aren't there laws against war profiteering and price gouging during war?

[Raster]

The right wing oh so often reminds us we are at war and we all must sacrifice... the oil comnpanies are making OBSCENE, RECORD PROFITS on a monthly basis. Each month brings yet higher totals for exxon. Is this not price gouging in time of war? Is this not war profiteering? Why is this tolerated?

[louis-t]

1. Raster, my naive little friend

this administration and the oil companies and the military suppliers are completely intertwined. They don't punish thier own for corruption, they revel in it.

[Raster]

6. Indeed. My post was more rhetorical than literal. The point remains:

The United States is in a war-like state, gasoline is at record highs across the country and the petroluem/industrial complex is raking in record profits on a monthly basis. The disconnect is astounding.

[louis-t]

9. This is how we are paid back for *s huge tax breaks

to his oil buddies.

[bluethruandthru]

2. Obscene is right!

Driving by the local Shell station yesterday I noticed that premium gas was going for $3.03 per gallon! I took notice since it was the first time I've ever seen gas at $3.00.
Well, just a few minutes ago I drove by the same station and today their premium gas is $3.13 per gallon! What's the justification for raising prices .10 in a 24 hour period? I still haven't heard the reason why gas is skyrocketing?

[bearfan454]

7. Greed is why. Plain and simple. Greed. n/t

[ellenfl]

3. if there was a law against profiteering, you can be

sure that dubya changed it . . . probably by executive fiat.

ellen fl

[electron_blue]

4. It's unethical, but I don't know if it's illegal

Does anybody know what laws would be involved?

[shraby]

5. War profiteering is illegal, but I don't know

what the law is.

[punpirate]

8. Not any longer...

... I'm afraid. Those laws were in place during WWII at Roosevelt's insistence (actually, it was a punitive tax of 80% on what was considered war profiteering--the actual formulae to determine profiteering were constantly being fiddled with because of special conditions). Truman continued them through the post-war period and into the Korean War, but they were quietly repealed during the Eisenhower administration when the military-industrial complex was forming. It was expected that the modern Pentagon's controls on procurement would eliminate war profiteering.

Most of the controls on oil pricing were eliminated in the `70s, and it's much more difficult now to establish price gouging at the national level (although there have been cases brought for price gouging at the local level; the last I remember was for price-fixing among local dealers somewhere in Indiana).

Cheers.