The headlines keep getting scarier. We know all about the price of gasoline, and now they're telling us that natural gas could be stunningly high this winter, and that already soaring food inflation is being boosted even more by Midwest flooding.

Gasoline for our car, natural gas for our furnace, food for our table. All going through the roof, or threatening to. Is it any wonder that voters seem to keep getting grumpier the closer the November general election approaches?

Fortunately many of us make enough money to weather the storm. We can put off long trips, add more insulation while hoping for another warm winter, and look for the cheapest food items. We will grump, but there's no need to panic.

But many others -- the working poor and the elderly on fixed Social Security payments and not much else -- have every reason to feel genuinely threatened. They have absolutely no control over the commodity prices of fuel or food, and they are being priced out of the market for the necessities of life.

NorthWestern Energy is cautioning customers to go on "budget billing" sooner rather than later, and that advice for timely action holds equally true for governments. PSC members said they will try to act as a clearinghouse for consumers for information about help with conservation measures, but they stressed that Congress must be ready to increase home-heating assistance for the poor who might not have what it takes to keep warm this winter. The same can be said for food banks that are being squeezed as tightly as everyone else.

The outlook is reminiscent of that grim Vietnam War-era metaphor: The light at the end of the tunnel is looking more and more like the headlight of an oncoming train.