Posted on 09/09/2005 6:08:11 AM PDT by strange1
PHOENIX - Attorney General Terry Goddard launched an investigation Wednesday into the state's high gasoline prices.
snip
He specifically wants to see what each was charging the day before Hurricane Katrina hit and now.
he called it "suspicious" that gas prices in California are lower than in Arizona
Goddard's inquiry comes as two proposals were unveiled to cut gasoline taxes, at least temporarily.
Sen. Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, wants to suspend the state's 18-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax for up to 45 days to help motorists cope with the high cost of fuel. Verschoor said Arizonans could save about $2 million a day.
And U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., has introduced legislation to suspend the federal 18.4-cent-a-gallon gas tax for 30 days. He hopes to have hearings on the bill within a week.
"Even if you suspend the gas tax, it doesn't necessarily mean that the price is going to go down," said gubernatorial press aide Pati Urias. "The distributors could just leave the prices as they are."
I heard that Kaleefornia is going to ask for a relaxation of the reformulation standards. That would be a good start too.
Gas here in my little part of Oklahoma has dropped from $3.0999 per gallon to $2.7999 in one day.
I for one do not fault the gas stations for raising prices.
Suspicious that prices went up after Katrina? Is this guy on drugs?
First time the gun-grabbing lib Terry Goddard has done anything I agree with.
He's right that it is strange the gas in CA is lower than in AZ. Personally I don't believe it.
It's about 3.09 right now on "average" in my area in Kaleefornia. I don't know what it is averaging in Arizona.
Fuel prices NEED to be regulated. The supply of gas and diesel is a monopoly in the mode of electricity. The oil companies are looting the pocketbooks of citizens in a way that people selling bottled water, food or ice are not allowed. Why is it not price gouging to raise prices in a crisis? This is not the free market in action, there is no free market in the energy sector.
When the gas jumps something like a dollar or more in a matter of days, then somebody is crewing the public. The gas in the ground doesn't cost anymore. The new shipment of gas may cost more though.
Because most of the people rushing to buy gasoline during the "crisis" didn't really have to buy it under those circumstances. The idiocy in Atlanta was a classic example, in which people lined up at gas stations last week because of an unsubstantiated rumor that the city would run out of gasoline by labor day.
A gas station that raises its prices from $2.99 per gallon to $5.99 per gallon in three hours in response to an irrational run on gasoline by an ignorant public is not "gouging" in any sense of the word.
Further, the classical definition of a free mkt is that of a mechanism whereby informed buyers and informed sellers, all dealing voluntarily and w/o external restraint, exchange goods and services.
So, what's not free about energy markets? Will you merely provide here another iteration of the famed ''Big Oil Conspiracy''?
Energy has been well underpriced in this nation since at least the mid-1980s, and therefore cataclysms such as Katrina have a magnified effect on price over the short term. If anything, there has been a concerted effort on the part of government generally to keep energy prices below a true market-clearing level. This process, or policy if you prefer, is effectively identical to the European and Egyptian practices of keeping staple food prices artificially low. Every once in a while, such a policy blows up in one or another gov'ts face.
Try to avoid falling into the trap of ''I'm used to paying X for such-and-so, therefore X is the fair price for such-and-so''.
Spot on, tfecw! Nixon/Ford/Carter energy regulations were an outright disaster for the nation, and had effects that persist even to this day.
I agree it's not gouging, just oportunistic. The dealers are just profiteering, and by raising the price they do nothing to allay concerns. Their just emboldening the publics concerns.
BTW, I recall vividly sitting in a gas line in my Buick Wildcat during the gas embargo of the 70's. While the idea of capping gas prices seemed like a good idea, the reality proved much different. While I'll agree with the train of thought we have become accustomed to "cheap gas", I refuse to believe that the ramp up in the price of oil this past year is anything less than speculators driving the price up to "test the waters" of just where the threshold of pain is. Not just for the US, but on a global scale. We've been hearing for months now that OPEC thought $40 a barrel was acceptable, then $50.
***thinks to self, I should learn how to type, this would be much easier if I didn't use my but cheeks and elbows***
Energy has been well underpriced in this nation since at least the mid-1980s
Would you mind explaining the second sentence within the context of the first? How exactly were all these free buyers and sellers "underpricing" energy?? Thank you....
However, gov't, for political convenience, decided some years ago to attempt to manipulate the price of energy downward, along the lines of France and Egypt's manipulation of food staple prices, but considerably more subtly.
These attempts have now fapp ceased, and energy prices are seeking their own level. The apparent and much-whined-about distortion in energy pricing at this time is due almost completely to exogenous events, 3rd hottest summer since 1950, Katrina, and political risk in Nigeria, Venezuela, Iran, Central Asia, and of course Iraq.
Such a confluence of events was bound to move energy prices sharply, and, while the Katrina spike will fade quickly enough, I doubt if we'll see much or any long-lasting relief until next spring.
If we should happen to see a viciously cold winter, particularly in New England, look out.
Which governments, and how? Certainly the restrictions on drilling and refinery construction in the US could scarcely be credited with keeping prices down.
IMO the runup in the price of oil in the last two years is similar to the runup in the price of gold in 1978-80. It's a free market, but not one driven by fundamentals.
Government must give us all free gas. After all, it is a necessity. Kill all men who seek profit.
And kill the families of men who would seek profit too! We need more government, more regulation, more prosecution and more taxes! I'm with you!
It's alway good intentions to take from those who have and give to those who have not. Hooray for the Looters in New Orleans -- they too, agree with killing men who would seek profit on the backs of the poor, the black, and the oppressed! Those looters should be a guide to every AG!
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