If We Make It Through December
By Me :-)
Today while reading the news in my local paper, I ran across a story that so worried me on so many levels that I felt compelled to write about it. The story stated that the Missouri Public Service Commission had announced today that my electric and gas provider had informed them that the “average” home heating bill would be increasing by $238 per month! I’m no different than most Americans and my immediate concern was for my own personal wellbeing and standard of living. I also do not feel I’m a great deal different than most folks when I say I simply do not have an extra $238 lying around every month. So I suspect that while the recent soar in gasoline prices at the pump have caused me to make deep cuts in my quality of life and standard of living, I have a feeling those cuts are about to get much deeper and far more painful!
Next – My attention turned to others, specifically the elderly population. I wonder how many of them will suffer this winter – my guess is they all will! Most, are like my grandmother who lives on a fixed income and struggles to stretch every dime in order to pay necessary monthly bills and an ever increasing regimen of prescription medications. The term disposable income is not something I believe a majority of the elderly in our country know anything of. I wonder how many will die simply because they froze to do death inside their homes because they could not afford to pay the heating bill? I wonder how many will die because they could not afford their medications and heat this winter?
Many of the elderly were eliminated from the Missouri Medicaid program or asked to pay enormous amounts of money each month (spend down) to keep their coverage, being told only that “cuts to the program were necessary”. Already in a poor state of health and likely to go without heat or medication this winter, I’m afraid the forecast doesn’t look good for these individuals either!
As a side note: It deeply saddens me that this segment of our population has worked and sacrificed for their entire lives and made this country what it is today and for their efforts, we as a society are allowing our government to turns it back on them and quite literally leaving them out in the cold in their time of greatest need.
The FED also announced yesterday that it will be raising interest rates again. Quite simply this factor alone is good for those with a large amount of money in savings, however it’s going to hurt those that have car loans, home loans, or carry a balance on a credit card. Essentially, the poor, working-poor and the middle class.
Should the number of hurricanes we’ve experienced in the South or the torrential down pours and flooding we’ve seen in the New England states be an early indicator that we are in for a particularly harsh winter, I fear the worst for our country’s economy. The cataclysmic effects on the economy from the cost of home heating and fuel will drive many families directly into the arms of a newly reformed Federal Bankruptcy System that has now been over legislated and over hauled in order to provide better profits for the credit card industry. Because of this bankruptcy simply won’t be an option for most. The Great Depression our country experienced during the 1930’s will likely be a ride in the park compared to what we are about to endure.
Today while reading the news in my local paper, I ran across a story that so worried me on so many levels that I felt compelled to write about it. The story stated that the Missouri Public Service Commission had announced today that my electric and gas provider had informed them that the “average” home heating bill would be increasing by $238 per month! I’m no different than most Americans and my immediate concern was for my own personal wellbeing and standard of living. I also do not feel I’m a great deal different than most folks when I say I simply do not have an extra $238 lying around every month. So I suspect that while the recent soar in gasoline prices at the pump have caused me to make deep cuts in my quality of life and standard of living, I have a feeling those cuts are about to get much deeper and far more painful!
Next – My attention turned to others, specifically the elderly population. I wonder how many of them will suffer this winter – my guess is they all will! Most, are like my grandmother who lives on a fixed income and struggles to stretch every dime in order to pay necessary monthly bills and an ever increasing regimen of prescription medications. The term disposable income is not something I believe a majority of the elderly in our country know anything of. I wonder how many will die simply because they froze to do death inside their homes because they could not afford to pay the heating bill? I wonder how many will die because they could not afford their medications and heat this winter?
Many of the elderly were eliminated from the Missouri Medicaid program or asked to pay enormous amounts of money each month (spend down) to keep their coverage, being told only that “cuts to the program were necessary”. Already in a poor state of health and likely to go without heat or medication this winter, I’m afraid the forecast doesn’t look good for these individuals either!
As a side note: It deeply saddens me that this segment of our population has worked and sacrificed for their entire lives and made this country what it is today and for their efforts, we as a society are allowing our government to turns it back on them and quite literally leaving them out in the cold in their time of greatest need.
The FED also announced yesterday that it will be raising interest rates again. Quite simply this factor alone is good for those with a large amount of money in savings, however it’s going to hurt those that have car loans, home loans, or carry a balance on a credit card. Essentially, the poor, working-poor and the middle class.
Should the number of hurricanes we’ve experienced in the South or the torrential down pours and flooding we’ve seen in the New England states be an early indicator that we are in for a particularly harsh winter, I fear the worst for our country’s economy. The cataclysmic effects on the economy from the cost of home heating and fuel will drive many families directly into the arms of a newly reformed Federal Bankruptcy System that has now been over legislated and over hauled in order to provide better profits for the credit card industry. Because of this bankruptcy simply won’t be an option for most. The Great Depression our country experienced during the 1930’s will likely be a ride in the park compared to what we are about to endure.
posted by Shane at 2:53 PM
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