of Energy, Jay, alluded to, she can wave a magic wand. I say wave it toward leases on federal lands being used to drill. Wave it toward the energy pipeline. Wave it toward the American independence on oil and gas that we had under President Trump.

Wave it in that direction and you may get some results. And this is his long-term goal. Is it by 51 on going electric? All right.

Take a listen. This crisis is a stark reminder to protect our economy over the long term. We need to become energy independent. I've had numerous conversations over the last three months with our European friends about how they have to wean themselves off of Russian oil. It's just not, it's just not tenable. But transforming our economy to run on electric vehicles powered by clean energy with tax credits to help American families winterize their homes and use less energy.

That will, that will help. And if we can, if we do what we can, it will mean that no one has to worry about the price of a gas pump in the future. The founder and chairman of the largest electric vehicle company in the world, but at least the U.S., Tesla, Elon Musk, has said, hey, this hurts me to say because it hurts my company. We need to open up everything, nuclear, oil, gas, fracking.

I mean, do it all because it's about America at this point and even his own employees, you know, his people there. Understand, folks, this idea of going to electric vehicles, I mean, they're bringing the price down, but they're still not competitive with other vehicles yet. And so it's wonderful to think one day they might be, but we can't fast forward to that future right now. We're dealing in reality. Well, that's why we're doing this. That's why we do this broadcast because, and we're going to offer solutions and we're working, our teams are working on that right now. But what the reason Jordan opened the phones up was we wanted to hear from you. We've already had two calls on this, and that is the American people are really hurting over this, seriously hurting.

And I think we have to, that's the, there's a real price. So when, when the President makes these statements, Andy, that sound high and mighty, it's not getting a result. It's not getting the result because he's not doing what he needs to do to make us energy independent. How come with President Trump we were energy independent? How come he is now going hat in hand to dictators in Venezuela, to the Iranians via the Russians in the talks in Vienna?

That's totally horrible. And then hat in hand to the bin Salam in Saudi Arabia saying, give us oil. We don't need it. We can do it ourselves. We can attain energy independence ourselves by drilling, by opening the pipeline and making us energy independent.

This policy that the President is pursuing is ill-advised. I want to take one more call before we go to our next break. We're going to continue to take your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. John in Minnesota online too. Hey, John. How are you guys doing? Good.

You're on the air. Great. Yeah, we're a family of four, so it's moved kids to adults.

I'm retired, but I'm living on a fixed income and our income is pretty much all fixed with pension and Social Security. So at the end of the Trump administration, we were doing, I'd say, a touch more than comfortable. So it was pretty good. And then the last year has been a struggle from going from comfortable to being on edge right now. That's the issue is it's taken people who were, like you said, even a little bit better than comfortable to ride on the edge of serious economic issues with their families.

And that's why these all have consequences. So this whole buildup, it was mishandled with Russia to begin with. Then you had the invasion of Ukraine. And, you know, we're celebrating that the Ukrainian, you know, they are fighting very hard. But, folks, absent a miracle, the Russians get Ukraine.

And then you talk about chaos. We got a lot more coming up in the second half hour of this broadcast. You're going to stay engaged. Our phone number is 1-800-684-3110. We want to hear from you. We're going to talk about what Iran asked to say about this.

They said, hey, they got a better deal than they'd ever thought they'd get from the United States. Great negotiating there. Support the work of the ACLJ Matching Challenge. ACLJ.org. Any amount you donate, we get a matching gift for. ACLJ.org.

At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's Matching Challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.

A $50 gift becomes $100. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. All right, welcome back to Sekulow.

We are taking your phone calls to 1-800-684-3110. So President Biden has announced the U.S. will no longer purchase Russian oil and gas. Listen, I'm glad we're not going to be funding the war machine directly, but he also announced that our European allies, NATO, they're going to keep buying it. So the impact on Russia, while our dollars won't be going towards it, is going to be much smaller because he was not able to build a coalition together. And again, they keep talking to mainstream media.

