Gas Gouging

So, gas climbed by almost a dollar a gallon in the wake of Katrina. Then they realized that the damage to the fuel supply was not as great as originally predicted. It has come back down by less than a quarter. Now Rita is on the way, and they are talking about raising prices again. Lost in all this is the fact that they raised prices earlier in the summer in anticipation of a bad hurricane season. So apparently, the strategy is to raise prices as a precaution before a disaster occurs. Then, if a disaster actually does occur, raise them again in response. If the The Lowell Sun is to be believed, it's not the station owner that is the cause. The costs are being handed down from on high and accusations of price gouging are running rampant. The producers are taking their share, but so are the credit card companies. They have upped their cut per gallon. Fortunately, the President has said he won't tolerate it, so I'm sure we'll all be seeing refunds soon.