Search

This article reports that U.S. Senate Democrats will soon roll out a legislative strategy aimed at combating market manipulation and price gouging during national energy emergencies, which might be the first of several Democratic proposals aimed at addressing energy concerns in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington has been given the lead by the Democratic leadership to craft the party's energy response to the hurricane and the initial legislative package. The legislation will enable the president to declare a national energy emergency and would give him greater oversight powers to combat market manipulation and price gouging. The bill would reauthorize this presidential authority that expired in the 1980s.

This article reports that with homeowners and farmers complaining loudly about soaring natural gas prices, the U.S. House Agriculture Committee voted on Wednesday to open the arcane system of natural gas pricing to more transparency. The sunshine trading provision approved by voice vote was included in an anti-securities fraud measure and extends the life of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission another five years from FY 2006 through FY 2010. The measure is intended to head off manipulation or attempted manipulation in natural gas pricing and increase transparency in the pricing of natural gas by conducting surveillance of natural gas trading. Lawmakers hope the legislation might mollify consumer anger and suspicions that natural gas and oil might be rigged to boost prices.

This article reports on the announcement made by U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Joseph Kelliher that consumers can expect natural gas heating prices to rise about 48 percent even though hurricane-damaged production facilities are being repaired rapidly. One reason for the price-rise, Kelliher explained, is that prices were higher before Hurricane Katrina hit. He noted that natural gas prices have been volatile lately and the weather is a huge variable. If the weather is 10 percent warmer this winter, Kelliher said, that would roughly offset the production loss from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Even with warmer weather and accelerated conservation, Kelliher doubted that natural gas prices would go lower. Kelliher stressed that his agency will vigorously enforce laws to prevent price gouging, if there is any, under powers given by the U.S. Congress in the 2005 energy law.

This article reports that charges of gasoline price gouging following Hurricane Katrina have prompted a flurry of activity this month from U.S. state legislators as consumers flood their offices with complaints about skyrocketing fuel prices. The attorneys general in New Jersey and Missouri last week filed lawsuits against several gas stations in their states, claiming the sellers unfairly raised prices in response to the hurricane and its aftermath. Each state's statute has different provisions for defining what constitutes price gouging. Some states, such as Alabama, Connecticut and Florida, require the hike to be unconscionably high.

The article reports that a growing number of U.S. senators expressed frustration today over high gasoline prices and called for actions ranging from clamping down on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to giving the Federal Trade Commission new powers. At a morning session at the Senate Commerce Committee, senators searched for answers to allegations of price-gouging but seemed to receive few satisfactory answers. Nearly every senator, expressed irritation over the steep increases in gas prices. Calling for international action, Senator Frank Lautenberg sought approval of his bill to instruct the administration to immediately bring a formal complaint against OPEC within the World Trade Organization.

The article informs that farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin are likely to ask U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns about U.S. President George W. Bush's campaign pledge to support the extension of a milk subsidy program. Extending Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) subsidies through September 30, 2007, carries a significant cost that would shape the $3 billion in cuts over five years that the House and Senate Agriculture committees will make this fall as part of the budget reconciliation bill. Enacted as part of the 2002 farm law, MILC compensates dairy producers when milk prices are low.

The article reports that the U.S. Senate has given final approval to two spending bills and a comprehensive energy package. However, the chamber continued to debate a gun liability bill and is expected to consider the transportation conference report. By a 74-26 margin, the Senate had passed the energy conference report. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici said the energy bill would create jobs, expand use of renewable energy and ethanol, lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil and increase natural gas supplies while stabilizing prices.

The article presents information on a house approved bill related to federal energy policy for various U.S. states. Colorado's General Assembly recently cleared a bill directing the state utility commission to sponsor a gas conservation program. At least 20 states have similar measures, according to the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. The bill will help households reduce their natural gas use and consequently their energy bills. Several states are considering efficiency standards for small appliances. New York Republican Governor George Pataki sent a proposal, based on a California measure, to the Legislature to require appliances to consume less energy in standby mode. Pennsylvania recently passed a law giving consumers a $500 tax rebate to help cover the extra cost of the cars, usually priced at least $2,500 higher than comparable vehicles.

