Today, where I live, in Central Minnesota, regular unleaded gas costs $2.99 a gallon. It has been higher. Diesel fuel is $3.49 a gallon. Economically speaking, an economic depression looms in the future.
No one wants a depression. Yet no one is making a move to slow it down or stop. Why? State government, with its Legislature tied up in knots and an opposing governor, has tried nothing. Washington? With the Bush administration's head in the sand over in Iraq and terrorists, we have no domestic policy that I know of.
If possible, I would like to be enlightened on this. 95 percent of our "stuff" in small towns is trucked in on semis at a cost of $3.49 per gallon. Heavy truck mileage is five to seven miles per gallon.
No independent truck driver can lose money for long because of the fuel prices. The cost of transportation is driving the prices in our retail markets higher for all the things we buy.
Entrepreneurship is the backbone of our businesses. High fuel prices are hurting this situation. I pity the poor man with a family who drives 12 to 25 miles one way to work. They will be cutting out a lot of spending for gifts and travel over the holiday season, just to pay for fuel.
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We are at war in the Middle East. Our lifeblood is being drained there, both in human casualties and economically. Inflation, including fuel prices, is hurting us in the United States. Our government, state and federal, do not help us. World markets? What about domestic markets?
During World War II, President Roosevelt capped fuel prices and rationed it. Not a bad idea at the present time. I call on George W. Bush, our president, to show some leadership on the domestic economic problems at home.
No. 1, regulate the price of diesel fuel to below $1.75 a gallon. This would slow inflation. It would keep independent trucks on the road and be able to make a decent living. Do the big oil companies need more millions? Are their CEOs happy yet with their millions?
Porter Ashley
Litchfield
