In the current media environment (i.e., the need to force the case for reelecting Barack Obama since the president’s policies have spectacularly failed to make the case for them), high gasoline prices aren’t that big of a problem. Why, the problem’s just overblown; it’s all the fault of the Iran, or it’s just a sign that the economy’s improving, or it’s not something that building a pipeline would improve and by the way all options are *cough* on the table, or it’s nothing that a brand-new car with higher mileage standards wouldn’t fix, or it’s just one of those circumstances the president’s a victim of.
Media will acknowledge indirectly the problem posed by high gasoline prices in their eagerness to show just how wonderful a slight decline in gas prices is for everyone; q.v., this factoid from the Associated Press article “After four-month surge, gas prices start falling“:
A 10-cent drop in gasoline prices would mean drivers would have an extra $37 million per day to spend on other things.
