Depression Politics

The American government is about to spend 700 billion dollars in the biggest economic bailout since the Great Depression, and all the while President Bush will still not even utter the word, "recession." What's up with that? Perhaps we have moved from recession into depression already during the time our leaders were trying to deny anything was wrong.

Gas prices so high the average person couldn't afford to fill their tanks? Groceries so high we can barely feed our families? Jobs disappearing at the fastest rate in decades? Yeah, what could possibly be wrong.

Now that they have finally woken up and smelled the decaying corpse of what was once the American economy, they've decided to do something about it. I can't help but think this is a purely political attempt by Bush and the Republicans to make him look (I'm trying not to laugh as I type this) like a hero by putting yet another bandaid on a severed artery so close to election time.

Anyone who is dumb enough to applaud this quick fix and say, "Look at what a great job the Republicans did fixing this problem," needs to remember who got us into this huge financial mess in the first place. By all means, vote Republican this election if you can afford ten bucks a gallon for gasoline, you're so rich you don't need a job and you don't care how much your maid spends on groceries for your family. If you're a real, working person, you might want to consider casting a vote for the Democratic candidate.

Should we boycott the big oil companies?

In many ways, consumers are already boycotting the big oils companies without even realizing it. Evidence of this comes in plant closings by automobile manufacturers who were producing large, gas guzzling trucks and SUVs and increased sales of hybrid vehicles.

More should be done to protest these insanely high gas prices, especially in light of the nation's largest oil company once again posting record profits and calling it a fair return on their investment while most of us are having a hard time feeding our families and our gas tanks at the same time.

A skyrocketing unemployment rate, retail price increases the highest in 30 years and other distressing economic news that indicates the United States is slipping further and further into recession are, at least in part, due to out of control gas prices.

Politicians and those involved in big business whose biggest decision is what size personal jet to buy may not have to wonder how in the world they are going to afford to get back and forth to work on a daily basis and also be able to afford school clothes and supplies for their children. Common, everyday working people are being faced with these decisions, however, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for them to even survive financially.

Anyone who hasn't noticed the effect of high gas prices on their personal bottom line need only take a trip to a grocery store. Look at the prices you were paying for items 6 months or even a month ago opposed to what you're paying for them now. You will notice drastic increases in the prices of every item in the store. If you ask the store owner or manager why the prices have gone up, you will more than likely be told that the prices were raised by their suppliers. Tracing this even further, the suppliers have raised prices to cover increased transportation costs because of high priced gasoline.

The effects of the high gas prices reach us in more ways than just the grocery store. Every retailer has been forced to raise prices because of the higher transportation costs. This is an artificial and dangerous form of inflation caused by something other than demand. It has thrown our economic system into disarray which is obvious from the roller coaster stock market. It has no idea how to react to the strangeness of the current economic climate because things are simply out of whack.

Nationwide one day boycotts on gas stations have proven ineffective in the past because enough people simply will not participate and, even if they did, one day is not going to make a significant difference to get the attention of the big oil companies. Someone somewhere needs to be organizing some type of boycott of big oil that will be effective in at least sending a message that we as consumers are not simply going to lie back, shut up and take it up the gas tank anymore.