Biden Puts Band-Aid on Crisis He Caused

This is Jay Sekulow, President Biden putting a Band-Aid on a crisis that he caused. Keeping you informed and engaged.

Now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jay Sekulow. Hey everybody, welcome to the broadcast.

We'll be taking your calls at 800-684-3110. We're going to be joined by Mike Pompeo later in the broadcast. There's some we're going to cover, and by the way, we're covering a lot of topics.

Let me give you an overview of what we've got. First, we're going to be discussing, and this is a serious issue, the President has released oil reserves, United States oil reserves. The problem is it's going to deplete a lot of our oil reserves, which means the next tyrant that pulls the Vladimir Putin, we could be in even more serious trouble. And the reason we say it's self-induced is because when you look at what has happened, we were energy independent folks 18 months ago. And 18 months later, we are not. So we're going to get into that with Mike Pompeo, Harry Hutchison also.

It was a lot of experience in that oil and gas industry. Let me go to the next topic. We're also, the American Center for Law and Justice is filing a brief today with the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. We are representing 65 members of the United States Senate and House. This is the Biden's mandate that barred states, prohibited states, this is where these policies make no sense, barred states from lowering their taxes if they take any of the federal COVID relief money.

This was back last year. So if a state said, we're going to lower the tax burden on our people, especially during this crisis, we are going to not be allowed to accept federal funds. I mean, think about that for a moment and talking about funding. We're also, as we mentioned, we're going to talk about this oil and gas crisis because folks, you're filling up your gas and now look, I can afford it. But I will tell you something, when it hits $100 on the gas pump, it's a little mind blowing.

$98 and 57 cents is what, and I was low, I will admit I was low on gas, but it was $98 and 57 cents to fill up the car gas because it was close to six bucks a gallon. I mean, it's just, like I said, it's mind blowing what is starting to happen here. Stock market reports, you've seen that, this has been one of the weaker sectors. So you've got this kind of cacophony of issues happening simultaneously and then we're going to also get into some of the pro-life battles that are going to be ahead.

C.C. Heil is with me here in the studio and some of those folks, we're expecting the Dobbs decision. Look, it's going to be either, it could be this week. Well, it won't be this week. It could be next week.

It certainly could be by the end of June, 1st of July, because that's when they're done. We're looking at the, what does it look like post Roe versus Wade? It doesn't mean it goes away, it just means it's going to be different. Yeah, and as we've discussed a lot of times on what's going to happen with this Dobbs case is that if it overturns Roe v. Wade, or even if it kind of limits Roe v. Wade, the states are the ones that are going to have to make the decision of how much life they're going to protect. Are they going to protect that baby from the time of conception?

Are they going to protect it at pain, when it can feel pain, 15 weeks? Those decisions are going to be up to the state of when they're going to protect life. And those decisions will also probably, to be honest folks, I think we're going to be, the one we have to, NARAL and Planned Parenthood, do you have any doubt that they will still litigate it? They'll just probably move to state courts. Oh, they're going to keep fighting. I mean, the battle is they are in the abortion business and they will keep fighting till the very end, I have no doubt.

I'm optimistic though with the way that case I think is going to go. Now, let me take a minute here to say a thank you to our ACLJ members and those that donated to the ACLJ yesterday. We had a big budget goal and we hit it.

I think Matt said we were actually technically $300 short from the goal, but one minute after the expiration time, more than that came in. So we hit our goal of our budget goal, which is very, very important for our planning because we've got some big new initiative ahead. If you're watching on any of our social media platforms, we encourage you to share this with your friends. Professor Harry Hutchinson is going to be joining us next and Ben would be joining us later in the broadcast and our Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, Mike Pompeo. So we've got a lot ahead.

Stay tuned on that. And again, thank you ACLJ members. And if you've got any questions on these topics, 1-800-684-3110.

In fact, how's it affecting you at the gas tank? 1-800-684-3110. Back with more in a moment. 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. 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, the 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. All right, so the United States of America goes from energy independence to energy dependence in about an 18-month period. And we have a war in Eastern Europe that makes it even more dangerous and more costly. President Biden yesterday draws down a million barrels a day of oil for the next six months, which means 180 million barrels of oil total. Would leave the already depleted reserves down to around 388 million barrels, which will be the lowest level since, ready for this one? March of 1984.

Let me say that again. When we pull these down, which is starting now, March of 1984. He framed the high energy prices the President did as a wartime issue that requires a robust and wide-ranging response.

Average price of regular gasoline in the United States is 423. And I'll tell you, I mean, where our studio is right now, it's higher than that. And I know this is affecting families all over the country. I want to go to Professor Harry Hutchinson, who also is our director of policy, but also has experience in the oil and gas field. And Harry, get your reaction to this drawdown. We said this is a crisis of his own making.

