Doing a '180' in Kentucky
Marathon Oil is courageously challenging in federal court the price-gouging regulations imposed by Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher. David Adams at the Kentucky Progress blog has the details.
This is a complete "180" from 5 1/2 years ago. Back then, Kentucky was a shining example of cooler heads prevailing in support of the free market. In the wake of 9/11, when gas prices spiked, various state attorneys general were cracking down on supposed price gouging. But not Kentucky. From an article by the MacKinac Center's Lawrence Reed:
"Meanwhile in Kentucky, no gas station owner was threatened with prosecution. More than 400 consumers complained about price spikes on September 11, but state law there requires proof that the consumer had no alternatives. A spokesman for the Kentucky attorney general said, ‘With gas stations, there is almost always another one within a couple of miles.’"
(I failed to find a link for Reed's quote, but it's from a National Review article from December 2001.)
Posted at Andrew Roth at 5:41 PM | TrackBack
