Political Quotes

“gasoline prices are soaring through the stratosphere, and the Federal Trade Commission, which is supposed to be standing up for the consumer, ought to stop playing footsie with the oil companies and take steps to protect the American people. I have been trying to get the Federal Trade Commission to do its job now for several years. In fact, I have supplied them with detailed reports outlining anticompetitive practices in the oil industry in hopes that I could get their attention. Unfortunately, they are still sitting on the sidelines. This morning I will outline what some of those anticompetitive practices are that the oil companies are now using to victimize the American consumer. The oil companies are redlining. What they have sought to do is keep independent wholesalers known as ``jobbers'' from competing in markets by refusing to let independent dealers buy better priced gasoline from the local jobbers. This is a technique to wall off whole communities from competition. Redlining is going on today. The oil companies are also zone pricing. They charge different prices for the same gas at their own branded stores in adjacent neighborhoods, pricing it as high as the market will bear. They have also charged independent dealers higher wholesale prices than they charge the company stores. The end result, the independents cannot compete.”