Sacrifices will have to be made by all

Government intervention in the free market rarely proves to be a benefit except to a privileged few. The sky-high price of gasoline seems to me to be a likely candidate for intervention. Gas is just not a product we can yet do without. It is a necessity to many. Public transportation is not available to all. A new gas saving vehicle is not an option to all. We can drive less, or slow down, or combine trips, a good idea anytime, but when you must have gas to get to work, go to the store, or just do your job, the choices to save are few. And, by the way, has anybody figured out how we’re going to use less gas when our population is increasing so rapidly?

Gasoline has not only become a necessity for most but it also affects the price of everything else, as we are witnessing, and there is no end in sight.

I think Americans face difficulties ahead. Everybody’s lifestyle will have to change. Sacrifices will have to be made and not just for lower income or fixed income folks, but everyone. Starting with the people we elect to public office.

Gas rationing was used, for instance, when we fought a world war. We are fighting a war now, and we will be fighting this one long after the troops come home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe gas rationing needs to be brought back again, for everybody.

Nobody wants it. No politician has the intestinal fortitude to tell us what we need to do. But before we get to the point where we have no choice and until alternatives are available, who we elect to office may be the most important decision we make. Vote, of course, but vote informed. Nothing else will have a greater effect on our future.

Don Curtis

Clinton