According to Daniel Weintraub, a newly submitted initiative will seek to create a state government board to fix regulate the price of gasoline products in California.
The commission's job would be to keep prices "fair and reasonable" and to limit refinery profits to no more than 5 percent.Two things that will happen as a result of this: utterly no out-of-state gasoline will enter California and no new refineries will be built in the state. Ever. Existing refineries will operate only so long as they require no new investment or significant maintenance. Then they will close. Meanwhile, the demand for gasoline will rise with the population. Since prices can't rise but demand will, and production will decrease, the only possible result will be scarcity and rationing.
Oh.My.God...
and I thought the GPS driven mileage tax idea was the dumbest Idea I ever heard.
Posted by: Frank Martin at February 10, 2005 08:30 PMThis is the best thing that could ever happen -- for the rest of the country. First, they screw up thier electrical market and have to endure rolling blackouts and paying through the nose to make up the difference (from the Great State of Texas, I might add) and now they want to do the same with gasoline. Oh, the day this passes is a great day.
Posted by: Phelps at February 11, 2005 09:09 AM