The Bush Legacy And Personal Finances

I didn't like it but I understood why, with jet fuel prices skyrocketing, airlines had to increase ticket prices with gimmicks like hefty fuel surcharges (nearly $400 to Europe, for example) and by starting to charge for checked bags and even pillows. I was happy they didn't get around to converting their restrooms into pay toilets. But now, with jet fuel down almost 60%, the airline companies are converting the surcharges into just plain old fashioned more expensive tickets. They say they need it for their bottom lines. (State owned Air India is passing the fuel savings on to customers, but, so far, none of the private airline companies anywhere in the world are following suit.)

There isn't much anyone can do about it. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is demanding transparency from the sneaky airlines but, in the end, consumers are still stuck with the higher prices. The legislation Menendez proposed stipulates that the airlines can't impose fuel surcharges that are not correlated to the actual price for fuel that the airline paid. We'll see if that goes anywhere.

Meanwhile, I'm noticing that as the times seem to get rougher, purveyors of good and services are as well. Earlier today we talked about how bailed out banksters are pulling back on credit for consumers through their control over the credit card industry. But I'm finding sharp elbows wherever I turn.

My insurance company won't pay for my (required) Yellow Fever shot for my trip to Mali, nor for my malaria pills (which cost $10 each). Interestingly the insurance company that insures L.A. teachers does pay for vaccinations and Roland got all his free and bought the malaria pills for pennies each, saving the two of us around $600 (approximately the price of the fuel surcharge for our flights to Bamako). Meanwhile my pool heater hasn't been working and when I called a repairman to fix it, he said it would cost me $125 for him to come over-- which seemed awful steep. When he got here it turned out spiders had created a nice little habitat for themselves in the pool heater and he said that would require a $125 surcharge on top of the $125 "trip fee" (not to Bamako but from La Brea Avenue, about 2 or 3 miles away). I couldn't even call my lawyer. I just got an outrageous bill from him too that included hour rates for reading e-mails and talking on the phone with his friend (the one who recommended that I use him).

A couple months ago I bought a new Prius. The folks at Toyota Hollywood told me it would take 2-4 weeks for delivery. They didn't say months, they said weeks. But it was months-- and to rub my nose in it, when the car finally arrived they announced the price had gone up by $1,000 because it was a 2009 model-- a model with not one single change whatsoever from the 2008 model I had ordered and partially paid for... except that it is the 2009 model. They have plenty of people who want them so their attitude was they'd refund my deposit if I didn't want the car.

I guess this is what the onset of a Depression feels like. Where consumers have some discretion prices are falling. Retailers are cutting prices drastically to move inventory. But where there is no real competition, the big squeeze is on. Yesterday we were told something we all already knew-- that a recession had started exactly a year ago. You can't help but hearing on TV that the Bush economic miracle has led us directly into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. I wonder how long it takes before they declare that we've left recession territory and are officially in an actual Depression.