The other day I read a poll of voters that showed their top four concerns in order of importance and in order of how they impacted their voting decisions. The economy, gas prices, health care and Iraq (AKA war).

The economy took over top spot as the top problem on the minds of voters. Iraq (war), former number one, slipped to fourth. The price of gas claimed second with the cost of health care edging out the war by a few percentage points.

You may have read the poll results and may have had the same reaction. When I read the information I had to ask myself, “What’s wrong with this picture?”

If we reduce the reduce the costs of war to a figure we can wrap our heads around, it makes it easier to understand. Trillions, to most of us, are equivalent to how long it would take to walk to the moon, completely out of our comprehension. But if we use the following, and I use the figures because they’re easy to work with, we can begin to see the picture is out of focus.

If we have ten thousand dollars in the bank, make a thousand dollars a week and are used to spending around a thousand dollars a week, we maintain our personal economic base. If all figures remain the same and we begin spending one hundred thousand dollars per week, it only takes a day or two to wipe out our savings and put in dire economic circumstances. Who is the benefactor of our economic problems? The military complex rates first with big oil and other corporate interests close behind. We spend our savings bailing out big business and they bail out by taking their manufacturing, and our job base, offshore. What section of those polled place the economy above all else? People who make $100,000.00 per year or more. Apparently, to them, money is thicker than water, or blood for that matter. They, like the rest of us, are suffering from rising property taxes, cost off food and increases in the price of food.

Where the economy and voter preferences are concerned: middle-income earners are divided evenly, and McCain wins the most affluent.

Number two, the cost of gas, really should need no explanation, other than to say that there’s enough oil in Montana, portions of N. Dakota and a section of Canada, to fuel the US for over forty years and it can be pumped out for $16.00 per barrel. The area is commonly known as “The Bakkens” and some companies are already pumping. So why is gas so high? Most of the companies are small, in comparison with those involved in the Middles East, Iraq in particular and they probably don’t have the pull with the powers that be in the present administration.

Why were the Russians interested in Afghanistan before they went broke from the cost of their war in that part of the world? They weren’t (supposedly) interested in curbing the opium trade. It’s the only route for pipelines from the rich oil and natural gas fields in the area to the Caspian Sea where oil and gas can be shipped. Two plus two: you figure it out.

If we bear in mind that a very large percentage of those who serve in any war, Iraq included, come back in poor health with debilitating disabilities and require large sums of physical and mental care to be able to be reabsorbed into society as a productive entity, we can see one big reason why health care costs are rising. With this fact, it’s not difficult to see why health care costs are a concern. Reality: it costs more to rehab someone who suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome, or the loss of limbs, eyes or other major problems, than it does to treat a patient with the flu.

The war in the Middle East blankets, smothers and is directly connected to the first three concerns. In photography, sometimes you have to switch from auto focus to manual in order to get the picture. Manual focus is similar to thinking out of the box and for yourself. Get the picture?