Do people really think the price of gas is the biggest issue right now?

[RB TexLa]

I see post after post on the price of oil and gasoline, is this really the most important issue going on right now?

[Horse with no Name]

1. Nope.

But it is the one that will raise the attention of the sheeples, so it is very important in that respect.

[kentuck]

2. It probably affects the most people directly...

whether or not it has created a hardship for enough people is another question. No doubt, those in the lowest incomes are affected by rising gas prices the most.

[shanti]

7. exactly

the sheeple only wake up when something affects them DIRECTLY.

[dogday]

3. I think it is the war, and the rumors of more wars...

That is our biggest problem.. along with this:

This administration needs to account to the people of The USA, we are the people who dictate the business and they refuse to listen to our voices, and that is also a big ASS problem....:mad:

[LSK]

4. its an important issue because it gets people thinking about why

It can make everyone feel the pain of those high gas prices and they get to start wondering why? Whether this leads them to the war in Iraq or Corporate profits, whereever their thought process takes them to figure out why the prices are so high, it cant be good for Republicans.

[Democrats_win]

5. We see many gas price signs every day telling us of Bush´s failure.

And there is no relief in sight. No hope for our nations future as long as these failed oilmen ruin this country.

[babylonsister]

6. The price of gas is tied into the war and people's

wallets. It is a big deal.

[Speck Tater]

8. It's one of the few issues

that has the potential to awaken the sleeping masses. If something doesn't happen in their own front yeard they don't even notice it.

[countryjake]

9. It is to people I know, but more of "dire straits" than mere aggravation..

doing without heat is something many still don't have to relate to, but once one has to decide between paying the rent, buying food, or staying warm, the logical thing is to eliminate that comfort.

[MadHound]

10. Well gosh, of course it is, especially to the average American

Takes more money out of their wallet, makes those SUVs more expensive to drive in the daily commute from the 'burbs and exurbs. Gets everybody all worked up, all hot and bothered and worried about rising prices for everything.

Oh, and it provides excellent media cover in keeping a lid on the this administration's run up to the Iranian war.

[dchill]

11. Probably not THE biggest, but...

it's right up there, so to speak. The price of gas doesn't affect only the cost of a summer road trip; it affects the price of everything that comes to your local stores, it increases the cost of shipping, and therefore the cost of every item that consumers consume. It's really a big issue, and it's going to hit EVERY ONE of us, real soon. In fact, it already has.

[gizmo1979]

12. I hate to say it but the higher gas

goes the worse off repukes will be come November.The masses notice when things affect their wallet.Even though theirs not much government can do about it the ins will get blamed.That's good for us bad for repukes.

[libodem]

13. It has an immediate impact on peoples' standards of living

IMO...Idaho has a minimum wage of $5.20 cents a hour. It has not been increased in 9 years. Six years ago gas was $1.20 cents a gallon. Now it is more than double. Groceries, electricity, home heating, anything made of plastic....all cost more. That extra 10.00-15.00 dollars a week is some poor families box of pizza and a rental movie. The little perks, that make working your ass off for nothing, worth living through. The extra that goes into the gas tank for a rich guy does not destroy his entire entertainment budget or wipe out a monthly payment on medical expenses. PLUS listen to this...(I'm a talk radio listener and all I can get in the car are conservatives)... Matt Drudge was bitching his head off about paying $3.00 per gallon, about the CEO of Exxon's retirement package, and about big Government's corruption. What right does he have to complain. Seriously WHAT RIGHT!!!!! BTW I don't think it is the biggest issue, just the most glaring, in your face, personally impacting issue.

[Horse with no Name]

17. I filled up yesterday

16 gallons at $2.89. It cost around $46.00.
Now for someone making minimum wage--they have to work a little more than a day to fill up the tank.
Now if the rule of thumb is that one weeks paycheck should be what you pay in rent, and assuming you use a tank of gas a week, you are spending half of your income in rent and gas.
Never mind that utility bills are skyrocketing and food prices are skyrocketing.
It is going to become increasingly difficult for people to live.

[WinkyDink]

14. It's not an insignificant issue. I'd like to see it bring down Bushco.

We don't really mind war, apparently.

[porphyrian]

15. Biggest, no, but it'll burst the "economy doing well" illusion.

Especially as that cost cascades to every other consumer product.

[electron_blue]

16. No. I think it's dumb that this is getting so much attention

Did anyone ever think that MAYBE the reason gas prices are up now is just for a diversion?

[NickB79]

18. Some of us see it as a warning of Peak Oil

And if we really are coming to the downslope of Peak Oil, it is one of the most important turning points in human history. When Peak Oil does hit, our lives will become much, much more difficult. For example, our planet, without abundant hydrocarbon-based diesel fuel and fertilizer, can only support ~2 billion people. With over 6 billion mouths to feed right now, what will happen to the other 4 billion people when the food supply falters?

[RB TexLa]

22. do you believe we are coming on to "peak oil"?

I know the concept helps people make money selling doomsday videos, but you think we are coming up on it?

[rustydog]

19. It might be to the poor person making 5.00 an hour with

rent, utilities, car payments to make.

If it is an issue that turns one more american against Bush's ruinous policies, then I say great!

[bigtree]

20. nah

part of the miserable puzzle, though

[graywarrior]

21. It's a symptom of the disease that the WH is spreading across

the nation.

[Imagevision]

23. No, maybe when it getto say...$5.00+ per gal. it may enter realm of though

[lonestarnot]

24. Nope just another culmination of the bushitler merika.

[newportdadde]

25. Personally I think its the single biggest hit for Bush/RW on polls.

People here have posted it before but Bush's numbers follow the gas price to a tee. This is sad but Americans as a whole could give two shits about the war or scandals or anthing. What they do care about is their wallet and what effects the wallet? Gas prices and its riples through staple items like food have a fast and instant effect on all consumers.

If we had gas back at 1.25 the RW could push as many kids through the meat grinder and rob the treasury blind as long as that SUV tank gets filled up cheap and the boat is gassed up for the lake.

[Lexingtonian]

26. it's a proxy issue

The national economy is changing in several ways at once, and gas prices are the signifier of all the bad parts.

-excessive corporate monopoly/cartel/price-fixing/market cornering/profiteering behaviors
-the oil producing countries have ended their Cold War sweetheart deal given the U.S.
-because of that sweetheart deal, the U.S. has the least energy efficient economy in the world
-the U.S. is becoming an expensive labor, cost-socializing economy a la western Europe
(i.e. costs/demands have become so large that the working poor can't absorb them)
-privatization is failing and proving inefficient, social democratic governance/efficiency is in ascent in all public services

The corporate abuses are "normal" under Republican rule. After all, the whole point of Republican rule is to enable looting.

The present Republican crew is, of course, unable to change the other three or four overriding economic facts/trends, and has tried to disguise and suppress them via massive spending (and deficits) to prop up privatization, labor law changes and nonenforcement, lots of oil/gas drilling domestically, bullying oil producers abroad, offloading costs on people who don't recognize it (i.e. elderly whites), and "religious" acceptance of impoverishment by the lower classes. And destruction of older government-propped cultural socialisms, e.g. the U.S. military, health care, pension fundings, research, school standards, libraries, the national park system, etc.