Gas Prices, Not the Deficit, Ignite Voter Interest
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 1:39PM
Epic battles loom to tackle the ballooning federal budget deficit and national debt. The United States is trying to extricate itself from two wars and avoid getting sucked into a new one in Libya. Federal and state officials grapple with how to bring down spiraling health care costs.
But what's really on the collective American consciousness are rising gas prices.
President Barack Obama found himself in the awkward spot of talking about gas prices instead of his plans to cut the federal budget, get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and boost U.S, exports. His audience didn't exactly like his answers.
With gas prices nearing or exceeding the $4 per gallon mark, many Americans want something done now. Obama has rejected the most direct form of intervention – tapping the U.S. strategic oil reserve. The President said as bad as high gas prices are now, the situation could get worse with increasing levels of instability in the Middle East and North Africa.