The article reports that U.S. Senate Finance Chairman Charles Grassley Thursday predicted the Senate would pass legislation this year legalizing the reimportation of lower-priced prescription drugs from other countries. Grassley said strong public support for reimportation as a way to hold down soaring drug costs would trump opposition to the bill from the White House and Republican leaders in Congress. Senate Majority Leader Frist and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Michael Enzi have opposed broad reimportation legislation, arguing the U.S. cannot guarantee that imported drugs are safe or effective.

This article reports that a coalition of telecommunications stakeholders last week urged Indiana legislators to update their telecommunications laws by limiting the power of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and phasing out price caps, National Journal's Technology Daily reported. Republican state Representative Michael Murphy, chairman of the House Technology, Research and Development Committee, authored the legislation, which would eliminate price caps for traditional phone companies by 2010 and restrict the Commission's power.

The article discusses various political develeopments related to the U.S. Alaskan senators say Wall Street will look favorably on bonds for a natural gas pipeline in their state even though they were forced to drop price guarantees from recently passed legislation. Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens also had pushed for the taxpayer-backed "safety net" to ease investors' concerns about the volatility of natural gas prices. Under the original Stevens proposal, tax credits for producers would be available if the wholesale price for natural gas dropped below roughly $3.50 per thousand cubic feet.

Some of the U.S.'s largest drug companies continued to hike prices during the first quarter of the year following the passage of the Medicare prescription drug bill late last year, according to a report released today by AARP. Brand-name drug prices rose 3.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, after increasing 3 percent during the same period last year, according to the study. John Rother, AARP's director of policy and strategy, charged that companies that raised prices following the passage of the Medicare law were offsetting the discounts they are now providing to consumers under the Medicare drug discount card program that went into effect this month.

House Republicans in the U.S. today will introduce a measure that extends the surface transportation law until Congress leaves for its August recess, as congressional conferees debating a six-year reauthorization bill squabble over a price tag. House and Senate lawmakers will formally agree to a one-month extension this week, extending the law until Congress adjourns July 23. House Republican leadership has floated the idea of a $275 billion plan, but House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Young and a bipartisan group on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee think that level is too low.

Guy Caruso, administrator of the Energy department's Energy Information Administration, told a Senate committee that retail gas prices fell by about three cents a gallon last week on a national average and that wholesale prices declined by 23 cents a gallon from their peak in mid-May. Meanwhile, House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe L. Barton acknowledged today the role Republican senators have played in stalling energy legislation.

Abbott Laboratories and AIDS activists clashed today, as of May 25, 2004, during an National Institutes of Health (NIH) meeting over whether the government should step in to lower the price of a popular drug that was developed in part using government grant money. AIDS advocates and others urged the NIH to use its authority provided in an often-overlooked provision in a 1980 law to issue a license for the manufacturing of generic copies of patent-protected Norvir, after Abbott increased prices by 400 percent in December 2003. The law includes a "march-in" provision, allowing the government to offer generic licenses if a patent developed using government funds was misused.

The article reports that Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat-Oregon, vowed on Wednesday to block President George W. Bush's nomination of Deborah Majoras to head the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) until she outlines plans to bring down the price of gasoline and "more aggressively protect consumers." Wyden will keep a hold on Senate consideration of Majoras' nomination until she provides "specific details about ways she would change the FTC's tradition of inaction on issues under their purview that cause gas prices to rise," a Wyden spokeswoman told Bloomberg News. Bush nominated Majoras last week to succeed current FTC Chairman Timothy Muris, who has announced his resignation pending Senate confirmation of a successor.

This article reports that Representative Nathan Deal, of Georgia, might not ask for a vote on his controversial a la carte channel pricing amendment. The House Energy and Commerce Committee marks up legislation to reauthorize portions of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act. If Deal offers the amendment, Nathan will limit it to satellite programming because of germaneness issues. It would have applied to both satellite and cable, barring network owners from prohibiting a la carte arrangements in their licensing contracts with multi-channel video providers.

U.S. House leaders offered opposing views on the Medicare prescription drug discount cards today, which marks the beginning of the enrollment program for the benefit that will take effect early this summer. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hosted a forum with seniors in the Capitol to denounce the program, reiterating claims that the law is insufficient, and promised continued efforts for legislation to let the government negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and for the reimportation of drugs. Democrats also suggested that supporters of the Medicare bill could see negative consequences on Election Day.

