In search of gouging

Philosopher George Santayana observed, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

On Thursday in Reno at a renewable energy company that was the beneficiary of $1 million in Department of Energy largess, President Barack Obama boasted that he had instructed Attorney General Eric Holder a month ago to look into any cases of price gouging. "Today, we're going a step further," he said. "The attorney general's putting together a team whose job it will be to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices -- and that includes the role of traders and speculators. We are going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain." (Read: profit.)

In Washington, Mr. Holder promised to jump right on that. However, in a memo, he said it is "clear that there are lawful reasons for increases in gas prices, given supply and demand," citing no evidence of any price gouging activity.

Sound familiar?

In 2006, President George W. Bush ordered a price-gouging probe. "The first thing to do is to make sure Americans are treated fairly at the gas pump," Mr. Bush said. Nothing came of it.

In 2003, presidential contender Joe Lieberman wrote to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham demanding, "It is imperative that this investigation determine both the underlying causes for these (gasoline) price increases, and whether or not industry participants are gouging consumers." Nothing came of it.

In 1990, attorneys general across the nation called for a federal investigation of possible price gouging after gasoline topped $1 a gallon when Iraq invaded Kuwait. "People are outraged," said Missouri Attorney General William L. Webster. "They are suspicious and skeptical as to why prices are going up so rapidly." No results.

In 1979, the Department of Energy announced a campaign to investigate and prosecute gasoline price gouging nationwide. For naught.

In 1974, President Nixon vowed to "find out if price gouging, improper allocations or hoarding is taking place and that the penalties are strongly enforced." Nope.

In order to prevent price gouging, Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter imposed price controls on petroleum products, leading to long lines at the pump. President Reagan repealed controls in 1981 and the price at the pump fell by a third in the next few years.

After Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Trade Commission dutifully investigated whether there had been any fuel price gouging and found none. In fact, the FTC said of proposed federal gasoline price-gouging legislation: "In addition to being difficult to enforce, (it) 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."

There have been a handful of companies that have reached settlements with local authorities rather than go through the legal hassle. That is all.

While this history escaped the president, he continued his sledgehammer assault on the internal combustion engine.

In one breath he assailed the "$4 billion in taxpayer subsidie we give to the oil and gas companies each year," money that is actually a tax break provided to many industries.

In the next breath he pleaded to not cut by 70 percent our "investment" in clean energy, which is actually a direct subsidy with tax dollars.

We've idled our cars in this line before.