NewscomaGot A Two-Pack Habit And A Motel Tan

I’ve been telling you this for a couple of months right now. I guess the New York Times telling it to you will give it more validity.

But the pain is not being felt uniformly. Across broad swaths of the South, Southwest and the upper Great Plains, the combination of low incomes, high gas prices and heavy dependence on pickup trucks and vans is putting an even tighter squeeze on family budgets.

Here in the Mississippi Delta, some farm workers are borrowing money from their bosses so they can fill their tanks and get to work. Some are switching jobs for shorter commutes.

People are giving up meat so they can buy fuel. Gasoline theft is rising. And drivers are running out of gas more often, leaving their cars by the side of the road until they can scrape together gas money.

The disparity between rural America and the rest of the country is a matter of simple home economics. Nationwide, Americans are now spending about 4 percent of their take-home income on gasoline. By contrast, in some counties in the Mississippi Delta, that figure has surpassed 13 percent.

As a result, gasoline expenses are rivaling what families spend on food and housing.

Recently, I went to court. Gas theft was an issue. Farmers are having to watch their implements. It went from people stealing anhydrous to stealing gas.

When people get boxed into a corner, they get desperate.

This is more dire than people think. I can’t say that enough.

$4.00.

We live in historical times, my friends. From the democratic presidential campaign this year to a war we went to on false pretenses to gas costing $4.00, it is a time, in my humble opinion, that we will look back to as we grow older.

All the economists and pundits in the world can say what they want about this, people can say that the United States got a pass for years with lower gas prices, but the bottom line is it doesn’t matter when a person is trying to keep to a budget. Where are local governments going to get the money for their gas budgets?

People like you and I.

The bottom line is that our gas budgets have increased 10 percent in one month. That’s a spanking.

People are losing their jobs due to the increase in gas prices and the economy. Every single day you hear of working folks losing their jobs.

$4.00.

Rural America has already been hit hard due to location. There are no buses. Farm land spreads us out.  That’s food, campers. What’s going to happen next?

Yeah, I’m a bit cranky this morning. Not only are we going to end up paying over and over again, but my nieces and nephews will take the brunt of it as they enter adulthood.

Okay, I’m done. It’s a blog. I can bitch.