Absolutely. And it's a crisis of competence. So first, we should note that US energy consumption in 2021 was almost 20 million barrels per day. Hence Biden's decision to tap into our strategic oil reserve only amounts to 5% of our daily consumption.

And that is only for six months. Second, as a result of market disruptions, gasoline and diesel prices in the United States have been significantly increasing since the onset of the war in Ukraine. On March the 6th, the price of regular gasoline soared to over $4 per gallon. And as of March 10th, the average price of diesel inflated to over $5 per gallon.

Harry, it's even more than that. And that was about three weeks ago, right? It is significantly increased in what I'm seeing.

You are absolutely correct. And so now the American people are paying the highest petroleum energy prices ever recorded. And in addition to that, we should note that the US energy price amount is close to the Biden administration goal. So it's important to keep in mind that the Biden administration has always had the goal of raising petroleum prices in order to shift consumption to alternative sources of energy.

The problem, of course, is that there are virtually no alternative sources of energy. Not to make up this kind of gap and that may be a lofty goal, but you know when the best time to do that is not in the middle of a war in Eastern Europe. Absolutely.

And the Biden administration had fair warning because Russia was amassing troops on the Ukrainian border since March of last year. We are getting great calls. 1-800-684-3110. I want to go to Dan first calling from California. Hi, Dan. Welcome to the broadcast. You're on the air.

Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Thank you for all you do.

Sure appreciate it. I'm a truck driver. I'm a one truck owner operator. I own my own business. I have my own authority.

I'm on the hook for everything that I do. And I actually live in Western Nebraska where fuel is high, but it is what it is. But I'm out here in California right now all at speed. I just got off the gas station and I heard what you were talking about so I had to call in. I just put in 153 gallons of fuel at $6.25 a gallon. What kind of fuel do you use, Dan?

What do you use? Diesel? Diesel fuel, yeah. That's a big semi-truck. Tell me, like two years ago what were you paying for that roughly if you remember? Oh, gosh.

Two years ago I was down 290, 315. So it's double basically. And Dan's talking about it as a commercial truck driver. The problem is, CC, and that's a problem for Dan and his business, but it's a real problem for families.

That's right. It's a problem for families. You decide what car you're driving based on it.

I do. I actually drive my son's car because it gets better gas mileage than mine and that we have four drivers in our family and we literally try to conserve. And with that caller, when he has to pay more higher prices for gas, he has to pass that on to the consumer too. So we get double hit as the consumer.

I have to go and pay higher prices at the gas station, but I also have to now pay higher prices for goods and services that truck drivers are having to pay higher prices. So Harry, what would have been the right, obviously the Keystone Pipeline, things like this, what would have been the right answer here? Well, the right answer would be never give up U.S. energy independence, which is what we had in 2020. It's important to consider... Do you view that as a national security priority?

Absolutely. And apparently the Biden administration, which is prepared to cave to kind of a globalist agenda, is much more interested in so-called green energy rather than the fundamental interest of the American people. And it's important to keep in mind we have imposed, for instance, sanctions on Russian energy, Russian banks.

But guess what is happening? Russia is doing absolutely fine. The ruble is rising. Fertilizer prices are rising. Food prices are rising.

And Russia and Ukraine supply a substantial portion of the world's grain production. So at the end of the day, the Biden administration strategy is backfiring all the way down. All right, let's go to Tim. He's calling from California. If you want to talk to us about this, 1-800-684-3110. How's this affecting you? Hey, Tim, welcome to the broadcast.

You're on the air. Thank you for taking my call. Why does President Biden think that every time he makes a withdrawal from the oil reserves, that's going to make the gas situation better? It's going to make it worse. Well, I think the thought is if you get more gas into the system, Harry, it should bring prices down. And they were talking about them giving rebates. Remember, I don't know what ever happened to that idea.

They were actually sending out checks. And that was a couple of weeks ago to give people like we did during COVID. What is your sense about that? Well, drawing down the strategic reserve is, A, a drop in the bucket and the market will realize that. So keep in mind, we basically consume 20 million barrels of oil per day of petroleum products. And so releasing 1 million barrels per day from the strategic reserve, in addition to drawing down the reserve, it only contributes to a roughly 5% of U.S. petroleum consumption. So at the end of the day, the market realizes that this is a temporary fix.

And guess what? The strategic petroleum reserve does not contain unlimited amounts of energy. So the strategic petroleum reserve will be drawn down to around 388 barrels. And that would mean that it will take another seven years to fill it back up. Which really puts us in jeopardy.

You get another tyrant in Eastern Europe or in the Middle East and we're back in disaster zone. We are. And unfortunately, with the Biden administration, there is no end in sight with respect to his energy-related missteps, which basically are a replication of his strategic missteps in Afghanistan on the southern border.

You name it, the Biden administration is a disaster and the American people are beginning to realize it. All right. We're going to keep this topic going. We're taking your calls.

