You are right and this is what I find most discouraging about this whole mess. I don't like paying higher prices any more than anyone else here, but, to be honest, it isn't going to break me. I can find a way to manage it. What is most discouraging is that this situation is an opportunity for our party and its leader to take some initiative and show some leadership, and he is taking a pass on that. I know the government doesn't (directly) set prices on gasoline, but there are things we can implement on the energy production side of the equation. Get moving on those things, and make a case to the public that these are sensible and useful measures. Don't sit back and say, sorry, nothing I can do. That is a prescription for failure and massive political defeat in the Fall. It sounds eerily like the infamous "malaise" of the doomed Carter presidency.
What could those things be? Exactly what many here have suggested. Eliminating "boutique" fuel blends that cause inefficiencies in the refining process. Allow increased utilization of domestic supplies. It makes no sense to me that Castro can drill for oil 90 miles off the Florida coast yet we have wackos agitating to stop American companies from exploring within 200 miles of the coast. Expand refining capacity by easing environmental regulations and curbing excessive litigation and intervention that prevents new refinery construction and expansion of existing capacity. Move towards alternate fuels by passing incentives to allow economical use of alternatives, like plug-in hybrids and ethanol production. Granted, many of those things won't result in immediate relief, but they will move us in a direction away from the one we seem to be heading.
I agree with your post. It is discouraging. No, this won't hurt me that much either. But this will hurt a lot of people.
It is depressing to hear Bush make the statement that Americans are addicted to oil. This statement is comparable to "Bush and Congress are addicted to American taxpayer money". The odds are you can't have one without the other. Both congress and Bush need to get to work finding ways to cut the cost of gasoline.
Your suggestions are great.