The price of gas this week hit a high of nearly $4 a gallon, alarming every American, including those in urban areas who don't drive a car on a regular basis.  Our palpable national outrage prompted President Bush to speak to the nation via a press conference Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, when he took questions from reporters, three things became apparent:

1. Mr. Bush is pinning his hopes on lower energy costs based on drilling for more oil; corn-based ethanol; and the building of more nuclear power plants.  If you've been following Mr. Bush's rhetoric, you already know these are not new ideas; they also not popular ideas.

2. Mr. Bush blames the gas problem on Congress, and nowhere else. Not on the oil companies, who set their own prices (and record unprecedented profits), and not on foreign oil, but Congress, who has not, he lamented, followed his plan for building more nuclear power plants and have not authorized more drilling.

3. Mr. Bush has no plan for immediate relief for reducing gas prices. None. When more than one reporter asked if he would consider temporarily removing the 18-cent gas-pump tax, he demurred, and again blamed Congress for the current situation, sidestepping the question entirely.

4. Mr. Bush brushed off the idea of alternative energy sources, except for corn-based ethanol, an idea he repeated mantra-like throughout the press conference.

Even fellow Republicans, like John McCain, are suggesting relief in the way of a so-called summer "gas-tax holiday" -- which would extend from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  Indeed, Hillary Clinton is in favor of this temporary relief. But Clinton, unlike McCain, has a plan to pay for the gas tax suspension - by imposing a "windfall profits tax" on oil companies, an idea sure to be popular with the general public, but not with Congress who has a long history of pandering to Big Oil.

Mr. Obama, however, rejected the gas-tax holiday idea as a "gimmick" and asked, perhaps appropriately, "Where's John McCain's been for the last 25 years? What has he been doing to promote clean energy and to increase fuel efficiently standards?"

The questions are fair, but as the in-fighting continues, the rest of us are left suffering at the pump.  Once again, without the proper leadership, policies and realistic longterm solutions, the American public is left to their own devices ... and remedies.  On this score, there are plenty of experts who are suggesting ways to keep gasoline expenses down, and it would appear to be an ideal time to review some of those ideas.

Let us first dispense with the popular Internet notion of a national one-day or one-month boycott to drive down the price of gas: it won't work, say experts. These kinds of boycotts don't reduce the overall demand for gas and so don't affect price, noted economist Steven D. Levitt, author of "Freakonomics."

Instead, here are a few ideas (and the reasons behind them) you might not have taken seriously:

Follow the speed limit/drive more calmly.  Editors at Edmunds.com achieved some impressive results when they put to the test some widely accepted driving tips, like following the speed limit and driving less aggressively. On average, fuel efficiency improved 12% when speed limits were followed, 31% when aggressive driving tactics were avoided and an additional 7% when cruise control was used.

Maintain your car. Fueleconomy.gov says an additional 19% improvement can be achieved, it claimed, merely by keeping a car properly maintained, especially in the areas of tire pressure and engine lubrication. Inflate tires to their maximum allowable pressure, a specification you'll find printed on the outside of the tire. Higher pressure means less rolling resistance, allowing you to coast a greater distance. Also, switch to synthetic oil -- it breaks down more slowly than regular oil and promotes efficient operation of the engine for a longer period.

Skip the American Idle. Edmunds says limiting the time spent idling led to improvements of up to 19%.

Lose the weight. Car mavens say every 30 pounds of extra weight your vehicle carries decreases milage by anywhere from one-tenth to one-hundredth of a percent. That may not seem like much, but mile after mile it adds up. That extra weight in your trunk?  Get rid of it.

Finally, when gas prices go up, many of us search out cheaper gas stations to reap any savings we can.  The National Association of Convenience Stores weighs in on this, and concludes the savings is rarely worth the trip; in fact, we'll spend more in gas to save that penny-a-gallon than we'd save with the slightly lower cost of the gas.  If you can find a 5-cent-a-gallon savings or more, though, the calculation shifts in your favor, they say.