1-800-684-3110. Patrick's calling from Missouri on Line 3. Patrick, go ahead. You're on the air.

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate everything you're doing. God bless you and your work. I'm an over-the-road driver.

I filled up the other day 150 gallons, $860-plus. Now, I'm a company driver. So I don't pay for it out of my pocket, per se. Per se. But it does affect... Right.

It does affect my ESOC. Sure. The Employee Stock Option Program. Dan called in a bit ago from California. He's an owner-operator. These guys, I mean, they're taking such a hit.

There's a lot of them that are parking their trucks. I know that. I'd represent, Patrick, some logistic company.

I actually co-represented for a client of mine. It's an investment for his. And this is becoming a huge issue.

But you just said something fascinating. And that is you're a company driver, but you have an Employee Stock Option Plan, which means you can get stock in your company. But if it's more expensive to operate that company, and, Cece, you're a corporate lawyer, that stock is worth less, and it's worth less to those employees buying it.

Right. So once again, it's not just going to the gas pump and having to pay more there. You're going to lose investments. Your investments are going to go down. You're going to have to pay more for the food that Dan is driving. You're going to have to pay more for that because he has to charge more for what he does.

All right. We're taking your calls on this, folks. I know we've hit a sensitive issue here. It's affecting a lot of people. We're going to talk about what we can do about it. 1-800-684-3110, 800-684-3110. Lines will open up during the break. So we encourage you to keep calling 1-800-684-3110.

Van Bennett's going to join us. We're going to talk a little bit about a case we just filed on a budget issue, but we're going to talk about this issue too with our Director of Government Affairs. So let's take your calls. 1-800-684-3110. We normally don't take calls till the end, but I know this is impacting a lot of people and we want to give you some ideas and help and know how we're going to address this issue for you from Washington and around the country, frankly, from around the world. And that's what it takes. And we've got the resources at the ACLJ to do it. 1-800-684-3110. If you want to talk to us on air, support the work of the ACLJ.

You sure did in March. We appreciate it 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 were 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, the 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. Hey, welcome back, everybody. We're now joined by our Director of Government Affairs.

We've got a lot of our top team in here, folks. We know this is an issue that's impacting you directly in your pocket. We're going to fix your family. If it affects your family, it affects us, and we want to take action on this to help you out. We're working on it. Than Bennett is our Director of Governmental Affairs.

Than, we're talking about a brief we're going to file at the 11th Circuit, but right now, I'm telling you, our phone lines are jammed. People are concerned about this. We were energy dependent 18 months ago, as Harry said. Harry, we were an energy exporter.

Absolutely, we were an exporter, and so we've given up that. We've essentially given up a strategic advantage, which does empower tyrants throughout the world, from Iran to wherever they may be, and first, I have no understanding of why we're doing it. So, Than, what is the sense in Washington? This is a crisis of Joe Biden's own making, but what's the sense in Washington right now?

What can we accomplish here? Well, how many times have we said this, Jay? I mean, elections and policy choices have consequences, and I think I would start by just reminding people what candidate Joe Biden said. I mean, he said it very clearly. He said, I guarantee you, we are going to end fossil fuel, and I am not going to cooperate with them. So, Jay, it's not like we just sort of got here by accident and the circumstances of the world and the war in Eastern Europe and COVID brought us to this place. Jay, this was a policy path that this candidate, now this President, that he wanted, Jay. And look, he had lots of warning from us and other people that if this was the tack that he was going to take, the American people were the ones that were going to pay the price. They were going to pay it literally at the pump, and they were going to pay it in lots of other ways as well. And Jay, on day one, he started implementing this plan when he shut down the Keystone pipeline, when he blocked exploration in Anwar, and a number of other things.

I would just make that point, Jay. It was not an accident. This was an intentional policy choice that this administration made. Yeah. And this blaming all of this on Vladimir Putin is ridiculous.

And I'll tell you why. We went from energy independence to energy dependence in 18 months. And then unfortunately we had an intervening war in Eastern Europe, which just exasperated an already ridiculous policy move. Closing down the Keystone pipeline? But they approved the Nordstrom pipeline to Germany from Russia? That's like having Russia as your negotiating partner in Iran. Who would do that? Oh, Joe Biden would. Bob Gates was right.

Every foreign policy decision this guy has made, he's been on the wrong side of it. We're going right back to our phones at 800-684-3110. Jeff's calling from New York. We're getting on the entire country represented today. Hi, Jeff.

Hey there. So one of the things, like think of Donald Trump as a businessman. When he had a chance to buy oil for $35 a barrel, he filled up our strategic reserve. So now we're taking that oil and using it, it's going to cost us $110 a barrel to replace it. Yeah, no, it's not. The math is not encouraging. You're right. Look, it's going to cost a lot of money.

