Gassing on Gas

I never cease to be amazed at the lengths that Martin O'Malley will go to in order to blame everything bad on Governor Ehrlich.

This week, it is gas prices:

O’Malley, standing in front of three city gas stations, charged the Ehrlich administration with not doing enough to fight higher gas prices. Linking the recent rise in fuel prices to poor transit planning and lax regulatory enforcement, the mayor said the rise in the cost of fuel is hurting working families.

Follow that logic. Apparently, the Governor can control what gas stations charge, in the eyes of the Mayor. And then there is the obligatory price-gouging complaints:

To fix the problem, the mayor called for tighter regulatory enforcement to prevent price-gouging, including a hot line that Marylanders could call to report prices as well as “find out what they should be paying.”

In September, I proposed a simple solution: cut the gas tax. But that didn't really take off in this Democratic controlled legislature. Instead, the legislature (and O'Malley) immediately jump to price controls and more regulation, with O'Malley's father-in-law playing both sides as The Sun's Jay Franklin also noted in September. At least is not the Excess Profits Tax that Congressional Democrats want to run up the flagpole.

It just reminds me of what the Governor said about O'Malley"

Dogs bark, cows moo, O'Malley whines.

Incidentally, not all of O'Malley's solutions on this are bad. Increasing the number of hybrid vehicles in the state fleet and tax credits for companies making alternative fuels are good for the environment and good for the economy. But proposed price-gouging laws and further regulation is anything but.

And let us not forget about the bills signed by Parris Glendening from the 2001 Legislative Session, the "Sam's Club" law that prohibits gas stations from selling below cost in order to drum up business. It is hard to say if gas prices would be lower is SB687 and HB736 were not law. And remember; John Leopold was the only sitting member of the General Assembly from Anne Arundel County to vote for both the House and Senate versions of the bill. And I think will make Delegate Leopold very uncomfortable as he runs for County Executive in the current environment of high gas prices, with consumers looking for relief.