I see it at CNN, MSNBC all the time. Oh, NATO is so united. NATO is so united. What has NATO done here?

They've taken in refugees, but those have been independent countries doing that. Well, they're talking about NATO countries like Poland maybe sending MiGs, but by the time they figure that out, this thing's going to be over. This was the kind of move that NATO could take and the EU could take to really punish the Russian economy. They didn't do it. And by the way, now they're working on the Iran nuclear deal.

Could be announced this week, folks, this week. And the Russian lead negotiator for us is a Russian, by the way, from the Russian government, said that Tehran got much more than anyone expected as it negotiated with other nations to revive the 2015 deal. They are fighting for their national interests like lions.

They fight every comma, every word, and as a rule, quite successfully. We are expecting the announcement of the reentry of this deal, if you want to call it that, to the number one state sponsor of terror, which, by the way, they want to replace the Russian oil and gas with their gas. So instead of paying for Putin's war, we're going to be paying for the Ayatollah's terrorism. Against Israel.

And kids in places also too. I mean, they drop bombs too indiscriminately and use poisonous gas, things like that, remember. So, I mean, you're trading one devil for another devil. But just to explain here, they got much more. We don't know what that is yet, but what we know is that Iran got more than they got in 2015 from Obama from Biden. Okay, so we've got a quartet of problems here. If you look at it, I mean, I saw when Zelensky was just addressing by Skype the UK parliament, the House of Commons, and everybody was standing up and cheering, and it was like he had a Winston Churchill moment.

That sounds great. The problem is, Europe is not united in this. And now Iran is entering into this equation, Andy, and we're not only allowing it, we've encouraged it. Well, that's because of the weakness of our negotiating position in Iran, and we're working through, as Jordan alluded to, the Russians.

You're using your worst enemy to advocate on your behalf. What do you think the Iranians are cheering about? They have everything to be happy about in the JCPOA resurrection deal that President Trump correctly removed us from, because they're getting everything they want, and the Americans are getting nothing that we want. We don't have energy independence. We've got a fractured NATO. We've got no European allies behind us on the oil embargo to Russia. We're about to pay $11 billion to the Iranians for four hostages and to begin to buy Iranian oil. We're buying oil from the Saudis. We're begging the Venezuelans to give us oil. President Biden, what have you done for this country in the last 14 months that's good? Please tell me. I'd like to know. Folks, we're going to go back to the phones when we come back for this next break.

Phone lines are full right now, but they will start opening up, so give us a call at 1-800-684-3110. We'll get more into Iran as well. I mean, this deal could be announced tomorrow. I mean, they say it's imminent, and that Iran has gotten – this is from the Russian negotiator, who, by the way, has been leading this for the U.S. to just make everything more complicated, has said that they've done extremely well, and they've gotten much more than anyone expected. So we sent in $11 billion in cash to Iran for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Court. We're going to remove them from the Foreign Terrorist Organization's list.

You need to repeat what you just said. The Russian representative is representing who? The U.S. Just look in the camera and let them – The Russians are representing us in the nuclear deal with Iran. They're our lead go-between because we don't do it directly yet with Iran, so the Russians have been going back and forth. So you think that is a conflict of interest when we're also sanctioning Russia and cutting off Russian oil and gas, but relying on them to protect the world from a nuclear Iran. I always say there should be a takeaway moment from every segment of this broadcast. There's your takeaway moment from this segment. The Russians are negotiating for the United States, or the go-betweens, with Iran.

Think about that for a moment when you're filling your car up in about an hour. Support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org. For your impact through the entire month of March on Matching Challenge, we'll be right back on Secular. There's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's Matching Challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.

A $50 gift becomes $100. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support.

Take part in our Matching Challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

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Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to Sekulow. We're going to get more into Iran, but I want to continue to take your phone calls about how this is affecting you. Barbara in Pennsylvania online for Europe next.

Hey, Barbara, welcome to Sekulow. Thank you. I just wanted to tell you that it affects my son more than me.

