"And as you point out, for American families who struggle every day to figure out how do they pay, we talk about gasoline prices. That throws budgets into a real problem when you have budgeted really tight"
About this Quote
The syntax matters. “Figure out how do they pay” is clunky, almost unscripted, and that roughness can read as authenticity: the sentence stumbles the way a household budget does when the numbers stop adding up. By choosing gasoline, she’s picking a price that is public, posted, and unavoidable. You can’t quietly substitute a cheaper brand of rent. You see the damage in fluorescent digits on every corner.
The subtext is triangulation. She’s not indicting oil companies outright or promising sweeping structural fixes; she’s establishing permission for action by emphasizing volatility and vulnerability. “Budgeted really tight” is a quiet rebuke to the bootstraps narrative. If you’re already optimized to the bone, even a small shock becomes a crisis. In context, that’s the politician’s bridge from empathy to policy: justify intervention without sounding ideological, and make the pain legible to voters who don’t follow energy economics but do watch their tank empty.
Quote Details
| Topic | Money |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Schwartz, Allyson. (2026, January 17). And as you point out, for American families who struggle every day to figure out how do they pay, we talk about gasoline prices. That throws budgets into a real problem when you have budgeted really tight. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-as-you-point-out-for-american-families-who-74433/
Chicago Style
Schwartz, Allyson. "And as you point out, for American families who struggle every day to figure out how do they pay, we talk about gasoline prices. That throws budgets into a real problem when you have budgeted really tight." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-as-you-point-out-for-american-families-who-74433/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"And as you point out, for American families who struggle every day to figure out how do they pay, we talk about gasoline prices. That throws budgets into a real problem when you have budgeted really tight." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-as-you-point-out-for-american-families-who-74433/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
