why don't the government care how much we the people pay for gas?

They care very much, but perhaps not out of sympathy.

gas prices are not much under the control of any government. the market controls the prices and the market price is very high for crude, so all products made from crude are very high. Apart from a few of the OPEC countries, all countries are experiencing problems with high gasoline prices.

Politicians care because they worry that high prices will affect their re-election. Only a fool would believe that Obama is letting gas prices rise for some hidden agenda, when high gas prices and the impact that will have on the economy is the most likely situation that will lead to him losing his re-election bid. It is the worst situation that could happen for him.

Higher gas prices ripple right through the economy and cause serious problems (look at what happened in summer 2008 if you need proof; gas prices in the US hit 4 bucks a gallon just before the crash).

So the government cares (even if that care is more in terms of self-serving worries for some or many in the government). the real problem is that the government cannot do much about it.

They do care very much. The more the price of gas goes up the less money people have to spend on other things which drags down the economy. The problem is the price of gas is governed by market forces that the government has very little control over. If they start tampering with the marked all they do is screw it up more. Even a rank and file liberal Democrat like Obama knows that.

They do, of course, since when people are unhappy they tend to blame incumbents. However, oil prices are dictated by the free market, which means the government has very little control over how much it costs. States have gas taxes that contribute a little, but for the most part the cost is dictated by drilling, transporting, sale and refining costs.

Well, they could do something about it by intervening, but they are usually hesitant to do so. You can do that in a mercantilist or collectivist economy, but in a capitalistic one, the market is far too unstable to to risk messing with the free market. Worst case scenario, they crash the oil industry. They want to do something about it, because it drags the economy down and people blame them. But they dare not out of fear of making the problem worse.

The current oil price spike is because of the Iran situation. The market fears a major oil crisis because of that this next summer, so prices are rising already.

They are trying to force you drive less and/or buy a more fuel efficient car. They don't care about what it costs you to commute or that you can't get your 3 kids into the little car they think you should have. There are making you pay a big tax that hits low income people hardest.

All they care about is power and getting re-elected. The only way to take control is don`t vote for any incumbents,that`s our only hope.

The real question is "why isn't the government spending more on education so people learn in grade school how to properly use don't and doesn't."

It is not so much they don't care it is they can't really do much about it. Prices are determined by the free market

obama does care, he wants gas prices as high as can be to force his green agenda on people.

Now I have nothing against being green, but the technology is NOT ready for the masses or is not cost effective.