As Michigan gas prices continue to remain high, and as we face the continual threat of sudden spikes in gas costs, life has become more difficult for Metro Area drivers. Whether you're simply going to work, doing charity, hitting the town or taking a recreational spin, it hurts the pocketbook when fuel is four bucks a gallon.
Government supporters at all levels, federal, state, and local, love to preach about how budget cuts hurt the entire community. Yet we rarely think about how, in detail, high gasoline prices hurt more, and more profoundly. When people complain that state parks can't be closed because it hurts the locality, no one talks about how high gas prices may well keep people out of the campgrounds anyway. When government lovers assert that certain air routes losing subsidies hurts localities, no one talks about how high gas prices make it more difficult for anyone or any supplies to get to the less traveled areas. When Lansing supporters says budget cuts hurt the poor, no one complains about how high gas prices make it harder to help the poor simply because willing helpers and needed services can't get to them.
Gas prices affect us all, directly and every day. And something could have been done about them long ago. Our leaders could have opened up more areas to oil exploration. But they have not, by and large because they believe that the environment is more important than people.
This should be a premier issue in the November elections, whether we're talking about elections in Michigan or nationally. If we can't move people and things around cheaply, we all hurt. Think about that before you pull the lever next month.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment