Poll: High Gas Prices Not as Much of a Hardship as 2008
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Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Outside of Big Oil, no one is happy with the high cost of gasoline, but Americans seem to be coping with it better than during past fuel price spikes, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.
With gas hovering close to the $4 a gallon mark on average nationally, 62 percent say it’s become a financial hardship with a third of that same group claiming it’s turned into a serious hardship for them. About 38 percent feel no financial hardship from increased prices at the pump
Four years ago, as prices peaked at $4.11 a gallon on average nationally during early July 2008, 77 percent of Americans reported a financial hardship with 51 percent saying it was serious.
Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of survey respondents weren’t apt to blame President Obama for the price spikes, despite Republican efforts to do so. Twenty-one percent said the White House is responsible while 28 percent blame U.S. oil companies and 25 percent put the onus on foreign oil-producing countries.
Still, 62 percent disapprove of the president’s performance in trying to reverse the trend of higher gas costs.
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