I'm just not convinced we're going to get those reserves, Harry, up to where they were. I think that is correct. And I also think that represents, as Thanh rightly points out, a deliberate policy choice by the Biden administration. So their long run goal is to reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuel.

And they are attempting to achieve this on the backs of the American people. So the sanctions against Russia, for instance, they're backfiring. The ruble is up. Petroleum prices are up. Russia actually seems to be doing relatively well given the circumstances.

And yet the American people are bearing the burden of this sanctions regime, which represents, in my opinion, a deliberate policy choice by the Biden administration. We've got a great call coming in on that from South Carolina. Ronald is on line one. Ronald, welcome to the broadcast. You're on the air. Yes.

Thank you for taking my call. As Thanh was literally saying, the handwriting is on the wall. It is true.

They're looking at all of the evidence, but the Democrats are closing their eyes to it. And they are just continually putting in policies and trying plans and stuff like that. That is literally failing.

It is like the new definition for insanity, which is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Right. So what you've got is, and this is important for people, I want you to, this is a takeaway from this. We always say elections have consequences. And C.C., part of that election has consequences.

I'm going to fan on this too, but I'll go to C.C. first. Elections have consequences. Policy choices. The President is a policy maker. That's the office of the presidency. He has that role as chief executive. And these are the policies he's putting in place. This is what he wants to do.

Right. And I said it before, within the, this administration, politics reigns supreme. They do not care about the American people.

They don't care about what's best for the United States. We should be producing gasoline and oil, not buying, not, and not dipping from our emergency reserves. We have the ability to produce it. And that helps us in a million ways. So it makes no sense. Yeah, it makes no sense.

I mean, then we could produce the oil and, and set up the pipelines to do this. What is the sense on conservatives in Washington? What is the solution here? The sense is it's going to take a change in one of the chambers, at least one of the chambers to get movement on this, Jay, because this administration, they have chosen narrative over facts on the ground.

I would just give you two pieces of evidence for that. The strategic reserve, Jay, as I think you've mentioned in this show, it's really there for a reason. That's for an emergency.

It's only useful if you're tapping into it from a place of energy independence. How do you return to a place of independence? That's the second issue that actually could be addressed.

And we know it because we were there 18 months ago. You have to open up exploration. You have to ease permitting.

You have to allow for those things to expand. Why is that not happening right now, Jay? It's because every time the energy companies try to do it, they get punished by it, for it, by the federal government. Why would you explore if you know the federal government is going to slap you down for it?

And Jay, just, just look at that Build Back Better Act. It is chock full with green new deal ideas. That's why exploration is not happening.

But Harry, we're in it. We're in a bit of a, I mean, to be honest and to be fair, we're in a bit of a crisis right now, right? I mean, the oil and gas situation is that serious. And the policies that the administration are putting forward are clearly the policies that they believe are going to meet the left party, the progressive wing of their party. But it's harming the American people in the process. I think that is true.

But I think then it was precisely correct. The administration prefers a particular narrative over facts on the ground. I think at the end of the day, the American people are seeing a demonstration right before their own eyes that the Biden administration prefers to believe in an unrealistic narrative than care about the American people. So the Biden administration consistently refuses to return to reality. Instead, the Biden administration has composed a requiem for reality.

They've basically moved into the world of make-believe. I'll tell you what we're going to do. We've got a second half hour of the broadcast coming up. Our senior counsel for global affairs, Mike Pompeo, is going to be on with us. He's going to join our team here. He will give some insight as well. And that'll be very important.

Former Secretary of State. So he can really address these issues as well. We are working on Capitol Hill on this.

As Thanh just said, depleting these reserves has got all kinds of consequences. We're going to talk about that. So again, phone lines have opened up a little bit. We've taken some calls. So if you're on the road right now and you're a trucker, I sure would like to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110.

In fact, if you're not a trucker, that's okay. You could call us too. 800-684-3110.

The phone lines are going to ring busy, but just, you know, give it a couple of times and there'll be one or two that open up. 1-800-684-3110. Support the work in the American Center for Law and Justice at ACLJ.org. That's ACLJ.org. Folks, again, I need to say a huge thank you to all of those of you that participated in our matching challenge for March because we met our budget. And that is great. Thank you so much for that. That makes a huge difference. ACLJ.org.

Back with more, including your calls in just a moment. 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, Jay Sekulow. Hey, everybody.

Welcome back to the broadcast. We've been talking about the situation that you're paying for and I'm paying for and are all paying for, and that is the rising gas prices. The President released some of the reserves. That sounds like maybe we'll get some relief. According to our director of policy, Professor Harry Hutchinson, that is not going to get us the relief, but it is going to deplete our reserves. You're not going to see a significant reduction, Harry, in the cost of fuel.

