Fulcher: Prepare for turbulence

Your gas prices are likely to go up.

Grocery store shelves could soon resemble their stark pandemic selves.

And inflation, already on an uncomfortable trajectory, could go even higher.

These are just some of the disruptions North Idahoans may see ahead, U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher said Thursday.

“Any time there’s unrest at this level, this has the potential to throw the world into a very anxious situation,” Fulcher told The Press in a phone interview. “Whenever that happens, weird things happen. People understandably buy 2 - 3X what they need at the grocery store to stock up and then you see the snowball effect throughout our supply chain. We’ve seen it in the not too distant past with toilet tissue and bottled water.”

Fulcher, the Republican representing Idaho’s First District since 2019, was among others meeting with administration officials Thursday afternoon. His message: “No boots on the ground but try to go after it fiscally.”

In other words, hit Russian President Vladimir Putin right where it hurts.

Fulcher said that the Biden administration put into place U.S. policies that greatly restrict fossil fuel production and export to Europe.

“Russia has filled the void,” he said, “and that’s given Putin a significant revenue stream.”

Fulcher’s advice: “Reverse that energy policy. Fire up those exports to our friends again because they used to buy from us; now they’re buying from him. Cut off his revenue stream through the energy channel and we get a double win: We choke him and we bolster our own economy and our own energy independence.”

Emphasizing that he has no inside information but is basing his opinion on a great deal of observation, Fulcher addressed two other key questions that the Russian invasion of Ukraine are leading Americans to ask.

One, is the U.S. poised to launch a cyberattack on Russia?

Not likely, Fulcher guessed.

“The reason you haven’t seen the US wage a cyberattack is because, very possibly, the Russian capacity for that is greater than ours,” he conceded.

He paused before adding: “That also may be one of the impacts we feel here. If they do tie up certain banking channels, certain power channels, that is a possibility that we could feel so people should be prepared for that.”

And two, is there anything else our country can do to help bring the conflict to a quick end?

The choking-off financial strategy will likely take time for 30 trillion good reasons, he said.

“Our strength the past few decades has been our fiscal position,” Fulcher said. “We were able to break the Soviet Union because we outspent them. We’re $30 trillion in debt now. They’re not.”

Rather than spend heavily on military support, Fulcher emphasized the importance of boosting U.S. energy production and export.

“He’s kind of a one-trick pony,” he said of Putin. “The Russian economy is very dependent on energy. If we choke that off, eventually, we’ll take away his capacity to be expansionist.”

“We’ll make it through this,” added Fulcher, a recent renal cancer survivor. “It’s just ugly.”