{"id":228421,"date":"2026-03-31T10:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/228421\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:51:09","slug":"in-care-centric-houston-the-iran-war-is-a-pain-in-the-gas-tank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/228421\/","title":{"rendered":"In Care-Centric Houston, the Iran War is a Pain in the Gas Tank"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emily Butler says she doesn\u2019t like spending $50 on gas every few days just to make her morning commute to work, and she\u2019d rather the President of the United States focus his energy on stabilizing the American economy than ordering the invasion of a foreign country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Butler was among thousands of protesters at a No Kings<\/a> event at Houston City Hall last week. Most of the attendees were there to show their disapproval of Donald Trump\u2019s immigration policies, but, according to Butler, there are a plethora of things that warrant protesting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The single mother of two drives 18 miles one way, Monday through Friday, to her job as a paraprofessional at a public school in a Houston suburb. She could find a job closer to home, but she likes the district where she\u2019s employed. She even likes the morning drive, listening to the radio and having time to herself. She doesn\u2019t like that the price of gas went from about $2.50 a gallon in February to $3.50 a gallon in March.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to drive every day,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s no option of carpooling or taking the METRO. It\u2019s only been a month and already I can\u2019t afford it. Why are we spending billions of dollars on a war in Iran when people can\u2019t afford health insurance and working moms have to go to the food bank to feed their kids?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fuel prices spiked shortly after President Donald Trump, without Congressional approval, decided to join Israel in launching air strikes into Iran<\/a> late last month. In response, Iran cut off access to the Strait of Hormuz for its adversaries, limiting access to oil and liquefied natural gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Iran officials reportedly<\/a> rejected a U.S. ceasefire proposal and said it would end the war when it decides to do so and its conditions are met. Those conditions, according to The Guardian, are promises that the fighting and assassination of high-ranking officials will end, a guarantee that no other war will be started against Iran, reparations for the current conflict, and Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a televised speech Sunday that his country would host peace talks between the United States and Iran. However, U.S. Marines are already stationed in the Middle East and Iran\u2019s Parliament Speaker dismissed the negotiations as \u201ccover for a ground invasion,\u201d according to Time<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Iran still has missiles, drones, and regional allies so some experts think the war could drag on, possibly for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Rising gas prices are keeping some Houstonians off the roads. Credit: Photo by April Towery<\/p>\n

In the short term, the limited access to the Strait of Hormuz is a good thing for the Lone Star State\u2019s oil and gas industry. The price of oil has risen to more than $120 a barrel, providing a revenue boost for producers. But it\u2019s not sustainable in the long term. War creates uncertainty, which can delay or complicate major investments. And when gas prices jump, people reduce their drive time, and the auto industry tanks<\/a>, harming the economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Food prices rise because most products are delivered to grocery stores by diesel trucks, said Loren Steffy, an independent business and energy writer who recently appeared on the radio show Houston Matters<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About one-third of the world\u2019s globally traded fertilizer goes through the Strait of Hormuz, so its limited access has hampered food production in an already stressed agricultural industry, according to the United Nations Trade and Development<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: United Nations Trade and Development<\/p>\n

One-fifth of the world\u2019s oil comes through the Strait of Hormuz, and producers in the Middle East are curtailing their production, Steffy said, \u201cbecause they don\u2019t have any place to go with the oil.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this case, I think the big question is, can we do anything to ease the bottleneck? At least in the short term, there doesn\u2019t seem to be an obvious answer to that,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The core inflation rate is 2.5 percent as of February, above the Federal Reserve\u2019s 2 percent target. The scenario of high inflation, a struggling economy and an oil crisis is familiar, said University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis happened as the pandemic was starting and it happened after 9\/11,\u201d he said. \u201cThere have been strong political outcomes that were connected to the rising price of fuel. There are ways that presidents can manage this but the bottom line is that if gas is too expensive at the pump, it\u2019s going to be a problem for the party in power.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rottinghaus notes that with some critical, competitive midterm elections coming up in November and affordability at the forefront of much of the political messaging, there\u2019s no question that Republicans are going to have to answer for the choices of the President.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a strong connection between presidential approval and gas prices,\u201d Rottinghaus said. \u201cIf gas prices continue to increase, and the presidential approval continues to decrease, that could be a problem in the midterms. There is a relationship between presidential approval and midterm success, so those things can definitely be connected. I don\u2019t know that the presidential approval ratings can go down much further. They\u2019re already pretty much at the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuters reported<\/a> last week that Trump\u2019s approval rating was at 36 percent \u201cas fuel prices surge amid the Iran War.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be politically challenging for Republicans to convince people that they\u2019re \u201cdoing what they can to fix it when the national narrative is run through Donald Trump, who hasn\u2019t made the issue a priority,\u201d Rottinghaus said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe White House wants to get Trump out to stump for affordability issues, and he does, but he also talks about a range of other things that may not be as politically palatable for voters,\u201d he said. \u201cThe messaging matters. There\u2019s not a lot of academic work on whether people are willing to suffer for a greater cause. There\u2019s some anecdotal evidence, like the pandemic and 9\/11, when prices rose as a result of these external forces which are not necessarily blamed on any one person or party. The Iran situation might be different. The problem the White House faces is that they haven\u2019t explained well the reasons for intervention, and it comes at a moment when people are already sensitive to high prices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has been criticized throughout his second term, which began in January 2025, for being out of touch with the working class. Rottinghaus said the factors needed to declare a recession \u2014 a slump in the stock market, a skidding of economic growth and cratering in terms of job creation \u2014 haven\u2019t happened simultaneously yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEconomists would say there are hundreds of indicators that make up a recession, but politically, there doesn\u2019t have to be a technical recession for it to have a major liability for Trump and the Republicans in the midterms,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now they can kind of coast on the successful stock market and reasonable job growth to say this is going fine but not great. There are a lot of people who are still struggling. People are making accommodations based on economic tightening. People are selling plasma to make ends meet. The economy is squeezing people. I suspect it\u2019s more widespread than we think and it\u2019s measured in ways we don\u2019t always see.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Butler, inflation and rising gas prices aren\u2019t life-or-death matters for her and her daughters, but she says she doesn\u2019t understand why the President would get involved in a war that directly harms the American economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to starve to death, but we\u2019re buying groceries at Dollar Tree instead of Target,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re not getting new dresses for Easter Sunday. We\u2019re not taking weekend road trips. [Trump] promised us that the economy would thrive under his leadership. He lied.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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