What do you mean future generations? Anyone not on a government hand out program should be cussing them now!
If you make several million dollars a year and fuel prices go up it is only a small hic-up in your life.
We are trying to give counsel to several families at church that are having a hard time making it.
If you are working for $15.00 a hour and you have to travel 30 miles or more to get to work and your average milage is 15 MPG and you are paying $3.15 per gallon it is costing you one pre tax hour a day ( two after tax hours ) jusy to get back and forth! Now electricity just went up again so you are trying to put back about $200.00 per month for power. Then $2.46 for LP for you furnace, stove and water heater so you are on a budget and hope you don't go over 1,200 gal a year so that is another $2,760.00 if you keep your thermostat down and LP does not get back to last years $3.15 Now you need about $400.00 per child per year for "Book Rental" and lets not forget 3% property taxes per year ( even if you rent you still get these passed down )
Now less move the cost of gas to $4.00 and now your are going to pay out close to 3 after tax hours a day just to get to and from and that does not count tires, brakes, oil changes.
Our people in congress ( or anyone else with hi enough incomes ) that have fuel ( Gasoline, diesel, power and LP ) cost of less than 10-% to 20% of their incomes do not see a problem. But if you have little or no descressionary income you are in trouble right now.
We have a couple where the man works at a $15.00 per hour job in Indianapolis and his wife works locally for $8.85 per hour He is very grateful to still have a job ( Was making $28.00 per hour but was laid off ) but his travel is 46 miles each way and he bought a " beater car " that gets about 19MPG on the average so you can figure 5 gallons a day. Our gas here is about $3.15 to $3.40 depending on the day so lets figure $3.25 times 5 is $16.25 just for gas.
His wife tries to get in as many hours as possible but she works at a Truck stop and their business is down and they have cut hours so she only gets ayout 20 per week. Luckly she only has to go about 10 miles to work but the truck they have only gets about 10 miles per gallon. Many times the money she makes only covers child care if the kids are not in school but she does not want to quit as she keeps hoping things will pick up!
This is not a dead beat family they picked up grass mowing jobs last summer. She baby sits when ever she can but they ar e really having it tough. I wish I could say they are the only ones but there are several and I don't see any improvment untill people incontrol look beyond their own circle of people.
Indiana used to have 35 oil refineries and due to ever increasing federal regulation now has only 1. Many of the oil wells in north east Indiana are given quotas of 3 days of production every 3 months as the refinery cannot procees the crude that is available.
If the goverment would restrict this to 5% or less owned or controled nationwide the american sprit that built this country would come back. Right now regulation allow up to 25% ownership of the resourse by any one group. We have only got 4 major owners and about 10 small ones who have buckeled under. There is no incentive for any of the companies to try to be efficent or to increase their capacity as with power in such a small group they don't have to do anything except enrich thenselves.
Do any of you remember "Gas Price Wars" They could come again!
Time to get off my soapbox and get back to work!