I'm retired. However, he drives 120 miles back and forth every day to go to work. He earns less than $20 an hour. So at some point he's going to have to make a decision to see if he can get a job closer to home.

But he likes his job. Why should he have to make that decision of giving up a job that he likes for such a stupid reason as this pipeline stuff? Why can't the states that the pipeline goes through, can't they open that pipeline on their own or does it have to go to the federal regulation? It's all federal. That's all federal. I mean, listen, you get past the federal, then you've got to deal with state regulation. But federal is what is holding this back for the most part because many of the states that can do this would be willing to cut the red tape. It's the federal government.

But these are the stories where you're continuing to hear. And what they are going to try to do to ease the burden. By the way, they didn't say they were going to be able to do that today. Joe Biden said the price is going to go up. This is the President heading into midterm elections telling American people the price of gas is going to go up because long term they want you to have to buy electric, even if you can't afford it yet. So here's the thing that I think we have to be totally clear about, and I mean crystal clear about. This is having a direct impact on our neighbors. There's no one this isn't having an impact.

It's not having an impact on everybody. And you look at this and Colonel West Smith is with us who's got an article up at ACLJ.org that is entitled President Biden 40 years and still getting it wrong. And that's coming off a foreign policy statement by Secretary Gates who said, you know, he's always been on the wrong side of every foreign policy move. And then we have this move today, which sounded great. Now the United States isn't going to buy Russian oil except the Europeans are saying, well, that doesn't go for us. So we've got to buy Russian oil.

So it makes it really meaningless. What's your sense, Wes? You know, the mark of a good, effective leader is to respond to new information and to new challenges and threats and to adjust accordingly, to make mid-course corrections. And it seems that our President and the top officials in the administration, they're incapable of adjusting to new facts and new data. And so it looks like they're continually following, not leading, and that is not reassuring to the American people. And it's very encouraging to our enemy. And at the same time, this report with the Iran deal getting close and Russia is our go-between.

I mean, think about this for a moment, folks. Russia is the go-between for the United States and Iran. You mean Russia? You mean Vladimir Putin is the go-between between the United States and Iran because we won't get to the same table? Can I say at that point then, rather than having Russia do it, sit down at the same table and stop the farce? Because that's what this is. It is a farce. It is naive.

It is not only naive, Jay, it's dangerously naive. These are our two chief adversaries, along with China, and we're allowing them to collaborate with one another in an agreement that we're trying to put back together that should have never been signed in the first place. And Iran is a true threat to the peace of the region, peace of the world, and we're allowing Russia basically to call the shots. You know, Mikhail Yulinov, the chief Russian negotiator in Vienna, has said, and I think you mentioned it earlier, that they have gotten way more, way more concessions out of the United States than they ever thought possible. Meanwhile, Iran will continue to get billions of dollars in new funds. They're still doing research and development on their nuclear weapon system. And we're going to sanction Russia and take the sanctions off of Iran. How crazy is that?

Second takeaway from the broadcast today. We're going to, we've sanctioned Russia, but we're taking sanctions off the world's largest sponsor of terrorism, Iran. I think about those two for a moment.

And by the way, our negotiating ally was Russia with Iran. I mean, this is the absurd. Go back to the phones. Phil in California, online 3. Hey, Phil.

Hello. I wanted to mention that only about a week ago in Biden's State of the Union address that he encouraged us to buy goods that were made in America. He said he was going to take steps to bring jobs back to the U.S. from other countries so that I can buy made in America. So why won't he let me buy gasoline that is made in America?

He could do that tomorrow. Exactly right. Except for he's owned by the far left of his party. It's not even the mainstream of the Democrat Party. I mean, I don't, well, at least they use the far left, I'll say this, to be the reason why they can't. I think it probably is the mainstream of the Democrat Party.

But it's they use the far left to say, well, you know, we don't have that support here and he's too afraid of upsetting the squad. And Bernie Sanders, who, by the way, want your prices to go up to a point where it is crippling so that we have to make some rush to electric vehicles. And car producers, American producers are doing that. Tesla, GM, Ford, they're doing it. They're trying to bring the prices down. If you look at the prices right now, they're still substantially higher than just a regular car or truck.

