What Really Matters

[Gopi Mehat]

Gopi Mehat

This year’s election is going to be on the most important elections ever in my opinion. There are so many important issues that need to be resolved. The war, economy, and social security are just a few. I interviewed my uncle to see what’s important to him this coming election. He answered by saying the economy, which wasn’t a surprise to me. My uncle is a forty-eight year old married man with two kids and moved to America from India twenty-five years ago. He worked in the fields when he got to America for $3.25 per hour. Now he owns a gas station and a car wash, he makes a good living.

I met my uncle at Chili’s on Saturday to have this interview. I started by asking him why the economy was the most important issue to him. He said with raising gas prices, it’s hurting his business and is affecting all of America. According to the Energy Information Administration, the price of a gallon of gasoline a year ago this time was roughly $2.70. The current price of gasoline in America is roughly $3.75. When I told him these numbers he wasn’t shocked at all. Another issue with him is the stock market. The stock market is something he invests in and that has been on the downfall. According to yahoo finance, the DOW closed at 14,164 points at this time last year. Yesterday the DOW closed at 9,258 points. I asked him, “why not the war?” He said if the economy is taken care of, then the war will also go along with it. I asked him what he would do to fix the economy. He said although it might suck for a while, he would raise taxes for a little bit. It would help with some of the national debt. According to www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ the current national debt is $10,229,937,877,412.44. Also he said he would pass the current bailout to help the mortgage companies. That would help out the falling real estate industry. Another thing he said he would do is off-shore drilling. Off-shore drilling brings gas prices down and that seems to be the main concern with the economy. The interview was now finished because the food had arrived and both of us were starving.

[Lennie Irvin]

Nice job with this interview. I can see as a small business owner that he would be very concerned about the economy. Also, it makes sense that he would be for more oil drilling. I suppose as gas gets more expensive people drive less and buy less gasoline. Even though the price goes up, his margins don't necessarily go up too. I thought the statistics you cited were interesting. The amount of the debt is hard to even imagine. How did we get in this mess!

LI

[Rogelio X Gutierrez]

You ought to be proud of your Uncle. I would be, he is a self made man. He made a reality for himself come true and I can see where his concern on the economy would be a big issue for him. No one likes or wants to see what they have built fall or crumble. With the gas prices and oil going up people do tend to drive less or use alternate forms of transportation. Even the local advertisements enforce to use local transportation methods like the VIA bus here in San Antonio. There is also car pooling that will reduce the business for him and on top of that with the new push on motorcycles and gas or electric scooters also may hurt his business further. Vespa Scooters even has a big advertisement for college students to purchase a scooter and get a $50.00 gas card with purchase. The moto is" $50. = 900 miles of freedom". It is a very shaky time in our Nation that may take a long time to recover from. I do wish your uncle all the luck for his Businesses.

[lamar hailey]

i agree with your uncle we need to raise taxes other wise our government is just spending money and not making any.the off shore driilling is important but i also think we need to drill in alaska because there is alot of oil there which would help bring down gas prices then people would be able to travel more, afford the higher taxes, and spend anything they had left to boost teh stock market.the real estate industry will work itself out but the bail out will help but then it becomes a problem of when will our government get that money back?that is alot of money we dont have and our government needs it just as bad as AIG maybe worse.this is a great article keep it up

[Christopher t]

A well written profile indeed. The gas prices went up so much over the past 2 or 3 years it amazing that it almost got to $4 dollars in San Antonio. The stock market always has a direct affect on gas prices, and with stock market points going down the price of barrels of oil go down with it. So gas will problem go down a bit then go back up. Off-shore drilling is something that won't happen for a while, because it take so long for the rigs to sign contracts getting workers, stuff like that. Well yeah, good profile.

[Anna]

Nice interview. I think you did a good choice by picking one who has a small business, because that was a major affect to them the economy. Especially a gas station owner because they have had a major impact with the gas prices going up and they were in major jeopardy and not only that they had to compete with one another if there were other gas stations around. Because before it didn't matter to anyone they would just fill up any were but now that the economy is a major hole they are trying to find the best bargain so they can pay the least amount.

[Josue I. Cruz-Lambert]

        I agree with you on the economy. I like how your uncles not only has made a name for himself but is also informed. And I also do think that the economy need to be fixed but as far
as the national debt goes, I do not think any country will be knocking on the
door asking for their money....at least not any time soon. Also even though off
shore drilling would be a great solution it would not affect us until about ten
years since the construction and refineries would have to be build, but I do
believe we have to start at some point instead of electing people who just argue
the issue over, and over without taking any action. I liked your paper because
not only it was short but also enjoyable and easy to read. That and it actually
had some good points!

[John Suchy]

I really enjoyed reading this essay. You provided great information and possible solutions throughout your text. I liked how you provided the current national debt which greatly suprised me because I had no idea that it was actually that bad!? I really liked the part where you said that gasoline was nearly a dollar under than what it is now. Its crazy how gas can change from one second to anoter! The part where you said that the economy was your Uncles main issue didnt suprise me because of what you had said about him. He seems like a hard/dedicated worker who has deffidently worked his butt off!! I also enjoyed how you ended your essay. Its very unique!

[Quinn Kevresian]

I have to say i'm a little skeptical to how your uncle wants to see things done. I do agree with the view of off shore drilling, however, I haven't heard anything good from the bailout issue, so I can't say that I rally agree with that subject. Hopefully the next president doesn't raise the taxes too much ten use the money ONLY for the war going on, instead of using it for that AND other issues going that really need to be paid attention to.

[mbowman15]

I agree with your Uncle about the gas prices being a serious issue. With them constantly raising it is hard to plan a budget and to make payments on other important things. Off shore drilling is something that I also believe should happen. If it is done with care and in the proper way then there should be no concerns about hurting the environment. Well raising taxes will be unfortunate it is going to happen either way. In the current situation we are in taxes must be raised a little no matter what just to help us get out of this dilemma.

[Alex Jones-Duffey]

I think your uncle sounds like a smart, honest man, and is a textbook example of how the economy crisis is crippling small business's. Im not entirely sure that just raising taxes would save our economy, but careful planned budget cuts and raising taxes on some larger corperationsthat can afford to pay it would be a start. Your information was also a good addition to your essay, and all in all was a good read.

[Mario]

I totally agree with your uncle that the economy is important because I feel the same way that if our economy plunges so will the war and all those lives would be lost for nothing. Gas has dramitically increased and times are hard now. Many people plan there whole days out on behalf of their gas, making sure they dont use any extra gas that is not necessary. That national debt is so high and it seems like there is no possibility to bring it down. Who ever goes into office needs to adress the economy right away and needs to start bringing that number down.

[morgen smart]

I agree with the gas being a big issue I can remeber seeing gas for 99cents nd my grandma would always stop at the race track on bandera road because it was alway a little cheaper there. How awesome wuld it be to have that I wouldn't be so up tight bout what I spend my money on. I agree with offshore drilling that really could help us.