Staff writer and videographer Jill Treadway reported in today’s edition of The Tribune and online at www.TribTown.com that two Seymour motorcycle dealers are reporting strong sales and interest in scooters and motorcycles to help folks stretch their budgets in the wake of $4 gasoline.

That’s just one sign that gas prices are fueling concern among consumers.

Another is how much attention politicians are paying to what we’re paying at the pump.

The latest?

Republican Mike Sodrel on Tuesday announced he will travel next week with four other Republican congressional candidates to visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, more commonly known as ANWR.

“High gas prices affect every area of our economy,” Sodrel said in a news release. “I am tired of hearing Congress tell us what won’t work or what takes too long. The only solutions coming from this Congress are to file lawsuits, increase taxes, investigate or regulate. None of this will increase the supply or lower the price of gas.”

The group will stop in Anchorage and then travel to Prudhoe Bay and ANWR.

Sodrel is challenging incumbent Democrat Baron Hill of Seymour in this fall’s general election for the 9th District. Sodrel declined to debate Hill on the price of gas when they squared off two years ago. This is their fourth matchup.

Sodrel and the other candidates headed to Alaska will be briefed by energy industry experts and state and local officials from Anchorage and the Arctic Circle, Sodrel’s news release said. The candidates will also visit with the private landowners and native residents of the Arctic Circle.

An article in The Wall Street Journal said Republican presidential candidate John McCain of Arizona “should take careful note (that)  Republicans in difficult House races are spending scarce campaign dollars to travel to Alaska to dramatize their stance on the drilling issue.” 

McCain — and Democratic presidential candidate Barck Obama — continues to oppose drilling in ANWR.

Hill is also talking about gas prices. His focus has been on controlling speculating in oil futures and forcing oil companies to drill on leases they already hold. He said economists have told himthat speculating in oil futures is causing gas prices to be 20 percent to 50 percent higher than supply and demand would merit.

 Libertarian Eric Schansberg, an economics professor at Indiana University Southeast who’s also challenging Hill’s re-election bid, said he found Hill’s stance on the issue “incredulous.”

“This is doubly frustrating since Baron refuses to debate me on gas prices — after repeatedly demanding a debate on this single topic in May 2006. The funny thing is that he dismissed ‘those fancy economists’ during our 2006 debate in Jasper on the minimum wage,” Schansberg said in a news release.

Schansberg said we’d paying less for gas “if the dollar had not been devalued since 2002. President Bush and his Congresses, including Baron Hill and Mike Sodrel, bear considerable responsibility for that, given their avid pursuit of government spending and debt.”

With gas prices at $4.19 a gallon in Seymour, look for gas to remain a hot topic on the minds of voters, and therefore candidates.

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