Which is precisely why politicians will do something, even something that could make the problem worse (e.g. Nixon and price controls). Bitch and moan all you want, there isn't much that can be done.

I agree with you that it is asinine but, I learned something a long, long time ago about working people. That is.
You can do a lot to him and he will let it go by, but when you stick you hand in his pocket, there will be hell to pay.

Poling indicates that approx. 80 plus percent of the people think the oil companies are ripping them off and the Bush administration is doing nothing but lip service about it. Therefore, The Republican Party will pay the price.

I f a guy makes $ 10.00 per hour and he has to spend 20 dollars to go to and from work every day, then I think that calculates to 2 hours of work per day or 20 dollars.

Either the guy lives way too far from work and moving could solve the problem, or he is driving a gas guzzling monster and a bicycle would solve the problem.

I don't disagree on the politics of this. Clearly, the incumbent president goes down in the polls when gas goes up. I'm merely arguing that it's asinine.

What in the world are they driving that requires $20 of fuel each day? At $3 a gallon, that's 6.67 gallons of fuel. Let's say they're driving a beat up Ford 150 getting 15 mpg. That's 100 miles.

The number of people who simultaneously drive 50 miles each way to work, have a vehicle with poor fuel economy, and make such low wages they they can't afford gas has to be pretty small.

Indeed, even at $2 a gallon, the guy in my above example was paying $13.34 daily, so we're talking a dimunition of purchasing power of $6.66 daily due to the $1 increase. That's still less than 9 percent of his gross income.

I f a guy makes $ 10.00 per hour and he has to spend 20 dollars to go to and from work every day, then I think that calculates to 2 hours of work per day or 20 dollars. That is 20%. Right, or do you use another system of math than I was taught in school.

You are forgetting that you live in California where everything is much much higher than the rest of the country.

Also forgot to mention before. I live in Corn country where the farmers are now getting ready to plow and plant their yearly corn crop. Their fuel costs are going to be much higher compared to 2000 when Bush took office (99.9 cts per gal then). What do you think is going to happen with the price of ethanol which is made from corn.

20-25% Wage cut?!?!?!

What are you talking about. Lets consider a person who makes $10/hour and works 40 hours a week. That works out to $400/week. If gas goes from $2.5/gallon to $3/gallon and they consume say 40 gallons that is $0.50 x 40 or about a $20 increase. That is only 5% of this guys (gross) salary/wage.

To get a 20 to 25% decrease the increase would have to be 4x or 5x as large. That is an increase of $2/gallon to $2.50/gallon.

Also, if we have a higher wage rate, then the implicit wage decrease is smaller.

Frankly, Herb has it right on this topic - the President (and to a certain extent, his party) is _always_ shackled to the economy. If it's good, he gets credit, if it's bad he gets blamed. Whether you believe it's appropriate or not, it's what happens in public opinion. The Administration can trumpet economic figures all it wants, but the fact is the majority of Americans are _not_ seeing their bottom lines improve - they're getting closer and closer to having to make very significant budgetary decisions, like moving to less-expensive houses and cars, etc. There's some merit to the argument that maybe a lot of Americans have been 'living on credit' for far too long, that won't make the pill any less bitter when it comes. And the Republicans are the ones who will be blamed.

Gas going up a third in price isn't a 20-25% wage cut unless you're driving 100,000 miles a month or making $100 a week.

And the last election is what's relevant. After all, Bush was elected in 2004 with the prices that existed then.

BTW, while I am now living in the DC suburbs, I was living in Alabama until 3 years ago and my parents still live there. People bitch about gas but unless they're on welfare or in school, there just aren't that many people who seriously can't afford to drive when gas goes up a few cents.

I've got a 45-60 minute commute, each way, five days a week. Most people who live in the rural areas have a 10-15 minute commute. Regardless, almost none of us drive enough for gas prices to amount to a significant chunk of our pay.

I didn't say 50%. I said the high cost of gasoline is equal to a 20 to 25% wage cut.

Rational or not, it makes no difference. People are going to take their feelings out on the people in power for not doing something about reducing prices.

And James, when Bush took power in 2000, We in the Midwest were paying 99.9 cents for a gallon of gasoline, so you can completely forget about the last election argument

Who, exactly, are these people who are spending half their income on gasoline? The price has gone up, what, 50-75 cents since the last election? Aside from truck drivers, most people are being tagged with something like $15 a week.

I don't agree people are angry about the higher prices but it's completely irrational.

No matter who or what is to blame, the Average working American feels the pain and will not stand for a "wage reduction" if the price does not drop immediately.

The average working person working for 10 to 12 dollars per hour see this gasoline price as a 20 % wage cut and will take their vengeance out at the polls.