Well, I wasn't going to go along those lines...

and having said that I'm NOT in favor of the feds regulating the price of gasoline, as in price control, as in the seventies under Nixon when demand DID outpace supply and we had lines and limits, I DO understand OPEC having some influence on the price of the commodity of oil in terms of production goals. What's more, unfortunately, is that like any commodity that is traded in futures, there can be just plain irrationality as to why the damned oil is so expensive. If country A is still producing at the same levels, but maybe there's a shooting way several hundred miles away, and maybe there are increased sunspots somewhere, oil trades higher. I don't know, I'm not an economist, but per my conversation with Ryan over the phone and my conversations with Titus, gouging is gouging. That being said, so far, there has been no proof of collusion or any unfair business practices. And believe me, especially in this time of economic uncertainty, with the record profits registered by oil companies post Katrina, the wind is up just about every investigative agency the Federal Government has. If there were illegal business practices going on, a Democratic Party controlled legislature would have found it by now. (Jeez, hate to think Pelosi is all Mary Kay pink and no bite.)

So while I stand by my accusation of gouging, legally there's no merit to the usage of the term.

Here's a very unpleasant fact: Our reliance on petroleum based fuels cannot be changed without painful adjustments. There is no impetus for the development of non-petroleum fuels if gasoline is readily available and cheap. As hard as it is for John Q. Public to swallow $3.57 (today at the BP right by my house, with diesel at $4.15) a gallon for gas, if these prices maintain for the rest of 2008 by this time in 2009 you'll see a flood, and I do mean an absolute flood of new hybrids, ethanol mixes, and fuel cell cars available.

And maybe if this had happened in the 1970s, instead of price controls, we wouldn't even be talking about this anymore because alternative fuel technology would be a solid generation ahead.