A few calculations

Mr. or Mrs. Who,

Who in our illustrious government tells us that our economy is honky-dory?

They go on to say that granting a 1.2 percent increase in Social Security benefits is a magnanimous gesture on their part. A whopping $20 a month! I am now challenged as to how I shall spend that $20.

Apparently the folks down in Washington, D.C., do not go shopping with a fixed amount of money allocated for food. It seems to me that there are fewer and fewer articles in the bags (about three of those useless plastic bags in one paper bag) but the cost is something else.

It used to be that $20 would fill up that bag; then it creeped to $25 and now $30 seems the norm (excluding meats) and still climbing. And those ding-dong politicians are non compos mentis (that means the lights are on but nobody is home).

I doubt if their spouses use coupons or, better yet, do they go along with them to the store? Often I see a cart loaded with the essentials and I guess it must be about $150 to $200.

That's a heck of a lot of money to shell out every week or two.

Then the Whos go on to say that the price of gasoline is going down.

Why last week it was $3.25 and now it's down a whopping 6 cents to $3.19 a gallon. Let's show the Whos that 6 cents a gallon in a 13-gallon tank is a difference of 78 cents! Which works out to be $40.56 per year or 16.9 percent of the Social Security grant. Thank you, Mr. Who, but somehow I fail to see that I would need to save, at 0.1 percent interest rate, $40,560 in a bank and then hear you, Mr. Who, say that Americans are not saving enough to supplement the Social Security. Just how much do you have in your generous 0.01 percent savings account?

Now I have touched on just two items, Mr. Who. I'm still trying to make sense out of the Medicare/Obamacare Who cares.

I'm pretty sure my calculations will be questioned (I barely passed my statistics course). But I did learn one thing: Statistics can be manipulated, and I'm no superstar compared to you. I just hope that next time you fill up your gas tank and drive to the supermarket, you'll think of us retirees and underpaid victims of your statistics.

Joseph P. Kubert

Hometown