"Gas gouging" in Indiana is not just a matter of saying someone has been charging too much. A specific case has to be made:
The law defines gouging as charging a consumer an unconscionable amount for the sale of fuel.
It says that occurs if the amount charged grossly exceeds the average price at which fuel was readily available in a retailer's trade area seven days before a declared emergency, and the increased price is not attributable to cost factors to the retailer.
And when House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer "implores" the governor to have the attorney general "aggressively investigate" gas gouging, it's pretty clear that that's not what he's talking about. The high cost of gasoline, he says, "is a drain on the state's economy." What's he expect the attorney general to do, order every gas station to cut its prices by 30 percent? Even by political-grandstanding rules of thumb, this is pretty audacious. Rhetorical gouging, I'd say.
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He's just gearing up for more pre-election pandering. What galls me is, even though it's so obvious, his party and his constituents just eat it up. His concern for Indiana taxpayers is about as real as that rug on his head.
Tim, you beat me to it, I was going to say that rug must be cramping his brain, the man is ridiculous.
High gas prices, everyone hates them. Remember when coffee went through the roof a number of years ago. Gold has reached highs recently as well. Wood used in construction has also risen in price as has aluminum and steel.
Why do prices increases? The reason is simple; people are using more oil products. Oil margins are about the same as they have been for many years, but profits are up. Many think this is because of gouging, but the real reason is because you are paying 1/3 to 50% more now than three years ago and with the same 4% margin on sales, well the profit in dollars will also be 1/3 to 50% more.
Want lower gas prices, use less gasoline. The problem and root cause of our energy problem is numerous. Our US representatives pass energy bills that give billions away to develop ethanol which is not energy efficient or pollution free, yet the present it as renewable. In simple terms they throw billions away yearly.
They provide energy incentives to insulate homes and drive more efficient cars, but these do nothing for developing new sources of energy. They only waste money by subsidizing the same energy source that is already expensive.
45% of all oil is converted to gasoline. We import 60% of our oil. One way to look at it is we import 100% of the raw material for gasoline. Our US Representatives think cutting our dependence on oil is the same ting as cutting our growth in use. They are not the same. We need a true energy policy where no one source of energy is subsidized. Each energy source needs to stand on its own. In this way, money flows to those energy sources that are most efficient, economical and viable. If this were done, you would see millions of dollars that are being devoted to ethanol production shift to truly renewable energy sources. If 45% of our oil is used for gasoline, where is the other 55% used? Is it used in production of electricity (convert to windmills)? Is it used for producing heating oil for homes (convert to electricity produced by windmills)? IS it for running trains (convert to electric produced by windmills)?
I truly believe that we could cut our oil imports substantially by making a few changes. A drop in demand of 5% would cause oil prices to plummet. Its time to stop using the millennia old process of burning something to do useful work and develop a truly renewable, environmentally friendly and viable energy source. Denmark produces 80% of its electricity from windmills.
It might be easier to make the case for price fixing than gouging. Now that gas (not oil, gas) is becoming a market commodity, the price is "set" daily and has no relation to what a station paid to fill the big tanks.
Add to that the fact that stations tend to match one another in each locality, and I'd say gas prices were, as a matter of definition, fixed.
Statistically, as gas prices creep upward, a daily commodity price (as opposed to a wholesale-plus-margin price per station) means that a gas station is more likely to sell its gas higher than was required when the owner paid to fill his big tank. Not every day, but the math says the odds are with the house that I'll pay inflated wholesale when the price of my tank of gas is fixed apart from the station's actual cost.
The increase is even larger when you realize that the station's wholesale probably would have been lower if his cost had not been reset by the commodities market every day since the refinery sold the product out the door.
Or so I imagine.