Voters overwhelmingly believe that lowering gas prices is the best way to get the U.S. economy going again, even as Congress and the presidential candidates argue for tax cuts or passage of a second government stimulus plan.

According to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey, nearly half (48%) say reducing gas prices is the best cure for the ailing economy. Only 19% say tax cuts are the most important and 18% endorse a new stimulus plan. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided.

Over the past month, the Rasmussen Consumer Index showed consumer confidence falling for the ninth consecutive month to a new record low. On the jobs front, the Rasmussen Employment Index also fell sharply. For the first time in the five year history of that Index, the number of people working for firms laying people off exceeds the number whose employers are hiring.

A separate Rasmussen Reports survey last week found economic issues are the number one concern for 41% of voters. National security issues were ranked most important by 24%, with domestic issues and fiscal issues most important for 11% and 9% respectively. It’s clear that voter concern over high gas and food prices are going to be key to the outcome of the fall elections.

Republican candidate John McCain’s recent proposal to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling to help alleviate rising gas prices is broadly popular with voters.

While gas now sells for over $4 a gallon at the pump nationwide, four out of 10 voters in the new survey say they still are not likely to buy a more fuel efficient car. Most voters say $5 a gallon gas is possible this year.

Fifty-three percent (53%) say they lean toward buying such a car, a number that closely parallels the 57% who say they have had to tap their savings to deal with the rising cost of gas and food. Thirty-eight percent (38%) say they haven’t needed their savings to cope.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of women say lower gas prices are the best way to get the economy, along with 45% of men. Twenty-three percent (23%) of men think lower taxes are best, while only 15% of women agree. Eighteen percent (18%) of men and women lean toward a new economic stimulus plan.

Republicans and Democrats by similar percentages give the nod to lowering gas prices as the chief way to move the economy, but they follow the lead of their respective presidential candidates when it comes to the other alternatives.

McCain has called for a continuation of the Bush tax cuts, and 25% of GOP voters versus 16% of Democrats view tax cuts as the best way to get the U.S. economy moving. Obama has indicated that he favors a second economic stimulus plan, and 23% of Democratic voters see this as the best alternative, while only 11% of Republicans agree.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Democrats say they have been forced to dip into their savings because of high gas and food prices, but only 46% of Republicans claim to have done so.

Well over half of all voters earning under $75.000 a year have resorted to using their savings because of rising fuel and food costs. Seventy percent (70%) of blacks and 55% of whites say they have been forced to draw on their savings.

Ironically, given these findings, 47% of blacks versus 41% of whites still say they are not likely to opt for a new fuel efficient car. Forty-six percent (46%) of blacks and 52% of whites say they are likely to buy such a car.

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