I think that's correct. And it's important to keep in mind that world energy prices are determined by a forecast of where prices will be. So for instance, the President has announced that he is releasing a million barrels per day, but he's also announced that that will stop in 180 days. Well, the market will adjust to that, number one. And then number two, it's very, very important that as petroleum prices rise, this actually helps Vladimir Putin.

Why? Because he is able to sell his energy at higher and higher prices. And that goes along with higher and higher prices for Russian fertilizer, which is one of the major producers of fertilizer, I think, in the world. And so at the end of the day, the American people are paying the price for Biden's missteps on energy and his inability to understand what is going on in the world. And I think at the end of the day, the American people will need to step in in November and demand a massive, massive change. Yeah, we're going to take a phone call. Is Stan Bennett still with us or yes? Stan, before we take this call, and we may make the call in the next segment, we've also filed a brief, we'll be filing it today at the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which is another one that affects American families because it involves reduction of state income taxes, which everybody would like to see, except the Biden administration put a little wrinkle into that.

Explain. Yeah, no question about it, Jay. This is one we've been working on for a couple of years now. The first COVID stimulus package that passed after President Biden took office, it was the first partisan one, Jay, and they used it to jam all sorts of partisan measures into it. One of them is the one that we're filing on today. It's a provision that says every state that gets COVID stimulus dollars, get this, Jay, they can't reduce your state taxes in any form or fashion all the way until 2024. Now, Jay, we know Congress can condition funds, but they certainly can't coerce states like that.

So we partnered with states at the district level. We challenged that in court filing briefs on behalf of members of Congress. One, two rulings at the district court level, but get this, Jay, the government continues to press their case.

They've appealed to the 11th Circuit. They want to make sure states can't reduce taxes. Today, we filed on behalf of 54 members of Congress insisting on a state's right to set their own tax policy.

Yeah. And our friend, Senator Tim Scott, Congressman Brady, and we've got some of the leadership on this brief. And this goes to a pro-family agenda. Reducing the tax burn on the American people is a pro-family agenda, Cece. And the problem here is the way the government operates, they will tie the hands of the local state officials or the state taxing authorities to get their way. In other words, you want to give some relief money, don't condition on what, if the state can reduce the tax burden during COVID, you would think that would be a good idea.

Yeah. And that shows you, I think, the true heart behind the Biden administration. Obviously, every time you take federal funds, it comes with strings. And so you take federal funds very limitedly. But this is ridiculous when these federal funds are coming with strings that say a state cannot reduce taxes. That just absolutely hits to the American people. And that's ridiculous.

They're harming the American people almost intentionally. All right. We're continuing to take your calls on this very important issue, 1-800-684-3110. That's 800-684-3110. Get your calls in. Mike Pompeo is coming up in the last segment of the broadcast. You want to stay tuned for this.

If you're watching on any of our social media platforms, we encourage you to share this feed with your friends. If you're out there driving around today, truck drivers, we know you're listening to us on Series 7. We love our truck drivers.

Give us a call, 800-684-3110. We want to hear from you and others. But what Van just said, on a state, they're giving federal funds for COVID relief, and they refuse to allow the states, if they could, to reduce the tax burden on American families.

That's why the ACLJ is in federal court. We've won twice. We'll win again at the 11th Circuit.

Back with more, including your calls in a moment. 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 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.

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, the 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. Hey, welcome back, everybody. We're taking your calls at 1-800-684-3110, 800-684-3110, talking about the President releasing oil reserves. Does it move the needle? Does it move the needle, Harry, for the American family? No, it doesn't.

It doesn't provide long-term relief. It's important to keep in mind that the Biden administration says it's a bridge, a bridge to the future. Actually, it's a bridge to nowhere, to higher and higher petroleum prices. And so the American people should anticipate that they will have to pay higher and higher energy prices. Keep in mind, we are now paying the highest gas prices in U.S. history.

And I do not foresee much of a reduction coming from this latest move by the Biden administration. Let's go to David in California on line three. Hi, David. We're getting a lot of calls from California, and I know you're paying a lot out there for fuel, but David, go ahead. You're on the air.

Thanks for taking my call. I just had two points in regard to getting away from fossil fuels and going to electric vehicles. The first is, nationally, 70% of the electricity is generated by burning fossil fuel or some coal or other type of fossil fuel. And secondly, had we made the switch in the 1960s to 100% electric vehicles, it'd make a significant reduction in smog. But current vehicles produce about 1% of the smog of vehicles in the 1960s.

One of the studies I read said that if we went to 100% electric vehicles tomorrow, that pollution would stay the same or go up slightly. And here's the reality is, the cost of those electric cars right now are prohibitive for most families. And I'm viewing all of this through the lens of how does this affect your family, whether it's this tapping the reserves that aren't going to actually lower gas or the Biden administration, which we're in court on at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. We've won so far, saying when you got COVID relief, state governments, you can't lower taxes.

