I was having trouble trying to figure what to write about, and then it
hit  me,  as I was watching the Bill O’Reilly show on FOX
this afternoon. O’Reilly keeps telling us how the free market will
solve all our problems, but I don’t see it.

The main part of the discussion was about health care and how the
Republicans  plan to give everyone $5,000 to let us buy our own
health care, which will bring prices down. How in the hell are prices
going to come down when the government will subsidize every person who
buys health care?

If I’m on the board of an insurance company, I’m thinking you need this
and will pay for it if you can barely afford it. Since the insurance
company is making more money than ever, and paying its CEO more than
ever, why should it reduce rates?

Now, if everyone is going to get $5,000 from the government to buy
insurance, we can raise our rates. Right? What incentive do we have to
lower rates?

I see the same thing driving up and down valley with gasoline prices.
Watch CNBC: As soon as the price of oil goes up the price at the pump
goes up. How can this be?

One would think that when the gas station has a load of gasoline
delivered, and the price is higher, the price would go up. How can
there be a direct link between unrefined oil futures and what you pay
at the pump?

Let’s say I sell widgets, and my supplier raises his prices, but I have
a  three-month supply of widgets on hand. Shouldn’t the retail
price stay the same until I have to reorder a new supply of widgets?
Apparently not.

And what happens when the store across the street raises its prices along  with me? Isn’t that just plain greed?

And what’s really stupid is that, here in Aspen, we just go along with
it. We pay insane prices at the pump because we don’t want to venture
past the  roundabout.

We go downvalley to buy a car, get a price (our best price) and then go
to  Denver to get a better price. We then come back to Glenwood
with a price that beats the dealer’s best price and they conveniently
come down.

And if supply and demand rules, why do we keep paying insane prices for
lift tickets and season passes? Do you have any idea how much money we
give the SkiCo every year before the slopes even open? All we have to
do is stop.

They rely on that money, up front, to keep going. All we have to do is say “No more!” Won’t prices come down?

Like buying a car, can’t we go to another “dealer,” get a better price,
and  then go to the SkiCo telling them the price we got is a
fairer price than  what they are charging? Curious what would
happen if we all did this.

And our city government assumes we are all a bunch of lemmings and will
just follow each other over a cliff. Their stick and carrot approach to
governing, minus the carrot, is really making me sick.

They can raise parking fees all over town and into the residential
section and we’ll pay it. They can screw up the Entrance to Aspen and
we’ll put up with it. They could even, if it were legal, make Highway
82 a toll road and we’ll gladly pay the toll.

I wonder how high and outrageous things have to get before we revolt, not with guns, but with our wallets?

On the other hand, many of us might be thinking “uncrowded by design.”
As things get worse and worse here, the population goes down and makes
Aspen very appealing to those who can afford to pay the extra tolls it
takes to  live here.

And for those of us who don’t like it, why do we put up with it? True,
we  need health insurance, but we don’t all need a ski pass.

And for those who can’t really swing it, the cycle goes on and on. Take
out a loan to buy a ski pass. Have your employer take way more money
out of your salary, making the government a bank that pays no interest,
and then using  your tax refund as a vacation fund. You work your
butt off all summer to pay off the ski pass loan, and then it starts
all over in the fall.

True, the government gave you a place to live, but how many of you have
been able to save enough of a nest egg to retire? Maybe your parents
will die and  leave you a bundle, but if they don’t you may be
screwed.

Sheldon Fingerman welcomes your comments at sheldon@sopris.net.