'Price-Gouging'

This cartoon by Cox and Forkum very elegantly sums just about all I have to say to the bastard, where ever/who ever he is, who is screaming, "PRICE-GOUGING! I demand reparation, O Legislators, for I am being gouged!"

Seriously, I just read this update from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce about the anti-price gouging legislation that recently passed 389-34 in the House:

"Among the bill's highlights:

• Directs the FTC to define "price gouging," "wholesale sale" and "retail sale" through rule-making within six months of enactment.
• Provides for strong civil enforcement by the FTC and by states' attorneys general, and criminal enforcement by the U.S. attorney general and the Department of Justice.
• Provides for civil penalties for price gouging.
  • For "wholesale sale" violations, the penalties are three times the ill-gotten gains of the seller, plus an amount not to exceed $3 million per day of a continuing violation.
  • For "retail sale" violations, the penalties are three times the ill-gotten gains of the seller.
  • Requires any civil penalty imposed to be deposited into any either account or fund used for paying compensation to consumers for violation of state consumer protection laws or into a state's treasury general fund.
• Provides for criminal penalties.
  • "Wholesale" violations will be punishable by a fine of up to $150 million, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.
  • "Retail sale" violations will be punishable by a fine of no more than $2 million imprisonment for up to two years, or both." [Bold added]
    

People are calling it toothless especially in light of the more recent FTC report on price gouging which says very basically:

"In its investigation, the FTC found no instances of illegal market manipulation that led to higher prices during the relevant time periods but found 15 examples of pricing at the refining, wholesale, or retail level that fit the relevant legislation’s definition of evidence of “price gouging.” Other factors such as regional or local market trends, however, appeared to explain these firms’ prices in nearly all cases. Further, the report reiterated the FTC’s position that federal gasoline price gouging legislation, in addition to being difficult to enforce, could cause more problems for consumers than it solves, and that competitive market forces should be allowed to determine the price of gasoline drivers pay at the pump."

But still ... I have to laugh or I'll cry. People are just so god-damned eager in their demands for the government to tell us what to do and how to do it.