In Reply to: Thank God it's Frigg's Day (or Freya's Day?) * posted by mh on September 04, 2026 at 09:53:35
The average cost of diesel fuel set a new record on Friday, hitting a whopping $5.85 per gallon, according to AAA’s fuel tracker—a 30% increase from the same time last year.
The timing of the diesel spike could not be worse for the GOP, which is directly responsible for the price increase as the party did not stop Trump from launching an ill-advised war that he now cannot seem to get out of.
The midterm elections are less than two months away, with mail-in ballots hitting mailboxes as early as today in states across the country.
And a surge in diesel prices will almost certainly trickle down to higher prices in the rest of the economy. That’s because diesel powers the trucks, boats, and trains that transport goods across the country. Diesel is also used in farming machinery to harvest crops, meaning a spike in diesel prices will also likely impact grocery prices.
Related | Gas prices hit all-time August high, tanking GOP’s midterm chances
Given that the cost of living is the issue voters say will determine how they vote in the election, that leaves Republicans in a terrible spot.
“This impacts you, even if you don’t fill up with diesel,” Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee wrote in a post on X of the new diesel price record. “Higher diesel prices > higher fuel costs for truckers > higher shipping costs for businesses > higher prices on store shelves > higher costs for you.”