Are We Retarded?

Lacking sufficient mental faculties to understand that this problem wasn't just a momentary blip? You don't remember how much you suffered when the price of gas went up? Do we have Gasheimer's disease?

USATODAY.com - Small-car interest falls with gas prices: "Among the signs that conservation is less important than it was a month ago:

• This week's government report on gasoline use says that we're getting ever-closer to burning as much gasoline as we did last year, when prices were typically less than $2 a gallon. The nationwide average for regular now is about $2.45, according to travel club AAA.

Gasoline consumption the past four weeks was just 1.7% lower than it was a year earlier, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It had been down as much as 2.8% after Hurricane Katrina disrupted energy operations in the Gulf of Mexico and sent gasoline prices to a nationwide average peak of about $3.07.

• Three popular Internet car-shopping sites report notable drops in users seeking information on gas-electric hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars.

Edmunds.com says interest peaked Aug. 29 when Hurricane Katrina hit. That week, 19,500 users went to Edmunds' page on fuel economy. But that's dropped to about 3,000 views a week, the same as it was in early August."

Of course, I doubt if it is the less well off who are driving more. It takes a long time to recover money you spent that wasn't in the budget and you haven't had a raise.

Our government could learn a lot about budgeting from poor people. Not the least of which is that you take care of the home and what runs the home before you throw a party, go on vacation or give money to people who don't need it.