And here's what talking about that State of the Union message, here's what he said. Lower your costs, not your wages. That means make more cars than semiconductors in America. More infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn a good living in America. Instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let's make it in America.

That sounds great, except when gas, how many people have you already heard from that says their cost of living is going up exponentially because of this cost? I mean, the phone lines are still full. Edward in Texas on Line 1. Hey Edward, welcome to Sekulow, you're on the air. Hey Edward, you're on the air. You there?

Alright, he may have had an issue with the radio. Let me go to Jeff in North Carolina on Line 2. Hey Jeff.

Hi guys. I just, I don't see how this country is going to survive this administration. We will. I mean, unless the American people wake up and come together at the midterms and take back our government, I don't see how we survive this. America's going, well first of all, on the political side of this, this is right on track to a massive Republican red wave. Both in Senate and House?

Definitely the House. The Senate, it might not feel as big because there's only 34 senators up. There's only a third of the Senate up for reelection every midterm because they have six-year terms. But I think that at this point it's looking very likely that their Republicans will control definitely the House and likely the Senate. So Joe Biden, to get anything done, will have to negotiate with a whole new group who is not beholden to new Green Deal Democrats and the Squad.

But he still will be. So he'll still have the veto power with legislation. So I mean, I think, but it's the right step as Jeff was talking about.

You've got to make steps towards re-correcting this. And you re-correct this by putting in place good leaders in Congress who understand what Americans want. And Americans, they want to drill. They want American energy independence.

They do want a clean, they want clean air. And if we can do that long term, that's great. But short term, we can't kill off every single family's ability to pay their bills. No, that's the problem. Let me ask you this, Wes.

We talked about this in our pre-meeting and you served in the military with honor for decades. What's the off-ramp here for Vladimir Putin going back to the situation in Ukraine? What is the off-ramp where this can be ratcheted down? Or are we past that point? It appears that we might be past that point. An off-ramp, of course, would be him to back out of Ukraine. Do you see that as a possibility?

Well, I don't. I think he's going to double down and triple down. But a possible off-ramp would be to say, okay, we're not going to bother you with Crimea anymore and maybe the Donbas region. We're going to let you keep your troops there, but you have to leave the rest of Ukraine alone.

Frankly, I don't think he will accept that. Ukraine's not going to accept the overthrow of their government, the invasion of their country. There is not an obvious off-ramp here other than, and this is the sad truth that probably will come to pass, Putin will continue to pound Ukraine into dust and rubble until politically and financially they collapse and he takes over.

And it seems at this point he is willing to go there. Ukraine is putting up a valiant fight. But one of the things that is being talked about in the media recently is their need for air cover. If they had air cover, if they could strike... The no-fly zone is very dangerous, right?

Oh, we could not do it. That would put U.S. pilots against Russian pilots. But if he had someone, even if it's his own air force with new equipment, doing a no-fly zone, they might survive. Last question about this, and that is, there's all this talk about the MiGs from Poland being sent over to Ukraine. Is that viable? It seems very complicated.

It is complicated, although the Ukrainian air force, they have flown MiGs and they're familiar with that aircraft. Do we have that kind of time? No. Quite frankly, I don't think we do. Here's a live report from where we are. We're in one of the states with some of the lowest gas prices in the country. We're in a red state, so there's not a lot of state and local taxes. And one of our guys from our video team just texted our producer, Will, and he said gas this morning was at $3.79 for regular by his house.

He just checked. It's up to $4 for regular. So I mean, we literally said it's going up 25 cents immediately already. And let me tell you, these are in suburban areas and urban areas where it's always higher. They pay more taxes. It's going to be, even in states that are the most friendly to oil and gas, you know, $5 and $6.

And Joe Biden told you it is. Out in California, you could be looking at 8 and 9. New York, 8 and 9.

