Traffic roars along Albany's Pacific Boulevard as though nothing was happening. But the signs on the gas stations along the way and elsewhere in town - from about $3.40 to more than $3.50 a gallon - say that our way of life is undergoing a vast change.

As heavily as most of us depend on private vehicles for everything, the price of gas is taking a huge chunk out of everybody's means.

John McCain has proposed suspending the

18.4-cent/gallon federal gas tax for three months and reimbursing the highway fund from the general budget, increasing the deficit about $3 billion a month. It does not sound like a splendid idea, but at least he's talking about a pressing issue.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are arguing about why people "cling" to religion. What the country needs instead is a rational discussion of how to lower the price of fuel.

One way: Adopt policies to increase the value of the dollar. A different, long-term answer would be to allow more exploration for oil in this country to tide us over until hydrogen technology catches on. But the candidates don't talk about that. (hh)