Published: April 30, 2008 03:45 am         

Check won't solve bigger problems

We're in a quandary about what to do with the tax rebate money we're getting from the government.

Some of us will get $300, others $600, and still others $1,200.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Should we get a tankful of gas, or a basket of groceries?

OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not so big a bit as it would have been before the recent explosion in gas and food prices.

It costs about $50 to fill up your six-cylinder sedan. A gallon in Oneonta went for $3.699 on Tuesday, but it may be more by the time you read this.

It's widely predicted that the price will go up to four bucks a gallon this summer. It's already that much in some areas of the country.

Looking ahead isn't much fun, either. A barrel of oil, which cost $23 when President Bush took office in 2001, has hit $120.

Wait, it gets worse.

The president of the oil cartel OPEC said Monday that a barrel could hit $200 soon.

Chakib Khelil, Algeria's energy minister, has resisted calls for OPEC to increase production and blames high prices on the weak dollar and political insecurity in oil-producing regions.

Gee, but that rebate check is looking smaller and smaller.

Everything from the price of a can of soup at Hannaford, Price Chopper or Wal-Mart to a haircut at the local barber shop has gone up.

It was reported Tuesday that consumer confidence is at a five-year low, and who can blame us for having the willies?

People have started hoarding rice and other staples. Rioting is going on in poorer countries because there is little affordable food to be had.

Here, in our wealthy nation, a national survey released Tuesday said that three in 10 Americans postponed getting health care they needed in the past year.

Nearly 25 percent of us skipped a recommended health test or treatment and didn't fill a prescription.

Oil companies are reporting obscene first-quarter profits. We're spending more than $10 billion every month fighting a seemingly endless war in Iraq.

But many of us can't afford enough food. We can't afford gas, and maybe we're putting off getting new brakes or tires. Some can't pay for our prescriptions.

The president in his news conference Tuesday basically blamed everything on Congress and spoke the same tired nonsense about solving our problems by drilling for oil in Alaska.

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain are all telling us stuff about oil prices and the economy they think we want to hear.

Meanwhile, folks are losing their homes in the housing crisis. Everywhere we look, things appear desolate and bleak as salaries and benefits don't keep pace with inflation.

So, forgive us if we're not jumping for joy because the government just sent us a check.