That was the condition on that. How does this impact the family, CC? That's what we look at. We look at this through the lens of how does this affect the mom and dad or the grandparents? How does it affect the newlyweds? How does it affect the single-family homes?

How does it impact people where they are? Right, so whether it be taxes or the price at the gas pump, families want to keep as much money in our pockets as we possibly can. And we are seeing as much money flying out of our pockets. And that's problematic. We can't live like that.

And Than, I'm going to take another call here in a moment. But we need solutions to this, which, of course, means sometimes political change. But we also need to hear what those policies look like. Yeah, and there are solutions, Jay. I mean, we had Congressman Chip Roy on the broadcast a couple of weeks ago. He was talking about some of his ideas to unleash American energy.

Jay, he came on when we were talking about blocking the import of Russian oil, which, you know, I think most Americans are probably okay with. But you have to replace that with something. And the point he made and the legislation that he puts forward is, let's take this opportunity to ease the permitting process, not for Saudi oil or Venezuela oil or Iranian oil. What about Pennsylvania shale?

What about exploring in Alaska? What about deep-water drilling permits that take years and years and years to come on? Is there moves, Than, in Capitol Hill, are there moves to open that up or try to get legislation through? There are, Jay. In fact, he's got a legislation, a piece of legislation that would do all of that.

But here's what I'm here to tell you. Speaker Pelosi is actually looking at putting a different proposal on the floor, and that proposal would do nothing but cut a check, another stimulus check, and pay for it by taxing the producers. I don't want to get too far into the weeds here, Jay, but when you attack the producers, what do you get? You get less production. It complicates the problem.

Exactly. Let's go to Tom. He's calling from Virginia.

He's on Line 6. Hi, Tom. We're taking your calls, by the way.

800-684-3110, 1-800-684-3110. Tom, go ahead. You're on the air. Yeah.

Thanks, Jay. So the strategic reserves is for our military use, as far as I'm concerned, not for our consumer uses. If we draw that down and we get into a military conflict somewhere, then what we end up with is no military reserves over here. And in those ships that are going to be coming from Iran and Pakistan or whatever, they can get other easy targets for any Soviet sub to take out or just to commandeer. So the strategic reserves are for the military, for their jets.

Here's the problem. I mean, Harry's looked at this from a policy perspective. And if we actually do release the million a day, basically 180 million barrels of fuel, it's going to take how many years, Harry? It will take up to seven years to refill it. And so it's an enormous problem, which the Biden administration seems unaware of, in part because the Biden administration is perpetually confused about energy and about a raft of policy issues. And how do you project something seven years from now when the world's changing in milliseconds?

That's the problem. Well, one thing that we can project is that the United States will indeed be still dependent on fossil fuel in seven years, notwithstanding the Biden administration's best efforts. We're not France. France produces over 90% of its electricity, for instance, through nuclear power. And so even if you look at electricity, most electricity is generated by what?

Fossil fuels. Cambria is calling from Utah on Line 5. Cambria, welcome to the broadcast. You're on the air.

Thank you, gentlemen. The impact here being from Utah, even though we have the highest unemployment rate in the country, it's not going to help with the pocketbooks here because of the gas prices. And my question, excuse me, I'm curious to know, if your organization has even taken any consideration or know the numbers, how the bankruptcies must be going through the roof. Now, I mean, actually bankruptcies right now, from what I've read, have not been going through the roof, which is interesting, Harry. Well, I think that is correct, but I also think we should anticipate, as the caller points out, future bankruptcies, in part because interest rates are indeed rising along with the inflation rate.

And so I think long term, perhaps in the next six to 18 months, we should see a rise in bankruptcies in the United States. All right. We're just going to report that Western nation allies released oil from their reserve. So most of Europe, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea will join the US in a bid to tamp prices down, tame prices down, that have soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Here's the only problem with all of that. If you've got all of your allies releasing their reserves, your allies have no reserves. And you're doing this in the middle of a war in Eastern Europe, more troops on the battlefield since World War II in Europe. So I want you to think about that one for a moment.

And that's a consequence. Let's go to Barry. He's calling from Tennessee on line one. Hi, Barry.

Hi there. I'm an independent trucker, and fuel prices have indeed doubled. And I think Democrats in this country, Democrat voters, are very stupid in that they don't realize I'm not going to pay that fuel cost out of the goodness of my heart. I'm going to pass it on to the consumer. Yeah.

I don't like using the word stupid. I think their policy is misinformed. And I understand exactly what you're saying, Barry, that the end result is that gets passed on to consumers. Is that what you're saying? Yes.

Yeah. I think that's true. I mean, look, I think that's simple economics. Who's going to pay for it?

