THE BUSH ECONOMIC TEAM SAYS IT IS WORRIED. Its key players fret that life has gotten difficult for Americans with incomes below the middle level of around $45,000 per year. High gasoline prices are hitting the wallets of workers who must use their cars to get to work and the pocketbooks of moms who shuttle their kids to school, soccer games, and other activities.

Add to that rising healthcare costs, which are hurting those with insurance, by forcing premiums up, and squeezing the uninsured, who struggle to buy the medications that pharmaceutical research has made available to them.