Changes

As I sit here this morning debating the necessity of making a 50 mile round trip into Taos I realize how times have changed. This was once a twice a week routine.

I belonged to a gym in Taos. I had friends there I met for lunch. I did almost all my shopping there except for the trips to the more distant Santa Fe with a Sam's Club, a Lowe's and a Home Depot. Now I seldom go to Santa Fe and only a couple times a month to Taos. And that usually with a friend so we can share gas expenses.

I live in a rural community which depends upon tourism for its livelihood. That is down and the resort has made layoffs. Because of that the tax base for the village is down and they have made layoffs. I have a rental unit which is seldom empty, but it is now. So are lots in the area which once had a shortage of affordable rental housing. So my income is suffering there. And I am an artist. Less art being sold these days.

It is not a new story for many people and yet a CNN news poll said that 3% of the country still felt the economy was strong. G.W.Bush has to be one of those 3% and I would assume his cabinet the rest. And isn't the margin of error on most polls 3%?

What hit me this morning as I looked at the must get list which has been growing beside my computer is the gap between the forced shopping local and the local stores being able to accommodate our needs. They are getting better but not quite there yet. All the little retail stores switched to bare essentials when the big box stores in bigger towns sprung up. Now they are having to reconsider their market needs. The grocery store here is doing a pretty good job of it. So is the local hardware. Can't always get it when you want it but they can order it in for Thursday.

And there are the friendships. I have quite a few friends in Taos. We met rather routinely when I was over there for errands. We did lunch. Now that I am there less frequently my list grows to the point that lunch just isn't possible time or money wise. So once close personal relationships are now e-mail affairs. Taos and Angel Fire used to be neighbor cities and now we are rapidly becoming strangers. With the help of blogs I have closer connections to friends in Australia. We have not quite gotten it that the high price of gas is changing not just our economy but our friendships. It is difficult to think regionally let alone globally.

I definitely don't have any warm and fuzzy feelings for the oil companies or OPEC or the current administration. I remember being in this place in the 70's and everyone talked of solutions that obviously nobody put into effect because of the huge political clout of Exxon, etc. I certainly hope this time will be different but somehow I doubt it. That 3% that think the economy is solid are the ones pulling all the strings.

Oh, and I am having a difficult time even feeling sorry for the rest of the country with the announced $4.00/gallon prices. We have been over $4.00 for weeks.

The politics of gas prices

The mountain west is an area of vast open spaces with sparsely located population centers. Some towns are merely a gas station, a church, a bar and a tack shop (a business that sells things for horses and cattle and those that work on and with them). It is easier to get a bale of hay in parts of New Mexico than ink for your computer printer.

Before the Internet you took a trip to the nearest big city once a month or two of supplies. And it was in those cities that the big box stores opened up. They killed a lot of the Mom and Pop businesses in smaller towns in the area. The result was a capitalistic system that was supported by big vehicles and cheap gas and long distance driving.

I live in a resort town where it is easier to buy skis or mountain bike than a pair of jeans and tennis shoes. You cannot buy a shirt that does not have the name of the resort printed or embroidered on it. The local grocery store caters to the Texas tourist trade and not the organic diet locals. Our business depends on people traveling by car to get here. There is no other way. No trains, only a small private jet airport, no buses. And while the tourists travel here we have to travel to Santa Fe or Albuquerque to shop for things not available in our area. Or shop the Internet. And even with that delivery prices are going up.

I am looking for tile for my studio. I have a lumber yard in my town but not a flooring supply store. I traveled two hours to Lowe's to look for tile. The delivery charge to my town will be $135 or 30 cents extra per tile. I cannot haul it it my van because it is one ton of tile in a 1/2 ton base vehicle. I could do it in two trips. Twice the gas. If I had one of those little energy efficient hybrids we would be looking at six trips or more.

I have the feeling that some of those little stores Lowe's and Wal-Mart, and Sam's put out of business will spring back up eventually. But in the mean time we two choices: pay the higher prices for gas or delivery or choose to not buy those items you cannot haul in your car. A lot of us are going with the latter option because we cannot afford the first.

I don't think it would bother me as much that gas prices are causing me to totally alter my choices in life if the gas companies were not making such huge profits and paying their CEO's such huge salaries. Or if the President had a clue about what gas prices were and the impact upon our society and the businesses, especially the small businesses.

If we stopped giving gas companies tax breaks and used that money to build some railroads and make more of our communities accessible by some means other than car and made it easier to get goods into those towns we all might feel a bit less bitter. Everyone is angry at Obama for saying we are bitter. But we are bitter. We see the rich get richer and have absolutely no concept of how pinched the middle and lower classes feel by the economic woes led I think by gas and fuel prices. My life style has changed drastically due to that. I want someone to recognize it. I am angry as hell that the rich fat cats in Washington don't seem to even be aware of what we are going through. McCain said we should all just tighten our belts a little and eat out less often.

This weekend I ate out with a friend for the first time in a couple of months. I used to eat out at least once a week. My friend filled up her gas tank for the first time in a month because she has been staying home to save gas. Yes, we are bitter. And I am frankly thrilled someone running for office realized it.

Kitchen Table Economics

The new catch phrase when the rich industrialist talk of the economy is kitchen table economics. They have never sat at our kitchen tables. Some of those most hurt by the recent economic downturn do not have kitchen tables.

I have marveled at all the "economic stimulus" package suggestions and noticed they have missed the one thing that can be done and done instantly to immediately help the economy: Lower gas prices. But with major petroleum companies reporting once again record profits nobody has considered this simple but effective solution. In fact the reverse is being talked about in the form of extra taxes on gas to fund repairs to our aging infrastructure system.

As a kitchen table economist let me propose something here: 1) Delete all price supports and tax breaks now being given to the petroleum companies except for those that support the search for alternate fuels, 2) tax the profits of petroleum companies to repair our highways and bridges and build commuter train systems, 3) set a ceiling for gas prices to the consumer, and 4) for a set period lower the gas prices to the user. This makes wonderful sense. Our country would benefit by the extra taxes coming into our treasury and perhaps we could lower taxes on the middle class. Petroleum companies cannot sell us gas if we have no roads to drive on or if the gas is too high for us to want to drive anywhere but to and from work.

Lower gas prices will have an immediate effect on the budgets of all middle class and lower income Americans and their budgets. It will also allow the lowering of prices on commodities which have suffered price increases due to fuel costs and shipping such as groceries which would further help those most effected by higher prices throughout the economy.

And there would be no waiting to receive the cash rebate checks. This boost to our economy would be NOW. We have to ask ourselves if the people that run this company ever consider the people or just the major businesses. Well, if we are all too broke to buy anything those businesses are going to hurt too.