Witnesses told two U.S. Senate Finance subcommittees that the U.S. must convince other countries that it is in their interest to reward the innovation that produces new medicines instead of having the U.S. Congress pass reimportation legislation that allows the U.S. consumers to buy prescription drugs at other countries' price-controlled prices. The U.S. Commerce Undersecretary Grant Aldonas, told a joint hearing of the Health and Trade subcommittees that they are hopeful after the recognition by Japan and Europe that they have an aging society. Senator Rick Santorum warned that if U.S. trade negotiators failed to do a better job getting international cooperation on drug price issues, the "prairie populist fire" of reimportation would be unstoppable in Congress.

U.S. Republican Party and Democratic Senate sponsors of surface transportation reauthorization legislation have predicted that they would have enough support to pass the bill, despite opposition to the $318 billion price tag from fiscal conservatives and the White House. President George W. Bush has called for a six-year bill costing $256 billion, and Majority Leader William Frist said that the Senate might have to ultimately accept a lower figure, even although the Senate bill will remain at $318 billion. The House is expected to pass a four-month extension of the existing transportation spending law, which is set to expire on February 29, 2004.

With today's 54-44 U.S. Senate vote on passage of the Medicare prescription drug bill barely behind them, Democratic critics are already preparing new legislation aimed at fixing problems that they say are created by the 10-year $395 billion package. Meanwhile, Republican backers of the bill and their Democratic allies claimed victory, as the drug legislation cleared its final hurdle before heading to the president's desk. Nine conservative Republicans crossed party lines to vote against the bill, while 11 moderate Democrats, along with Senator James Jeffords, supported it. Democrats plan early next year to introduce legislation removing a provision they say bars the U.S. government from using its purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices.

Legislation giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products is all but dead for the year, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions chairman Judd Gregg said Tuesday. Asked if the bill could pass the Senate in some form this year, Gregg responded, "I don't see it." The veritable death of the FDA bill indicates a similar fate for legislation giving tobacco growers a $13 billion buyout to replace federal price supports for their crops. Senate leaders planned to marry the two bills, a strategy designed to move two pieces of legislation that could not pass on their own.

A World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitrator gave the United States until December 27, 2003 to repeal a U.S. law giving American companies the fines collected from foreign firms they accused of unfair pricing. The arbitrator decided that 11 months was a reasonable period after the United States and the countries which brought the case failed to agree on the time needed to repeal the law. The country claimed that it had to have 15 months from the date in January that the ruling was adopted by the WTO, while the complaining countries said six months was enough.

The article reports that Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members have agreed to cut the oil output by 2 million barrels a day, or 7 percent in a move aimed at preventing a further decline in prices as of April 24, 2003. At the same time, OPEC temporarily raised its official output target to 25.4 million barrels, up 900,000 barrels a day from its existing ceiling. OPEC President Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said that the new quota would take effect on June 1.

The article focuses on the increasing price of petroleum in the U.S. due to the unrest in the Middle East and the ineffectiveness of the legislators in controlling prices.

The article reports that the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to restore an antitrust law dating back to 1911, that would prohibit manufacturers from setting minimum sales prices on their products.

The article reports that U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour joined executives from eBay and the Burlington Coat Factory at a hearing on May 20, 2009 to rally behind legislation sponsored by Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl that would restore a century-old ban on vertical price-fixing that was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2007.

The article reports on the statement of House speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding the enactment of second stimulus package that would address food shortage, gas and other prices in the U.S. Pelosi says that though they believe that the initial public rebates had a positive impact, they are certainly not enough to offset the rising prices in gasoline, food, fuel and health care. Pelosi also adds that she hopes to work with President George W. Bush and House Republicans on a proposal.

The article reports on the proposed bill called the Crowley-Smith legislation, which is made to eliminate import tax on low to moderate-priced footwear and all children's shoes. Granting the bill to pass, it would enable higher demand of shoes in the market since people have more money, which in return pay more on other taxes. However, eliminating such tax would cause revenue loss in the U.S. Treasury Department and would threaten the economy of the Dominican Republic.

The article reports on the energy provisions to be discussed during the U.S. House legislative hearing. It says that the House will take up legislation concerning oil and gas production leases on federal lands, gasoline price gouging and excessive oil market speculation. Other topics to be tackled during the hearing will be the war supplemental spending bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Medicare free bill.

The article reports that U.S. Senate Democrats continued to fault Republicans on June 11, 2008 for stalling their legislation to address fuel prices, enlisting outside groups to try to help make their case about the impact those prices are having on food costs. According to National Farmers Union President Tom Buis, although farmers are blamed for rising food costs, they have little control over prices.

