Senate bill targets gas price gouging

[bigtree]

Measure would create federal law to shore up patchwork of state laws against the practice.

May 3 2007: 3:52 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- With Americans paying near record gasoline prices, a new Senate bill aims to ban price gouging at the pump and give the U.S. government new authority to go after law-breaking companies.

Under the legislation introduced on Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission could conduct investigations and impose fines on companies suspected of profiteering from gasoline. The specific definition of price gouging would be determined by the FTC through the rule-making process.

There are currently no federal laws that specifically address price gouging for oil and gasoline. Twenty-eight states have laws against gasoline price gouging, but the bill's sponsors argue a federal ban is needed to effectively prevent market manipulation. The bill would not preempt state laws.

"Drivers are paying upwards of $50 per tank at the pump in many parts of the country," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a co-sponsor of the bill. "Yet energy companies continue to reap record profits."

"It's hard for families to have confidence that rising prices are fair," said Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington, another of the bill's sponsors.

The legislation would also give the president the authority to declare a national energy emergency, subjecting price gougers to new fines and criminal penalties.

The bill's other sponsors include Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts, Bill Nelson of Florida, Joe Biden of Delaware and Ron Wyden of Oregon.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/03/news/economy/bc.usa.congress.gasoline.reut/index.htm?postversion=2007050315

[babylonsister]

1. We should all welcome this; now let's wait for the rethug whine. nt

[HockeyMom]

4. Stations should keep their prices

based on what THEY PAID for it when it was delivered. Of course, they don't. It is going up DAILY whether they got a new shipment that day or not. The stations raised the price 12 cents in 2 days. No, they did NOT get any new shipments in.

[w4rma]

21. The stations aren't making jack for money. It's the oil oligopolies that are reaping profits. (nt)

[TommyO]

24. Actually the stations don't own the gas

it's my understanding that it's basically sold on consignment.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. Oh, they'll make the usual noises.

They will mention Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand of The Marketplace" and the need for less regulation, not more. They'll whine. They'll kvetch. But frankly, there is something terribly wrong out there. The market is being manipulated through the refineries and the pipeline infrastructure, through poor maintenance and through planned "events".

It is time to come down hard on the oil companies, and the refinery and infrastructure operators.

[babylonsister]

8. Something is wrong, and I don't know how they're getting away with it

without Americans roaring their discontent. When you hear about the record profits, the botched maintenance, and then see the prices rising daily, something is very wrong.

[meldroc]

11. It's definitely refinery and infrastructure manipulation.

The oil companies are now using the excuse "The refineries are old, and we can't build any new ones because of NIMBY activists!" Bull-fucking-shit! The oil companies had six years of an oil-friendly President, with a rubber-stamping Congress, and they're making insane profits, so they could have had the refineries if they wanted them. Those refinery shutdowns, accidents, equipment breakdowns and capacity problems are no accident - they can fix shit like that very easily if they want to. The whole point is to restrict the supply of gasoline so they can force prices up.

[meldroc]

2. About damn time!

Gas just went back above $3.00/gal. Guess we serfs have to make sacrifices so that oil exec can buy that 180ft yacht.

[musette_sf]

3. K&R n/t

[robinlynne]

5. the bill would give the president the authority....umm, really, giving an oil baron

the authority to regulate oil barons, well that'll work.....

[bigtree]

10. make no sense to demand he act against the abuses without giving him any authority to do so

[robinlynne]

20. maybe someone else should be given 'the authority', like the senate, or congress....

[Ghost in the Machine]

7. "give the president the authority to declare a national energy emergency"

:rofl: yeah, like that's ever gonna happen!

Well.... unless oil & gas prices start dropping dramatically and all their cronies start losing money, only making millions instead of billions.

[bigtree]

13. yet, this would be leverage to demand that Bush act.

Right now he has no federal lever to take action against the abuses.

[Bitwit1234]

9. Especially when we see oil companies with 56 billion in profits for one quarter

and CEOs getting 400 million dollar bonus. If they are getting that much they are -- just gouging -- at the pumps. And that is because this administration has let oil companies do exactly what they wanted to for the last six years.

[Eastseminole]

12. Try the free market

Try pure economics- drive no more than necessary - cut back on usage.

I think you would be amazed what the free market would do to prices

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

15. They would simply...

Cut refinery output. Again.

[bigtree]

16. what about all of the goods and services which rely on gas?

whatever effect they suffer washes off onto us.

Do we demand that they deliver less food, less construction material, etc.? Could I really just cut back on work and park my car while I let the 'free market' work?

[newyawker99]

23. Hi Eastseminole!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[catmandu57]

14. We need windfall profits tax

After years of record profits we need to go after these bastards where it hurts, not the individual station owners, they're not to blame. The fucking ceo's and corps those are the people who need to feel this.

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. Finally Ahmadinejad and Chavez will pay for their greed

[Double T]

18. I can hear the oil company lobbyist cockroaches over on k street scurrying around..........

attempting to thwart this bill. The oil companies and impeachment dick colluded to screw the American people from the onset of this corrupt administration and until know they have gotten away with it.

[B Calm]

19. You think it costs a lot to switch over those refineries to summer blends,

wait to you see what it costs to switch to winter blends... or maybe it was Clinton's penis when it closed down all those refineries...

Don't worry, we have a republican in the White House and he will them Arabs to open their spigot...

[demosincebirth]

22. A sure veto from the Chimp.