Monday, January 5, 2009

All Politics are local

I was reminded today that national and even international politics affects us right here on the Eastern Shore. The Middle East conflict has driven up the price of oil, in turn causing gasoline to go up by ten cents a gallon in three days at some places. This is small discomfort compared to the death and suffering in Gaza, but does illustrate that we are now, like it or not, a global economy, heavily dependent on foreign oil from an unstable region of the globe.
As if this wasn't enough economic woes for me personally, I understand that the new administration is seriously thinking about another 10 cents or so in additional gasoline tactics. That's not so bad right now, but what happens when gas goes back up to 4 bucks a gallon again (and it will. We as consumers have short memories and will cheerfully make long trips and burn up what little surplus of fuel is being generated by the recession. I use my 32mpg Sebring more and more even with low gas prices instead of opting for the comfier Trailblazer that gets only half the mileage, in an effort to keep from consuming more than necessary).
One bright spot seems to be the next round of stimulus checks. As a Maryland state employee I am facing four days of furloughs and pay reduction between now and June. That stimulus check will make up for that and it might be a good strategy to take my furlough days the month it arrives.
Meanwhile, I wish the new administration well. They have a lot of political capital built up and I pray they spend it wisely to get us out of our economic hole and to develop new strategies to get us out of Iraq without weakening our security. The weather is changing and I have a whopper headache, so today's post is short. I haven't had many comments so I am hoping that people are not having trouble posting, or maybe folks just haven't found the blog yet. Maybe I should put in some hook words like Obama, Palin, Blagojevich, stuff like that. Meanwhile, I am making progress on my new novel and am getting a real feel for my plot mechanics. Good night all.

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