I think that's correct. And corporations and businesses are very skillful in passing on price increases and costs to consumers. And the Biden administration does not seem to understand that doing so when inflation is already exploding at a 70-year rate, in other words, the highest inflation in roughly 70 years, that it makes no sense to continue to give up U.S. energy independence.

But the Biden administration, they've made a deliberate policy choice, and the American people should make theirs. But good news, Harry, with all of that, at least with this person as President, you're not getting nasty tweets. I mean, think of that. That's the criticism you want.

That's what they were leveling. The tweets are mean. Absolutely. I think people would take the mean tweets at $1.39 a gallon for gas or $1.89 a gallon for gas. I mean, this is, you know, I'm going to go to you, fam, because this is the frustrating part of all of this politically. Well, and that there are solutions that just aren't being acted on, Jay. And I mean, look, to the caller's last point, if you actually look at the polling right now, it cuts across all party line affiliations, Republicans, Democrats, and independents. They're all feeling the squeeze on their pocketbook. The inflation is hitting them in a big way. Gas prices are hitting them in a big way.

Layer on that states can't reduce their tax burden on them. Jay, these are the kind of factors that when voters go into the polling booths, the party affiliations tend to fall away a little bit. And they say, I am going to vote for someone at the top of the ticket, all the way down to the bottom, who's going to help my pocketbook, Jay. Every election, we say this, pocketbook factors are always number one. And I would say now more than ever, that's going to be the case in these midterms as well.

Yeah, I agree. Our phone lines are getting jammed again. 1-800-684-3110, 1-800-684-3110. Next segment, we're supposed to be joined by our Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, Mike Pompeo. We've got questions about this for him. But folks, again, at the ACLJ, we're not just talking about it. We're putting together policies.

We're analyzing policies. We're putting together better solutions. We're filing in the courts.

As I said, we're in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals today. The brief was filed today, or will be filed today, representing members of Congress in a ridiculous move by the Biden administration that said, if you're getting funds for COVID relief states, you cannot lower your taxes for a period of time. Now, why would you put an additional tax burden during the economic shutdown? That's what they were talking about. Why would you do that to the American people? What is the advantage of this? It's some left-wing, you know, progressive agenda to do this.

But the end result is it costs the American people more money. We're going to be talking to our Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, Mike Pompeo, when we come back from the break. 1-800-684-3110 is the number. That's 800-684-3110.

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Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Hey, welcome back to the broadcast, everyone. We're now joined by our Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, Mike Pompeo, of course, former Secretary of State, former Director of the CIA.

Mike, I want to start with this. President Biden, and we've been inundated with phone calls today from Americans, truck drivers, I'm sure listening on Sirius XM or other stations, and this is getting to be mind-numbing, the amount of money being paid for fuel. But President Biden announced yesterday his plan to release one million barrels of oil a day from our strategic reserves over the next six months to help cut the gas prices, or so he's thinking that's going to happen. Is the President putting essentially what amounts to a band-aid on a problem that he actually created? Jay, this is a political solution in search of finding a way to get out of a economic problem that he created. He created it by shutting down American energy, not just the drillers and the people producing energy, but the pipelines to move it around the world, the folks who can export it, the massive national security problem. And a million barrels a day out of the reserve, that's not nothing in the sense of the United States drills 10, 11 million barrels per day, so it's another 10%.

It's 103 million barrels per day consumed around the world, roughly, so it's 1%. So it's not nothing. But it's not going to solve the problem. The whole world can see that this is temporary.

They can see that he did it for six months between here and the election. This is not a solution to what families are suffering from, whether they're trying to keep their homes cool or eat their homes in the winter, all around the world. And if you're trying to drive any place today and you're carpooling your kids to school, gas prices today or calamity and a million barrels a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve doesn't begin to address that challenge. I wanted to kind of follow up on that one because, Mike, this is really affecting the pocketbooks of the American family.

This is a family issue at this point. And I'm trying to think to myself, how did we as a country go from energy independence where we were actually exporting energy when you served the previous administration to a situation where we are dependent upon imports and now having to hit our strategic reserves? Yeah, we were for every form of affordable energy.

We wanted to let the market drive the outcomes. We wanted people who had windmills and solar panels to be successful. We wanted folks who were producing fossil fuel, the most affordable energy on the planet, to be able to be successful.

This administration took a complete 180-degree turn from that. The President says he wants people to drill on federal lands, but then he's telling the folks who would provide them the capital to do that, nope, you got to comply with a set of environmental rules that are just crazy. And who's going to take risk to drill the next well when Gina McCarthy is in charge of energy policy for the United States of America? This is a woman who wants to abandon fossil fuels and she's going to punish anybody who produces them. So they say one thing on the top line, but anybody who's actually going to go make this affordable for ordinary families, for young people just getting started in their careers in the United States who have to drive a little bit farther because they can't afford the big house near their workplace, who have to live out someplace far from their workplace.

