John Edwards calls for Justice Department to investigate gas price gouging
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Former Senator and now presidential candidate again John Edwards is trying to make some political hay out of the current high price of gasoline. Edwards dropped by Silicon Valley on Thursday and took aim at the consolidation in the oil industry in the past decade. He laid the blame for high gas prices on companies like ExxonMobil that have merged pretty much without restriction from the anti-trust division of the justice department. By virtue of their vertical integration that includes oil extraction, refining and distribution they are able to artificially manipulate supplies by taking refineries off-line for maintenance at high demand times. Edwards wants the Justice Department to investigate whether oil companies are breaking any laws but the chances of anything happening are slim while they are busy pushing for long prison sentences for people sharing songs on the internet.
Edwards also outlined his environmental plans including 40mpg requirements by 2016, eighty percent CO2 reduction by 2050 and a requirement for all vehicles to be flex fuel capable by 2010.
[Source: Associated Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 9:02AM (6/01/2007)
As a personal injury lawyer (vampire), specializing in representing people who were alleged victims of corporate negligence and/or medical malpractice, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards I surprised that Mr. Edwards isn't suing Big Auto and Big Oil for pain & suffering on behalf of the planet. Maybe he couldn't catch that ambulance.
One thing is for certain… he won’t be pushing for tort reform http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tort_reform to limit frivolous lawsuits which are killing America’s production capabilities and forcing manufacturers to ship American jobs overseas. Mr. Edwards has been personally responsible for killing thousands of American jobs. Yea, let’s vote for this hypocrite…
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dcwf 9:44AM (6/01/2007)
Wow Tim, you are the perfect surrogate for corporate greed. I hope the hook and sinker were tasty.
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Tim 10:33AM (6/01/2007)
dcwf- frivolous lawsuits may hurt big business who can afford the penalties, but they absolutely decimate small mom & pop employers who can't. Small companies employ many times more people than big corps.
Ambulance chasers like Edwards force small entrepreneurs to spend their precious operating capital on even more lawyers to defend themselves whether they are found guilty or not. It’s a transfer of wealth form the productive innovators to the Attorneys. Why are there so many attorneys in the US?
Of course, this in turn kills competition and innovation which raises consumer costs, lower’s product/service quality and actually helps big business boost their profits. Because of Mr. Edward’s hard work, big business has yet another excuse to export jobs to countries like China. Leftist’s love sound bites! Quell your emotions and use your mind. Think man, think!
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BGJ 9:57AM (6/04/2007)
As usual, the hard core right-wingnuts come out and attack the man, not the message. Because the majority agrees with the message.
The next step is to invoke fear to get votes and illegally prevent left-leaning voters, then once in office do nothing but line the pockets of other right-wing millionaires. All the while blaming everyone else for the destruction wrought.
I for one applaud Edward's message, congress absolutely needs to step in and create legislation to stop the rape at the pump. Will it happen? I doubt it.
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bill 11:10AM (6/04/2007)
As a proud "right-wingnut" I am more than happy to attack the man as well as his message. Isn't this the same John Edwards that said electing John Kerry President would allow Christopher Reeve to walk again? Isn't this the same John Edwards who got paid a $480,000 consulting fee by a company that keeps its hedge funds in the Cayman Islands to avoid paying taxes while campaigning against companies keeping their investments in the Cayman Islands to avoid paying taxes? Isn't this the same John Edwards who drops $400.00 on haircuts? It is because of people like former Senator Edwards that we have the energy mess we face today. He and his co-horts in the House and Senate are the problem, not the solution.
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