Saturday, July 26, 2008

About those gas prices

There's been a lot of talk lately about lowering gas prices. It's all about quick fixes because, hey, there's an election in November. You've heard the cheap sloganeering too. Drill Now! Pay Less! It's speculators! Let's release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve!

I know it's tough out there. People can't afford to drive to work. Not everybody lives in town where there's mass transit. Maybe the loan on the SUV is upside down. Maybe they already cut back on extra trips or didn't take the usual summer vacation roadtrip and still can't make ends meet.

Let's say we did get some short term relief in gas prices, and you knew it was temporary. What would you do with the breathing room in your budget? Would you plan wisely for the future? Find housing closer to work, maybe something smaller or better insulated to save on heat? Buy a more efficient car?

Or would you keep doing everything exactly the same as before and resume going broke when your borrowed time ran out?