In a post on September 24, 2024 , before the second election of Trump, Cogport.com  reviewed the recent history of oil prices in the U.S. Here is a brief summary of that History: Obama  (2009-2016)    $75 per barrel.     Peak Price   $109 Trump  (2017-2020)      $53 per barrel      Peak Price   $ 70 Biden   (2021-2024)     $80 per barrel      Peak Price  $130 You can easily see the major swings in prices between Open and Restrictive Policies. The effect on inflation  unde

The Senate is held hostage to a Rule that was not sanctioned by the U.S. Constitution. We are in a record period of government shutdown due to this Rule with Democrats unwilling to pass a Continuing Resolution for funding.   What is the Filibuster Rule ? Here is the background history: Prior to 1917 the Senate had no formal mechanism to cut off debate.  Senators could hold the floor with continuous speech preventing the vote on a Senate Bill.  This was known as a filibuster.

In the last post (October 21), Cogport reviewed the current state of the current Broken Budget Process. We encourage you to read that report for background information. This post will focus on what can be done in the short term and structural reforms for the long term. Current Situation The Government is shutdown due to lack of a Final Appropriations Bill for the 2026 budget for the Fiscal Year that began October 1. Continuing Resolutions have been shut down by Democrats who

We are approaching 3 weeks of Federal Government Shutdown. How did we get in this mess ?   We will start with a basic review in plain language of the Federal Budget process.  We have added Footnote Citations at the end of this report for more detail on authority for this review. The U.S. Constitution  provides minimal guidance on the Federal Budget process.  Here are the basics that are provided:   Congress has the single authority to raise revenue  and decide how it is spen