DC, 8 and 9. So this is going to have significant impact on our economy. Think about the truckers. Think about the trucking companies that have got to pay for this gas.

A flight, jet fuel. I mean, these things all will increase. And it all comes back to the consumer. It will get passed off to you to a point. And it hurts those independent contractors. It hurts people. Everybody's got some kind of commute now. People are back to work. We're taking your phone calls.

1-800-684-3110. We'll be right back. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad, whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith. I'm covering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress. The ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.

For that, we are grateful. Now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.

A $50 gift becomes $100. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support. Take part in our matching challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family.

Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. So we've talked about what Joe Biden has done. Now a lot of this had congressional support, but it was being held up by Biden and the leading Democrats. The votes were there.

We talked to Lindsey Graham. The votes were there. 75 votes to do things like this. And that would include reopening oil and gas in the United States and starting all of that process. There's even more support than in Congress.

I want to go to Thanh Binh in Washington, D.C. because, Thanh, Congress does play a role here. The banning of Russian oil and gas, which had bipartisan support, has been done. What has not been done is the reopening of America's oil and gas potential. So interesting, Jordan.

You're right. The votes have always been there for what the President did today and actually for going much further. And actually, Jordan, I think it was the Congress that forced the President's hand to do the limited amount that he did today, because just yesterday, the four most influential members of the House of Representatives on this issue, the chairman and the ranking members, so in a bipartisan fashion of the committees of jurisdiction, said that they were supporting this bill to implement this ban on oil and gas and also to increase tariffs, Jordan. That, I think, is what made the President give the announcement that he made today. So I think Congress really forced this hand. But here's the thing, though, Jordan.

Speaker Pelosi just announced, I mean, literally, as you were on air, she just announced that she is still going to put this bill on the floor of the House tonight, even after the President announced his move. So, Jordan, that tells me two things. It tells me, number one, that she does not trust President Biden to carry this ban through as far as her members are going to insist on. So she's still going to take that vote today. Here's the other thing, though, Jordan, it tells me, and this is not as optimistic as all the rest, this still does not do the second half of what must be done.

It does not unleash domestic energy production. So it tells the American people, Jordan, you have a moral obligation to stop buying Russian oil and gas, but it is immoral for you to produce your own energy from the United States of America. Jordan, that's half-baked. Let's go to Cassandra in North Carolina on Line 6. Hey, Cassandra, welcome to Secular, you're on the air. Good afternoon, gentlemen, thank you for all you do.

I'll get right to this. I pulled some numbers off of my QuickBooks today for my business, and I wanted to share this with you, because this is shoe leather. To put it in context, I'll say that I drive a Subaru Outback 2019. When Trump was in office, we had $1.89 a gallon gas. I had $2.58.40 a month for gas expenses. Last month, we were at $3.89 a gallon. I had $4.33.84 a month for gas. This week, at $4.19 a gallon, I have $569.84 a month in gas, more than double what it was under Trump.

There it is, Cassandra. I appreciate you holding on to explain that to people, because as someone with business doing the QuickBooks, being able to go back and put it all together, more than double in a year. Yeah, and this is where I am very concerned. And a lot of that happening before the war.

So here's what you got. We've got a war in Eastern Europe that is a real problem. We do not have an organized, orderly NATO.

The President could not get Europe to go along with the sanctions on Russian energy. At the same time, the go-between between the Iranians and the United States, our Russian representatives were saying that the Iranians outflanked and out-negotiated the U.S. team. These are all takeaways from today's broadcast. Cassandra just told you her business cost for transportation is doubled. So this is real-world impact. And you've got a very unstable situation.

And by the way, I'm not even counting the money that's been lost in the stock market that is down thousands of points. All of this is happening simultaneously right now. Yeah, I mean, and so I'm going to go to Heather and then I'm going to go to Than. Heather from Pennsylvania on Line 4.

