Gas Price Gouging Penalties
New York State lawmakers approved the rise in the maximum penalty for price gouging from $10,000 to $25,000. That’s in addition to restitution for aggrieved consumers. Has the price gouging penalty ever been used before you ask? Yes it has. The New York State Attorney General’s Office sued three gas stations in 2006 for increased prices of 25 to 72 percent immediately after Hurricane Katrina.
Imagine that, a penalty for price gouging. This New York State news came just ahead of the weekend news which said gas prices hit yet another high, breaking the $4 dollar a gallon nationwide average. Today economist Mark Zandi of Moodys-Economy-dot-com says there’s no end in sight to the price hikes. Zandi says, “We’ve gone from $3 dollars a gallon at the beginning of the year to now $4 dollars a gallon nationwide. If oil prices stay where they are, we’ll be at $4.50 a gallon by July 4th.” Meanwhile energy analyst Peter Beutel at Cameron Hanover says, “If this continues, it’s very possible that we’ll seen even $5 dollar a gallon gas before the summer is out.”
When will this madness stop? At some point the bubble has to burst here and gas prices will start to drop. Or will they? I always find it amazing that even when the cost for a barrel of oil goes down, gas prices seem to stay the same, or they keep going up. If that’s not price gouging I don’t know what is.
But here’s another amazing piece of information to keep in mind. While I do realize gas station price gouging can be a problem and that’s why New York State enacted the price gouging penalties. But, reality is this, gas stations make very little profit when it comes to selling gas. Who’s making the money? We know who and we’ve pointed at them many times before. It’s the big oil executives. They are the ones who are aggrieving consumers these days. But, time and time again, nothing happens to the monopoly known as big oil. Instead they keep spinning their web of lies and for whatever reason, politicians keep believing that they’re telling the truth.
Here’s an idea, maybe New York State, and any other State with similar laws about gas price gouging, should all file lawsuits against the monopoly known as big oil. Maybe then both the federal government, and big oil, will figure out that consumers are sick and tired of being held hostage by their big money making machine.
Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus
