Wealth & Money Quote by Jodi Rell

A “continuing spike” is doing a lot of political work here: it frames high gas prices as an abnormal surge, not a new baseline, and it implies urgency without naming a culprit outright. Rell’s sentence is built like a press release designed to travel. The triple “bad for” rhythm turns a complex, global market story into a clean moral ledger. Consumers, the economy, “all other businesses” - that sweep is strategic coalition-building, a way to say: this isn’t a niche complaint from commuters; everyone with a payroll should be angry.

The subtext is also defensive. By casting gas prices as an external force “hurting us,” Rell positions government as advocate rather than participant. There’s no mention of energy policy tradeoffs, environmental regulation, refinery capacity, or geopolitical risk - topics that would invite blame or require specificity. Instead, the line funnels attention toward the most politically potent consequence: “costing us jobs.” That phrase converts an everyday irritation at the pump into an economic emergency, the kind of framing that justifies action (or at least demands it) while keeping the policy prescription flexible.

Contextually, this is the language of mid-2000s and late-2000s energy anxiety, when gas prices became a proxy fight over national competence. Rell’s intent reads less like economic analysis than agenda-setting: make fuel costs the headline problem, align herself with broad frustration, and pre-authorize intervention - tax relief, investigations, or calls for federal help - without committing to one.