Hey, Heather, welcome to Secular. You're on the air. Hi, how are you guys doing today? I'm a truck driver from Pennsylvania, and I'm just calling in to ask who is fighting for us. I mean, I'm a blue collar worker. The Russians are negotiating for us right now. I'm not going to cut you off. The Russians are out there negotiating for us on Iran, but you go ahead, Heather. Exactly.

Exactly. I mean, years ago, I've been driving 20 years. I made a good living. I have four daughters. I'm just making it. I'm going to have to park my truck soon because I'm not going to be able to afford to run it. Yeah, I mean, this is the absurdity, Than.

And then I want to play this for you, Than. I want your reaction. Because Peter Doocy went to Jen Psaki on this and said, hello, you're blaming Putin for this. The prices were already on the way up. Inflation was already affecting lots of things, including gas and oil.

Take a listen to this bite. It sounds like you guys are blaming Putin for the increase in gas prices recently, but weren't gas prices going up anyway because of post-pandemic supply chain issues? Well, I think there's no question that, as we have seen, and outside analysts have conveyed this as well, the increase in the anticipated continued increase, which is, I think, what some of your colleagues were asking about, that that is a direct result of the invasion of Ukraine. And also, there was an anticipation of that that was factored in as gas prices have gone up. Certainly, Than, it's increased gas prices since the invasion of Ukraine. But we were already seeing, well before this, even before we thought that there would be war in Ukraine, gas prices increasing. And we've had callers walk through how it's been increasing and affecting their budget.

First month, maybe $100 more a month, then $200 more a month, now double. Jordan, it's just not an honest answer with the American people. And when you talk about these complex policy issues, it's not often that you can look at very recent history and see such clear answers, see what clearly works.

During the last administration, when domestic ex-liberation was opened up, when the regulations came off, when we increased the supply and became a net exporter, prices were at an all-time low. Jordan, it's very clear what will work. And so you have to ask, back to the last caller's question, who's fighting for us? Jordan, I think you got that answer from Congressman Chip Roy when he talked about this. He said, look, if you want to send money to Ukraine to help them, we're all for that, but you have to couple it with going back to what we know works and you have to do it. Jordan, those proposals are on the table as we speak.

And there's a bill going to the floor of the House of Representatives tonight that does half of that and does not put that answer that we know works because it just worked along with it. All right, let's go to Richard. Final call of the day in California on Line 1. Hey, Richard. Hey, it's been a while. Love you guys.

God bless you. I just wanted to make two quick comments. First of all, they talk about going green. I live here in California. They can't even keep up with their electricity needs right now.

Number two, I have to use propane to heat my home. And it's outrageous because he closed down the pipeline. It's outrageous.

I'm shaking my head so much I got a headache. Well, this is the thing. We talk a lot about gas because we're talking about people's commute, but then there's the natural gas, liquefied natural gas. And that ban also goes to a place from Russia. And again, here's my takeaway. I'm glad that we're not funding the Russian war machine, okay? But our President is not doing everything he can to alleviate our burden here, the burden on the American people. And if he's going to go to Iran and Venezuela, well, I'd rather have the burden, honestly, than fund a terrorist regime and a communist dictatorship who are both enemies of the United States. So the Biden administration's big idea here is that in the short term, we're going to bring down the prices by funding the number one state sponsor of terrorism. They chant, death to America, give the ayatollah the money, buy their oil and gas, and then head down to Venezuela, where people live in squalor because of a ruthless communist dictatorship, and we'll start buying their oil and gas again.

They hate us too. But don't worry, the Russians are a go-between between Iran and the United States. Yeah, to open up that Iranian oil.

Yeah, to open up the Iranian oil. This is the takeaways you got from today's broadcast. Folks, you're not getting analysis like this in any other place. And we've got the experts, and we engage these issues like Than is in Washington right now. ACLJ.org, matching challenge is going on right now. Any amount you donate, we get a matching gift for. Go to ACLJ.org, that's ACLJ.org, and support the work of the American Center for Law and Justice.

At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20. A $50 gift becomes $100. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org.