I'm not a very political person in general, but, I think I represent a good portion (sadly) of Americans. The politics of how and why mean very little to me. This is how I, an average American, sees this problem. Anyone actually do the math? The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. And, we'll round up here, gas is (almost) $5.00 per gallon (where I live). Most people work 8 hours a day. Most gas tanks are anywhere from 12 -25 gallons. Some are more. We'll stick to 15 gallons for our math for now. So, if you think, $7.25 x's 8 hours = $58 per day of work (before taxes). And on the gas side, $5 x's 15 gallons = $75 per tank if you fill up a full tank. If you don't wait to fill up your tank, you're still spending $30-$35 each time you go to the gas station, which could be up to 4 times a week or more. If you already understand what that impacts, that's more than half of one day's worth of work if you're making minimum wage. I understand that plenty of people make more than $7.25 an hour (many only $1- $2 more), but those minimum wage workers provide all the rest of the people with those things such as our gas, and fast food, grocery stores, and entertainment, among other things. If these people can't afford the gas, then everyone else suffers. It's the people on the bottom that support the top. Think of a pyramid. I hope you get my point by now. Something has to be done. Yes, we need to be more efficient with our gas usage. However, those of us who went through the drastic increase in price in 2008 already learned that lesson. I had to leave my job as an insurance agent, which required a considerable amount of driving, due to the gas prices. I lost business due to clients not being able to pay, so I lost money, and could no longer afford to keep my job. I learned about fuel/energy efficiency then and have not changed my habits. What do I, and others in the same boat, do now? Except yell at the top of our lungs (metophorically speaking), and hope someone at the top hears us? Maybe my voice added to the others will help make our cry for help a little bit louder. What I hope to see this post get loud enough through responses to be heard at the top.