That premise is close to mythological. The people hit hardest by rising fuel costs are those with the least means, and by and large those people don't do recreational driving. They use their cars for things that MUST be done, hence their fuel purchases are not discretionary.

There aren't really that many people who can easily reduce consumption just because gas prices went up. That barely took place when the gas hit a national high of $4 per gallon.

This is a regressive taxation scheme, plain and simple. And, they don't have to worry about bad inflationary reports, because the main number reported for that (CPI) does not include energy costs. So, they raise revenue on the backs of the least and then can crow about their economic and geopolitical success.

And you support that?