Posted on 09/04/2005 11:30:30 AM PDT by calcowgirl
As gasoline prices topped $3 a gallon, Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, proposed a state constitutional amendment to allow regulatory control of pump prices.
"Price caps aren't a solution to a dysfunctional market," said Dunn, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who plans to hold hearings later this fall on California's fuel costs. "However, they are a damage- control measure until solutions are developed."
His bill, SCA18, would give the state Public Utilities Commission authority to regulate gasoline prices. Hawaii, which has the nation's highest fuel prices, began capping wholesale gasoline prices Thursday.
On Friday, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a close political ally of Dunn's, announced an investigation into price gouging by refiners and gasoline retailers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Dunn said California - and the rest of the nation - would not have faced a gasoline price spike after the hurricane if the petroleum industry built more refineries. Instead, the industry created an artificial shortage to boost its profits, he said.
"This industry is using that disaster as an excuse to raise prices even higher, and I bet you their profits reported six months from now will be higher, too," Dunn said.
Petroleum industry officials argue that environmental regulations and public opposition have stymied their efforts to build more plants. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, usually a free-market absolutist, did not rule out the possibility of gasoline price controls.
"We will see what Hawaii is doing now - because Hawaii has introduced to put a cap on the price of gas - we will see if that works," he said during a question session in Long Beach. "I doubt it will work, but let's see if it works. We always have to give it a chance."
Dunn's constitutional amendment will not be introduced until the Legislature returns next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Uh, they can't, because your buddies in the envirowacko movement won't let them.
One can always hope that they're not, and will tar and feather this moron.
If price-caps are imposed in California, will the last one out of the state please turn out the lights...assuming there are lights.
A POLITICAL damage control measure, he means. "Until solutions are developed . . ." which better be very soon since the inevitable shortages will come back in a hurry to bite idiot politicians like Dunn in the butt.
Was that a type-o? Shouldn't it have been Dumm?
bttt
When will the citizens of California get rid of these idiots.
An unmitigated disaster in works - I'm sure CA will then blame the dismal failure again on oil companies.
The politicians and leftist media who are trying to villify the oil companies in this disaster are IDIOTS. The oil companies have suffered huge losses in the hurricaine area. They have donated millions of dollars to the relief effort and are paying the full salaries of employees who donate their time and expertise.
In addition President Bush has suspended the Jones act to allow foreign ships to carry product from port to port (we don't have enough clean tankers because of some of the ridiculous environmental regulations) and Bush has also suspended environmental requirements on refineries to allow them to step up production.
If the states enact price controls, they will be counter productive to what Bush and the oil companies are trying to do, which is keep up with demand.
But I though DemocRATS always wanted gasoline to be at least $3 a gallon
Yep, last week I got together with the President of ExxonMobil and we decided to create a storm that would destroy our facilities.
Brilliant business decision on our part.
I prefer to read it as Dunn.
You know: Done, Finished, KAPUT!
And if that doesn't work, we can nationalize the oil companies and we can all have free gas. /sarc.
And when the shortages occur, watch this be the first politician to want to fine the oil companies for the shortages they created because they would not play fair with gasoline.
Why are the idiots who elect these idiots allowed to vote? What freakin' waste of oxygen.
How about price caps in our absurd housing market? There's not way a 1200 square foot, 50 year old fixer upper is worth a million bucks. I demand the price be rolled back to, hmm, say $50,000.
And while there at it, the price of my favorite micro-brews has soared to about $9 a six-pack. Let's cap those price hikes. Heck, let's roll them back to $3 a six-pack.
This is what happens when we elect uneducated buffoons who never made it through Econ 101.
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