Americans with Gas-Price-Paying Inabilities.

I wouldn't be so bold as to presume I'm the first to notice this, or maybe this is just the first time I saw this turn of phrase, but I'm gonna be bold and say that this will be an increasingly common turn of phrase in the debate over energy:

Obama, appearing with Brokaw on Meet The Press, said about the pressing concerns of the American voter that they are concerned about "the inability to pay gas prices."

Interesting.

Apparently, the issue isn't the high gas prices themselves, rather it's the failure of the American economy to provide adequate wealth to pay high gas prices. What a clever turn of phrase. It plays right into a Left Talking Point about raising the incomes of the lower and middle classes, all while ignoring the deleterious effects of the Left's crippling policies on oil exploration.

Note that the line doesn't even accept the idea that gas prices are a bad thing for Americans. This is a great example of a line "sounding" like economic populism while actually serving as a point for the environmental Left.

This is an issue taylor-made for the GOP. It's almost axiomatic for the average American that energy should be cheap. Only Al Gore types would disagree, and they are hardly a viable political force by themselves. I'd be so bold as to say that solely running on this issue, Republicans could put a significant dent into the projected Dem gains in both houses, as well as probably defeat Obama. I mean, you got three-quarters of Americans supporting more drilling offshore, and nearly three-fifths supporting ANWR drilling.

Too bad the GOP got "might as well drill in the Grand Canyon" J-Mac running. Well, the beauty of our republic and party system is that, most of the time, the parties, whether they win or lose, deserve what they voted for.