The Hits Keep Coming

May 7, 2008

I don't recall the name of the business, but I was driving along 71st Street the other day and saw a sign that offered jobs for "$6.75 and up." You know, $6.75 an hour wasn't a living wage 15 years ago.

I saw a news report the other day that said the average household these days is carrying $8,000 in credit card debt. Home foreclosures are through the roof. Reports abound concerning the problems of food banks and their lack of inventory.

Kids today---even kids from reasonably affluent families---walk off university campuses with a diploma under one arm and a fat education mortgage under the other.

Gasoline is higher than a cat's back and seems to increase in price daily. Analysts are making noise about $200-per-barrel oil. That sounds like crazy talk. But then it sounded like crazy talk a couple of years ago when Goldman Sachs predicted oil would hit $100 a barrel.

Lord have mercy on us all if the price of a gallon of gas goes to 5 or 6 bucks.

Food prices are high and rising. Analysts expect food prices to continue to rise for several years.

In the richest nation on Earth, average people can't make a living anymore. And that's a bloody shame.

In the midst of all this, Tulsa Community College wants more money. It wants people to go to the polls on May 13th and vote a property tax increase on themselves. Hey, it's just 50 bucks a year for the average homeowner, they school argues. No biggie.

Well, 50 bucks a year might not be a big deal to educators. But to an average working person that has a real job out in the real world and is facing wolves at the door, 50 bucks is a lot of money. For an average person with a real job that can't afford to fill the family pantry, can't afford to fill the tank, can't afford to go to the doctor, can't afford to send a kid to college, can't afford to save for retirement, might not be able to make next month's mortgage payment and is living on plastic, 50 bucks is a lot of money.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step. Go to the polls on May 13th and tell TCC to sit on its request and have a nice spin.