Posted on 05/23/2007 1:33:04 PM PDT by libertarianPA
WASHINGTON - The House, eager to do something about record high gasoline prices in advance of the Memorial Day weekend, voted narrowly Wednesday to approve stiff penalties for those found guilty of gasoline price gouging.
The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to go after oil companies, traders or retail operators if they take "unfair advantage" or charge "unconscionably excessive" prices for gasoline and other fuels.
The White House called the measure a form of price controls that could result in fuel shortages. It said President Bush would be urged to veto the legislation should it pass Congress.
The bill needed the approval of two-thirds of the members of the House because the leadership considered it under an expedited legislative process. Thus, the 284-141 vote was only one over the threshold for passage. A similar measure is being considered by the Senate.
The bill would for the first time create a federal law making energy price gouging illegal. It would cover not only gasoline, but also other fuels such as natural gas and heating oil.
Rep. Bart Stupak (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., its chief sponsor, in urging his colleagues to support the bill said the issue was whether "to side with Big Oil (or) ... side with consumers who are being ripped off at the gas pump."
But Stupak was forced to soften the bill so that he could get it passed by requiring a president to first declare an energy emergency before the anti-gouging law could be enforced. Oil-state Democrats had wanted such limits.
The bill calls for criminal penalties of up to $150 million for corporations and up to $2 million and a jail sentence of up to 10 years for individuals found to be engaged in price gouging.
Opponents said the legislation was too vague and amounts to price controls.
"I don't know what `unconscionably excessive' means," Rep. Joe Barton (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, complained, referring to a phrase that would trigger a price gouging prosecution.
Barton said today's high gasoline prices are the result of supply and demand and not price gouging. "Demand has gone up and supply has not gone up. ... and the price has gone up," said Barton.
The White House said the administration "strongly opposes" the bill and the president would be urged to veto it if it passes Congress.
It "would harm consumers, the very people the bill is touted to protect," said a White House statement to lawmakers. It said price gouging legislation would amount to "price controls and in some cases bring back long gas lines reminiscent of the 1970s."
Oil company lobbyists have argued that when there are tight markets and rising prices, a vague gouging definition would inhibit refiners and retailers from adding supplies for fear of being taken to court.
"Mom and Pop grocer and gasoline station owners can't wonder what every court is going to decide," said Rep. Roy Blunt (news, bio, voting record), R-Mo., the minority whip. He said the law would create "undue hardship for ... people trying to make a living."
But the bill's supporters argued that states can't combat energy price gouging, leaving motorists at the whim of arbitrary oil company pricing. Twenty-nine states currently have energy price gouging laws, but they vary in detail and under in terms of what conditions would trigger them.
Actually, there only seems to be a surge in people claiming a surge in prices at Memorial Day. The actual data does not support their claims.
So charts and data mean nothing to you. OK, whatever.
Here’s a novel thought, PROPOSE TO HELP ENABLE THE OIL COMPANIES TO MAKE MORE GASOLINE!
DUH!
Gee, I saw the headline and thought Congress had finally done something to increase supply like open up ANWR and the Outer Continental Shelf, open more BLM land to gas drilling, repeal some of the silly fuel mixing mandates or make refinery expansion easier.
Silly me. Nope, they did something that will have absolutely, positively no effect on supply or price.
If the oil companies could get permits to build more refinery capacity, long term prices would decrease significantly.
Maybe the union employees of the oi;d companies need to get on the Democrats for preventing the construction of additional capacity.
That is sort of the way it is supposed to work.
The fact that Congress and State Legislatures are responsible for much of the price is something that should be dealt with at the ballot.
Ha, and the incumbents just keep on somehow getting reelected.
Morons.
This does not constitute 'price-controls' the same way that the immigration turd does not constitute 'amnesty', and the same way that partial-birth abortion is not murder - if your brain has been damaged by so-called 'progressivism'.
Did you try clicking the link that showed the weekly numbers?
U.S. Regular All Formulations Retail Gasoline Prices
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mg_rt_usw.htm
These are the weekly prices in Different years in May.
2006-May / 291.9 / 290.9 / 294.7 / 289.2 / 286.7 / Declining price
2005-May / 223.5 / 218.6 / 216.3 / 212.5 / 209.7 / Declining price
2004-May / 184.4 / 194.1 / 201.7 / 206.4 / 205.1 / Increasing price
2003-May / 151.3 / 149.1 / 149.8 / 148.7 / Slight declining price
2002-May / 139.5 / 138.8 / 139.7 / 138.7 / Flat price
2001-May / 170.3 / 171.3 / 168.7 / 170.4 / Flat price
2000-May / 142.0 / 145.5 / 149.2 / 152.7 / 154.0 / Increasing price
1999-May / 113.6 / 114.0 / 114.0 / 112.6 / 111.1 / / Flat price
1998-May / 104.9 / 106.3 / 107.2 / 107.0 / Slight increasing price
1997-May / 119.3 / 119.3 / 120.3 / 121.2 / Slight increasing price
1996-May / 127.5 / 127.7 / 128.5 / 127.5 / Flat price
Pretty lame trend from the numbers I read.
Dump Ethanol. It’s a joke. Waste of money and resources and you can’t pipeline it.
Doesn’t help gas mileage at all.
Like passing out tea cups on the Titanic and asking everyone to bail water.
But hey, it makes it look like they care.
I heard that it’s actually between 10 and 12 cents per gallon, but not much different from your quote, sooooo are we really being gouged by the manufactures or is this just a Dem snowjob!! LOL
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