Scorpio A few years ago, the Bush Administration pulled a fast one on us. Yes, another fast one. They changed the inflation indicators to exclude food and fuel.

Any indicator of inflation that does not include these things is an indicator of the conditions in Fantasyland. What difference does it make to most of us what happens to the prices of electronics or sporting goods, carpets, drapes and lamps?

But food and fuel are things we get weekly. They are the heart of consumer cost. In leaving these factors out of the inflation index, that index becomes a feel-good number — and a lie. When there is a drop in consumer confidence, that drop is based on real conditions, not on administration fantasies.

We won’t be getting real numbers any time soon. They would be very unpleasant for Bush and his cronies…almost as unpleasant as they are for people whose lives and livelihoods depend on food and fuel.