Gas Price Gouging OK in LincolnÂ’s Book

Posted: Sep 15, 2008

In the wake of Hurricane Ike, gas prices have skyrocketed to over $5 for a gallon of regular gas in parts of Florida, prompting Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum to subpoena four companies in response to more than 2,200 phone complaints from consumers.


“Not only has Lincoln allowed Big Oil and their lobbyists to write U.S. energy policy, he can’t even bring it upon himself to tell them that unconscionable and excessive gas price gouging is wrong,” said Martinez Communications Director Aaron Blye. “Lincoln Diaz-Balart’s voting record paints a clear picture of someone who has never cared about the immoral greed of gas price gouging.”

 Diaz-Balart has taken more than $111,550 in campaign cash from Big Oil and Gas over the course of his career and voted against cracking down on gas price gouging seven times in the last three years [Center for Responsive Politics].

Diaz-Balart has opposed setting civil and criminal penalties for price gouging, has opposed cracking down on gas price gouging in areas experiencing a national emergency, has opposed giving the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department authority to investigate and prosecute oil companies engaged in price gouging, and has opposed permitting states to bring lawsuits against retailers for price gouging.

[HR 6346, Vote #448, 6/24/08; HR 1252, Vote #404, 5/23/07; HRES 897, Vote #352, 6/29/06; HR 5253, Vote #115, 5/03/06;HR 3893, Vote #517, 10/07/05; HR 3893, Vote #518, 10/07/05; HR 3402, Vote #500, 9/28/05]

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