US: President Bush and members of Congress are facing an uncomfortable political reality this summer: they have little to offer Americans to ease their pain at the petrol pumps.
With petrol prices nearing or topping $3 per gallon, Mr Bush and legislators would be thrilled to call for steps big and small to take the pressure off motorists financially - and themselves politically. The president's advisers cite high petrol prices as one reason for Mr Bush's sagging approval ratings. And legislators are feeling the heat from constituents.
But the prices are a problem for which Washington has few, if any, policy remedies that would be effective or practical in the short-term.
Senator Charles Schumer of New York is one of several Democrats who support releasing oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve. The idea is to pour US oil into the world market to push down prices. But energy analysts warn that this move would draw down reserves whose stated purpose is to protect national security, not to manipulate prices.
"Gas prices are clearly reaching a level where it's a political problem for people," said Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, but "unless you empty [ the reserve], it is a very temporary expedient."
Legislators also cannot easily suspend or reduce the 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal tax on petrol. That money goes straight into a trust fund for road and public transport upgrades.
Ronald Utt, an energy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said there's "a lot of silence" on taxes "partly because everyone [ in Congress] appreciates their pork barrel projects would be at risk" if petrol taxes are cut.
American Automobile Association spokesman Mantill Williams warns that the tax savings might not reach the motorist anyway. "It's not automatic [ that petrol companies] will give that discount to the consumer."
Some members of Congress - and many editorial pages at newspapers across the US - have proposed a perennial solution: investigate whether oil companies are fixing prices to pad profit margins. Politically, oil companies are easy targets
The investigation avenue might sound good, Mr Williams said, but every time the government has investigated, "we have not found anything."
Senator John Kerry and others say Mr Bush should take a harder line with Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing nations, and demand they release more oil and help push down the price of oil, which hit a record $66 per barrel this week. But sceptics say that has not worked in the past.
Anne Northup (Republican, Kentucky) said she hears from concerned constituents at every turn. She said one of her messages to voters is to pressure Washington to allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
But it would take a long time before oil can be pumped from the ground in the refuge because oil exploration and the start of production typically take years.
The one area sparking bipartisan interest is requiring carmakers to produce more fuel-efficient cars. In the past, legislators have sided with car companies in opposing broad increases to standards that require vehicles to get more miles from each gallon.
The obvious benefit to consumers is the savings resulting from better mileage. But Ben Lieberman, an energy expert at the Heritage Foundation, noted: "People aren't going to drive their SUV off a cliff, and run out and buy a more economical vehicle . . . You are talking about something that would take a decade or more to have an effect."
Mr Bush, who signed into law a new energy policy earlier this year, has told audiences that the measure will not pull down prices now, but will set the stage for the US to rely less on foreign oil in the future, and more on domestically produced alternative fuels and on hybrid vehicles.
With many political strategists saying Mr Bush is getting lower-than-expected approval ratings on the economy because of petrol prices, administration aides are exploring possible adjustments of fuel-efficiency standards for cars. - (LA Times-Washington Post service)