Have gas prices affected you?

[Elspode]

I seem to remember that the economy during the 70's really sucked pretty bad, dejavu-wise. I don't recall it improving due to high fuel prices and shortages.

While I have a reasonable amount of disposable income, I won't if gas goes up over $3.00 (which I now predict will happen by Labor Day...you heard it here first). I suspect that I may not be a vanishingly small part of the consumer base in this country, and that many others may find themselves becoming strapped as well, especially when fuel costs impact the price of goods at the point of sale (which, for my next prediction, will occur by the end of October, in spades, in order to anticipate the holiday buying season, which I further predict will be the worst in a decade).

I don't have any citations for any of this, so feel free to knock down my arguments. We're living on borrowed money in this country. We produce very little of what we consume anymore, we are fat and lazy on technology and unsupported, overinflated home values, and our State and Federal governments are dumping more and more of the burden of the disabled and indigent back in their handicapped laps. We have just experienced what is undoubtedly going to be the most disastrous, expensive catastrophe in American History, guaranteeing increased insurance prices and lowered insurance availability along with business and personal financial crises on an enormous scale, all types of fuels are reaching historic highs every other week, and we are waging a very expensive, lingering war.

Someone else will need to take care of posting the good news in all of this.