US Congress set to battle over gas-price 'gouging'

[babylonsister]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0620/p01s04-uspo.html

US Congress set to battle over gas-price 'gouging'
The Senate and House make a controversial move to control alleged profiteering.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor


Washington - – Oil-price gouging – specifically, whether the US needs a new federal law that would prohibit such profiteering – has emerged as one of the most controversial aspects of the energy legislation the Senate is considering this week.

Many Democrats think price gouging should be a federal crime. They've included a provision in the energy bill that would make it illegal to reap "excessive" profits at the pump in times of a national energy emergency.

But the White House says the proposed new law is so vague that it's unenforceable – and that antigouging efforts are really backdoor price controls. President Bush will veto the broad energy bill if it contains the provision, according to administration officials.

"The federal government has all the legal tools necessary to address price gouging," said the White House last week in a statement on the issue.

Price gouging has long been a hot topic in Congress when prices at the pump spiral up. The latest push for a new US law dealing with the subject began in 2005, after hurricane Katrina was followed by sharp gas-price increases all across America.

The Democratic takeover of Congress allowed longtime proponents of the measures, such as Sen. Maria Cantwell (D) of Washington and Rep. Bart Stupak (D) of Michigan, to finally push them for consideration on their respective legislative floors.

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[Skidmore]

1. Means a little shirts and skins skirmish, just to remind us

that there are "teams" on the hill. I don't have a lot of confidence that anything will change.

[focusfan]

2. i sure hope they do something about this gas prices

it would be nice if the democrate congress stands up for us
american.the gas prices are bogus

[KharmaTrain]

4. And Mess Up Those Profits Their Stocks Are Making???

I have a friend who goes ecstatic every time the price of oil rises...so does his stock portfolio. $3 a gallon gas? He loves it. $4? His Christmas wish. $5 a wet dream. He jokes that when he fills up his luxuary car he takes the money from one pocket and puts it in the other.

The problem with money is when you don't have it you can't see how people do...and when you are making money, you don't necessarily want people to know how. For every loser in this economy, there are winners...big winners...and they're the ones who write the big checks to the campaigns and quitely laugh all the way to the bank.

Sadly, the oil comapnies continue to dictate energy policy in this country and gas prices are just one part of this mess. Gas price relief is important, but without a more realistic energy policy this is yet another exercize in congressional masturbation.

[Toots]

3. They aren't gouging they are just making record profits because people like them..

Exxon alone for the last two years has had a Net Profit of over one hundred million dollars a day. A friggin' day for christ's sake and the price of gas keeps going up. Nope no gouging here just as Enron did not gouge California. You folks just don't understand how profits are made..