Read this.
http://www.mainandcentral.org/archives/2005/09/buddy_can_you_s_1.html
If you ain't nervous yet, you should be.
My power bill -- that's electricity -- doubled this summer. I'm expecting about the same for heating oil this winter.
I'm paying close to three dollars a gallon for gas.
Our grocery bill is up.
What isn't up? Paychecks. They're staying the same.
We've stopped going anywhere or doing anything. We are going to see Serenity this weekend, because we've been waiting for it all winter, but we don't plan to buy popcornor soda -- we're going to smuggle jellybeans into the theater with us. The cheap sort.
We're reduced to becoming movie outlaws. It's appalling.
1 hour ago
5 comments:
Oh my gods, Mr. Zelda and I were having this same conversation. We went to the movie and after paying a small fortune to get in, we bought popcorn and cokes and it was 13 dollars, I say to the kid, my god, when I was a kid, colas and popcorn and a candy bar was all under fifty cents. He looks at me with a blank stare and I say, you don't care, and he says no and I say you should and he says maybe. The movie was good and it was the getting out that counted but afterwards we spent almost 200 bucks at walmart and got nothing, just the essentials. Mr. Zelda says, can you believe the cost and I say it's your man, and he says no no and I say yes yes. And the money thing is killing us too. I am so poor, I can't affor to pay attention. Okay, it's not mine but it's good.
So every month, we pay for all our gas (for both vehicles) on one credit card, since Mr. Lib Prof does lots of driving with his job and gets reimbursed for milage. Typically, his reimbursement actually adds to our income, covering the total gas purchases for both vehicles and leaving a little in the slush fund. Acknowledging that the cost of gas has increased by more than a $1.00 a gallon, the state has increased the milage reimbursement $.02 a mile. Yep, that covers it. The credit card bill averages $300 at the end of the month. Last month, ladies and gentlemen, that bill was $700!!!!!!
How, exactly, is one supposed to get ahead, hell, even keep up, in this current economy? As you say, Delager, the increase in fuel costs is not the only increase--and we'll all be paying more for all the things that have to be transported (i.e., EVERYTHING WE BUY), too.
Let me offer this:
Here in the UK the price of gasoline is only up about 10% in the last year compared to nearly 100% in the US. Why is that? I think a lot of it is that the American people allow it, accepting flimsy justifications. (A huricane today caused prices to go up today?)
In the UK, the truck drivers were so outraged by a recent increase of a few pennies per liter that they blockaded the fuel distribution centers until the oil companies lowered the price again. Yes, it brought business to a halt. People couldn't get to work because there was no gas available in the stations but all agreed that something had to be done, the increase was unjustified and so not tolerated.
In the US, the people feel helpless to defend themselves from the thinly disguised greed of big companies who use every news flash to justify price increases.
Come on, y'all! Where is your outrage at being fleeced? Inspire a movement to shut the country down until the people are treated with respect again!
Anonymous has a point. How long do we continue to let Bush and his crew make themselves rich while we all grow more & more desperate? There is power in the union, but only if we use it. Which so far we don't.
We can all blame whatever puppet that occupies the WhiteHouse (not that I agree with or condone the things this current administration has done) at whatever time they occupy it for whatever horrible things are going on in this great nation of ours, but what is really at the heart of the issue? We have allowed the corporations to pick and choose our leadership and THEY are the ones who control our government. When are we going to unite as a whole and wrest back control? It's easy to blame - and it's frivolous. It's time we get off our asses and make America what it should be - a Representative Democracy!
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