This is really costly and it's going to impact everything they do in their lives for the next years if President Biden doesn't resolve this central idea, which is that affordable clean energy from the United States of America is a good thing, not a bad thing. You know, we have said, and we really believe this at the ACLJ, that this is a family issue. And we've got some of our folks on the set with me. And, Cece, this is an issue, because I'm going to change topics in a minute, that really does affect the American family. And we're certainly hearing this in the calls we're getting today.

Yes. I go and fill up the gas tank and I do it for four people in our family. And I'm shocked. And it does, when it's expensive, it's harmful to my family. And then, Harry, you've got the expense part and then you've got the no plan policy going forward. I think that is correct. And I think that is basically in a microcosm of the Biden administration in a nutshell.

They don't seem to think two or three steps ahead. Yep. All right, Mike, I want to switch gears. We've got a real crisis again looming at the border. Here we go again. Title 42 is about to be removed. That's the policy that your administration had in place. And we're going to look at, you know, it's going to be chaos on the border. What are your thoughts on this? Well, it looks like March was a million illegal entries.

It looks like April, if they lift Title 42, we'll be dead by a long ways. We're talking about, to give your listeners a sense of what this is and your viewers a sense of what this is, think of a good size basketball arena of attendees crossing the border illegally every day, 10, 12, 15,000 people every 24 hours. This is a flood of people coming across our border.

And Jan, you and I've talked about this before. This will include people trafficking in drugs. This will be people bringing across trafficking women across the border. This is a calamity for the United States from a national security perspective, from an economic perspective. And if you care about these people from a humanitarian perspective as well.

I think you're exactly correct. And the humanitarian crisis is going to be huge and it's going to tax our agents at the border again. And we're back to, I mean, the human, I mean, the sex trafficking CC.

We talked about that on a broadcast yesterday. It impacts every community in the United States, every one. Every single community in the United States, every single country in the world deals with human trafficking. When you have a porous border, it just, it's going to increase exponentially the human trafficking that flows across that border. Mike, is there any way when you get those kinds of numbers that you can really control what's taking place and who's getting in?

No chance, Jay. We saw it. As we brought the numbers down, we were able to get better control, have more knowledge, do deeper vetting, have a deeper understanding of what was actually taking place when those numbers explode like that.

I was, I was at an airport in Southwest Texas just this week. And I had a CBP agent tell me that they were putting 300 people a day heading for Orlando, Florida. And I asked a few questions and I don't want to, I don't want to put him in a bad spot, but suffice to say, they don't know who's coming in. The whatever name they give them when they come across as the name they take, the ability for us to detect who and what is coming across that border will be diminished drastically. And this is always bad for American national security. It'll be really bad for American families.

All right, last question. We've, we hit topics today and that is Iran. Representative, our friend, Mike McCaul, who's the lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee says that House Democrats are privately becoming more and more skeptical of a nuclear deal. Dan Shapiro, the so-called Israel whisperer was on the Iran Negotiating Committee, has left that position saying he'll comment more if there's a deal.

He's not sure there will be. What's your sense? Of course, you got Russian negotiating, which is absurd. It's absurd. My sense is this administration has given an awful lot six months ago and then gives more each and every day.

It's going to be a bad deal. I pray that Democrats will rise up and tell the administration not to do it. Jay, you've been watching too. Don't forget the terrorism that's taking place in Israel.

These are not disconnected events. When the bad guys are rewarded, bad guys get more aggressive. Yeah, we're going to really get into that next week on the broadcast. Some of them being claimed by ISIS. Let me ask you one last thing, Mike, and we got less than, really less than a minute here. In Ukraine, Russia, how do you see it right now? What needs to be done? More equipment, more tools, more support for the Ukrainian people. They've done an amazing job defending themselves. We should have done more sooner. We should have been more lethal in the reference that we provided them.

We can still do that. They're doing really remarkable work, but Vladimir Putin isn't looking for an exit ramp. He is looking for a way to continue his aggression.

That's exactly what I think too. I think this, this false flags that are him, some of them he was reporting is looking out and they're, they're beating them back. They haven't even unleashed what they've got. So, I mean, but the Ukrainians are doing a phenomenal job. They're having problems in their rank.

The generals were dismissed by Zelensky last night, but we'll get into all that next week. We're in a jam-packed program. Again, for those of you that supported the work of the, thanks Mike. For those of you that supported the work of the ACLJ in our matching challenge in March, thank you. We could not have done it without you. And you came through and we made our budget. Thank you very much for that.

Makes a big difference. Again, April's a matching challenge. Two months in a row we do this.

So, ACLJ.org for that. But again, just a huge thank you. Make sure you're following us on our social media platforms. You get a lot of information, even over the weekend. Have a great weekend, everybody.

We'll talk to you on Monday. 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.