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There is alot the President can do. Much of the price right now is driven by speculators. He can actually say things, say things that will lower prices. Even if he plans on nuking Iran in July, he can state that we have decided to give diplomacy another chance, be kinda true, but that one statement would drop oil $3 a barrel instantly. He can jawbone congress to open up drilling. He can propose legislation that gives bigger tax breaks for fuel conservation, both to the people, and to the car companies. He can give tax breaks to people working on next generation solar, and wind power. He can give tax breaks for hydrogen. John Kennedy made a goal of man on the moon by the end of the decade, and we did it. George Bush could make it a priority, a real priority to get off foreign oil through a whole series of actions and we would do it.

We are free to drive what we want. But, we are for the most part patriotic americans. Right now, we need 7.7 mpg better on average to do nothing else, and not need a drop of foreign oil. Not a single drop. We give tax breaks to hybrids, and tax breaks to the car companies to develop larger cars that get just slightly better mileage than current standards. He gives massive tax breaks to corporations that have a large chunk of their workers car pooling or telecommuting. We encourage physicial fitness in this country. If more people decided to take a family bike ride on Saturday instead of a drive that would save fuel.

You combine those with ANWAR and off shore California and Florida, and we are off the foreign teat. There is not just SOMETHING, but LOTS OF THINGS, the President can do.

Most if not all of the things you listed are already happening. I agree, too, that those are good things.

The one thing I think he really needed to push on (and did) was to break open the process to build new refineries, and that did happen and there are new refineries to be built. That's going to take a while.

I don't like high prices either, and I'm feeding a brand new five thousand pound V8 SUV that has a healthy appetite. But there still seem to be a lot of people willing to pay the prices, and until that changes, it's all just a bunch of bellyachin'. Traffic hasn't changed any.

There are two forces at work here: the reality of world economics of petroleum prices. and THE PUBLIC PERCEPTION of petroleum prices. No other issue (save maybe war) has as much effect on current public approval ratings. Three dollar a gallon gas is a deal breaker for the republicans...They have to get the domestic price of gasoline heading south soon or we will have 40 more socialists in the senate to set the price.
They need to do some or all of the following:
Forget Bush (He thinks everybody has an MBA from Yale)

Push to open drilling in all known area of oil reserves
Including ANWR, California, the entire Gulf of Mexico including sacred Florida

Immediately reduce Federal taxes on gasoline.

Remove tariffs on imported ethanol

Remove seasonal ethanol mandates

Sell 20% of the Strategic Reserve (just for show)

Expand refinery capacity by 20% by subsidizing the construction of new refineries with 50% federal matching funds.

Ditto with a dozen or more new nulear power plants to be built on Federal lands vacant from recent military closures.

Fund Bio-diesel, hydrogen research with massive federal dollars.

Dare the Dems to vote against any of these proposals.

Make them pay for not acting on the energy plan that Bush prepared five years ago (which would have alleviated many current problems)