Comment Text:
Dear Commissioners:
An interesting article in Saturday's New York Times has explained very
clearly why it is that the necessities of life
such as bread and home heating oil suddenly become too pricey for us
folks. That spells trouble.
As business professionals, your peer group probably includes
investment brokers and traders, so you might not "really connect" with
those of us in the urban jungle.
Sometimes you may even remark that "mood" among consumers is sour. I
can promise you, though, that if you were trying to support a
family of four on a salary of less than $20,000 a year, you would be
better able to understand that the "mood" among consumers
is swiftly turning from sour to ugly.
Some of us lost pensions in the "savings and loan scandal." Some of
us lost entire life savings in the dotcom bubble. Others of us in the
Enron scandal.
Most of us are still reeling from the housing bubble, and many single
women with children are now homeless.
Are you serious? This is not a game! Lives depend on what you do.
Stop treating the necessities of life as though they were chips on a
game board. How?
Just remember that "commodities" is the same word as "necessity,"
that in the grip of a brutal winter, "heating oil" means "survival."
I pray that you are listening.
Patsy Shafchuk
P.O. Box 38
San Antonio, Florida
[email protected]
cc. Senator Bill Nelson
