Getting the facts straight on the price of gas

By Mike Dunbar
Valley Solutions Editor

If you’ve watched TV anytime in the last month, you’ve had a front-row seat to a modern political reality show brought to you by Donald Trump and Kevin Lincoln. Each little episode is full of manufactured controversy, outright lies and an assault on your intelligence.

The political plot is similar in each of their commercials. No matter the issue, they all want to portray Adam Gray as the bad guy.

Their reasoning is obvious. They’re desperate to distract you from the real issues affecting your life. Like $6.40 gas, higher prices everywhere you look, rising mortgage rates, crowded ERs and more.

This reality show could get worse.

Donald Trump’s presidency – with his gold-plated monuments, fawning lackeys and broken promises – has become an exhausting spectacle. Incredibly, Kevin Lincoln has looked at this sorry reality show and wants to join Trump’s cast of yes-men.

But, like joining Mar-a-Lago, there’s a price for membership. You must pretend the Emperor is wrapped in glory and that every problem belongs to someone else. That’s why they’re blaming Adam Gray for the price of gas.

Let’s look at the facts.

Nearly a decade ago, Gray linked arms with a Republican (partisan purists, avert your eyes) to help pass the California Infrastructure Act. The bill called for record investments to fix potholes, expand freeways, and make our roads safer. Gray and Sen. Anthony Cannella even negotiated additional local investments to connect UC Merced directly to Highway 99 and expand commuter train service from the Valley to job centers in the Bay Area.

Where did the money come from? The 2017 bill adjusted the existing gas tax for inflation after it had remained flat for nearly two decades. That adjustment increased the price of a gallon of gas from $3.00 to $3.12.

Gray made a tough, bipartisan vote to deliver real money for Valley roads.

That was nearly 10 years ago. And for the record, Gray has consistently opposed every single additional gas-tax increase since.

Enough history. Let’s look at today’s facts.

Gas in California is $6.40 a gallon, and diesel is north of $8. That isn’t because of a 10-year-old road repair bill. It’s because Donald Trump began dropping bombs on Iran. Trump threw a match into the Middle East without a plan, and now you pay more for every fill-up.

Before Trump started his new war, Kevin Lincoln couldn't get close enough to the President. He proudly plastered “TRUMP ENDORSED” across the top of his campaign signs. He was practically vibrating with gratitude when embraced by his king.

Then the bombs started dropping and the prices started skyrocketing, and Kevin Lincoln was looking for a place to hide. He scrubbed Trump’s name from his signs. He didn’t go to Texas for the midterm Trump-a-palooza. Even now, Lincoln ducks questions from anyone who might remind him of his pledge of allegiance to Trump.

Kevin Lincoln would be another rubber-stamp representative voting for reckless wars, job-killing tariffs, cruel immigration policies, and a crushing economic agenda rigged to help the richest people in the world.

When you mark your ballot, you can vote for the guy hiding from his own campaign signs, praying you’re dumb enough to believe his revisionist history.

Or, you can vote for the guy who, in reality, gets things done – Adam Gray.

Mike Dunbar is the editor of Valley Solutions and a former columnist and Editorial Page editor for McClatchy newspapers.