Lowe In The News

GO AFTER THOSE WHO MAY BE PRICE GOUGING
The Jackson Sun
September 17, 2008

Two of our area representatives - Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, and Sen. Lowe Finney, D-Jackson, are doing the right thing by asking the state attorney general, Bob Cooper, to look into reports of price gouging. We urge Cooper's office to act quickly and to punish aggressively those found to be guilty of this despicable practice. Since Hurricane Ike hit over the weekend, there have been more than 500 complaints of price gouging from across the state. On Tuesday, it was reported that Knoxville had the highest average gas price in the nation at $4.65 a gallon. And things are just as bad here. In the wake of last week's storm, gas prices at at least one station topped $5 a gallon.

One thing is abundantly clear. Price gouging is illegal in Tennessee. That's why it's good to know that Cooper's office is keeping an eye on the situation. He should move quickly to investigate the reports of gouging. Price gouging is a case of greedy merchants blatantly taking advantage of a bad situation for their own gain.

To be fair, there's nothing wrong with raising prices when a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast. The laws of supply and demand dictate that prices will go up when supply is interrupted. And supply will definitely be interrupted when refineries have to shut down in the face of a major storm.

The problem comes when prices are raised just to take advantage of consumer fears. In his letter to Cooper, Finney pointed out that prices in some areas were raised 40 percent in a period of eight hours. That is what price gouging is all about. It should raise a red flag and be enough justification for an investigation.

It's sad to think that merchants would take advantage of people who are already struggling to fill their gas tanks just to get from home to work or from home to church and back. Fair minded gas stations have kept prices reasonable. Those who have engaged in gouging should face the full wrath of the law.

For our part, we should heed Gov. Phil Bredesen's call to be conservative in how we use our gas. If you don't need to fill your car, don't. In the meantime, perhaps Cooper's office can help bring runaway gas prices back under control, and send the message that price gouging won't be tolerated.

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