Recession vs. Slow Down

Well, today President Bush said we are not in a recession, we are in an economic slow down.

My first thought is - there’s a difference? And my second is - no shit, Sherlock.

But we’re gonna be saved because of the economic stimulus package - I’m gonna get what, $300 and that’s gonna encourage me to go out and buy a new car or house or some other major purchase that will bring jobs and prosperity to the multitudes. Yeah, right.

What are these people smoking? And can we get some, because we are gonna need it to get through this whatever it is.

The tax rebate - if they can afford to give it back, that must mean taxes were too high in the first place and let’s lower those so that people can have more money to spend on trinkets like food and fuel.

Oh, and that’s the other big news of the day - food prices are going up. Once again I say no shit, Sherlock? I bet the big brains that figured that out make a whole lot more money than I do and I could have told them that quite a while back.

And just why are food prices going up - and ps, what is gonna keep people from spending money on trinkets more that higher food prices? Hmm-choice between feeding the family and a trinket - yeah, really tough call, huh?

Food and all other prices are going up primarily because of one thing. Oil prices. Oil that gets made into heating fuel for all the factories that need to have heat for the people to work there. Oil that gets made into so many things that are associated with food and all of our needs and trinkets. But, mainly, oil that gets made into diesel fuel that gets used by the trucks that bring you everything.

Look around. Unless you’re living in a self-sufficient commune in the southern woods, what do you have that did not spend part of it’s life on a truck? Not much of anything. Where does food come from? This time of year, veggies from California, potatoes from Idaho, meat from the west and Midwest, fruit from Florida -I’ve brought enough of it here from all of those and more. And when the truck has to spend right around a dollar ($1.00) for every mile it runs to get that food to you*, who do you think is gonna pay for that? The experts? The President? Nope, you got it right again - it’s gonna be you. And me.

And that’s just food - not to mention clothing, furniture, books, paper, toys, soap, computers, Ipods - all of the other things you use everyday and take for granted. How about the trucks that bring the heating oil from the refineries to the plant that then delivers it to your house? And the gasoline tankers that bring the product to the gas station for your car? Yup, right around $1.00 a mile - so no wonder you’re paying $3.25 or so a gallon (in NY, with the damn taxes, that is) for gas and almost $4.00 a gallon to get some heat in your house in the winter. Let’s all move to Arizona - then they can run out of water and we’ll have to pay $4.00 a gallon for that!

* That comes to about $2,500 to bring a head of lettuce from Yuma, Arizona to the northeast. Well, not one head all by itself, there are probably a few thousand heads in the truck, but you get the idea. And that’s just for the fuel, not paying the driver or paying the over $100,000 for the truck itself, and more for licensing, insurance, permits and all the other fees that trucks get charged because why not, they can afford it, look how much they must be making by bringing all that stuff to us. Sorry, got off on an angle there, but trucking is close to me and I’ll defend it as much as I can.

So what’s the answer? Hell if I know, but maybe a start would be to encourage everyone to contact their politicians and demand they reposition their heads on their shoulders instead of - well, you fill in the rest - and Do Something to help us all. Maybe a start would be to get Obama and Hillary to stop their 3^rd grade squabbles and look in to what they could do to help this situation if elected and tell us what that would be. Maybe a start would be to get someone to look in to why the oil companies make so much money and still can’t pass some lower prices down to the common people.

Or, horrible as it would be, maybe it’s time for a big recession or even the ‘D’ word to clean up this mess and start fresh.

Who knows. Not me. I just know I’m glad I can walk to work and only have me to buy groceries for.