The article reports that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for summit talks with the administration on pressing economic issues such as the home mortgage crisis, rising unemployment and the high costs of fuel and food. She said that an economic summit is a logical follow-up to the bipartisan effort and called on the president to join them.

The article reports that the American Bakers Association is opposing high wheat prices. The organization will hold a march on March 12, 2008 in Washington D.C. to protest high wheat prices. The group is said to be meeting resistance to its proposals to curtail conservation programs to put more land into production.

The article reports that the head of the Financial Services Roundtable, Steve Bartlett, has renewed his bid to persuade the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to allow carriers to choose whether to continue to be regulated by states or opt for supervision by a new federal agency. He said that he believes there is strong legislative sentiment for a federal optional charter as it would loosen price controls to promote competition, reduce duplicative paperwork and speed approval of products.

The article reports that U.S. Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell, a Republican, has emerged as the swing vote on two critical proceedings involving regulatory relief for major telecommunications carriers. At issue are forbearance petitions filed by dominant telecom firms that want to avoid price caps mandated by the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, both Republicans, are viewed as supporting deregulation.

The article presents a Supreme Court decision regarding setting price floors for products. The court said that agreements on minimum prices are legal if they foster competition as it reached to a decision of 5-4. In 1911, the Supreme Court announced that minimum pricing agreements are against federal antitrust law.

The article reports that the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to fight gasoline price gouging. The legislation established a federal definition for fuel price gouging and authorize fines and jail time for those who manipulate prices during energy supply emergencies. Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chairman Bart Stupak is the chief sponsor of the bill. However, Republicans complained that the bill was hastened without sufficient bipartisan discussion.

The article reports on the issues concerning per-channel pricing on cable television in Washington. Many lawmakers, regulators and watchdogs argue that per-channel pricing should be an option because of its increasing rates and the demand of parents to have more control over what their children watch. Furthermore, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission issued a report stating that customers will be provided with discounts for channels they block.

The article reports that a study by the American Council for Capital Formation has claimed that efforts to establish new federal penalties against gasoline price gougers could cost the economy $1.9 billion during severe supply disruptions. Former House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, a member of the group's board, said that artificial attempts by the government to control prices, reduce demand or increase supply, however temporary, will create more instability in the marketplace.

The article reports that U.S. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers has sought Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales' view on a forthcoming Supreme Court case that will determine manufacturers ability to set a retail price. In letters to Gonzales and Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras, Conyers asked if each would file a brief in the case. Conyers noted that the Congress in 1975 and 1983 passed legislation that limited a manufacturer's ability to set a retail price.

The article focuses on a measure that expands North Carolina's price gouging law which was passed by the Legislature last week and awaits Democratic Governor Mike Easley's signature. It is informed that, under the measure, the governor can declare an "abnormal market disruption" when supplies are cut off by events that occur outside of the state. The state could not use the price gouging law to probe the spikes in gas prices that occurred following Hurricane Katrina last year.

The article reports that U.S. House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee Chairman Richard Baker, Republican, Louisiana, said his long-stalled bid to create more uniformity in insurance rules in the U.S. might be revived through a narrower version that focuses on specialty policies. Baker said he is optimistic that a bill to streamline regulation and pricing for certain commercial insurance products could move this year. The Brown-Waite bill was inspired by Baker's efforts in previous years to craft a measure that would create uniformity in insurance rules and pre-empt some state price controls.

This article reports on the results of a public opinion poll on the policy of the U.S. Congress to reduce the price of gasoline. 70% of respondents approved setting price controls on gasoline. 64% of respondents approved temporary suspension of all federal gasoline taxes. 64% of respondents agreed upon imposing a significant tax on oil profits.

The article reports that with gasoline prices soaring, consumers and lawmakers in the U.S. are renewing calls to investigate charges of market manipulation. The Vermont House is considering a bill that would make it easier for the state Attorney General to investigate price gouging on gas and oil after a market emergency. Spikes in prices following Hurricane Katrina prompted several state attorneys general to launch investigations, and some states that did not have price-gouging prohibitions sought to enact them.

This article reports on the announcement made by U.S. President George W. Bush that the administration would investigate possible oil company price gouging and attempt to ease gasoline supplies by temporarily halting deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Republican leaders embraced Bush's attention to gasoline prices and said that they would consider moving energy legislation this year. U.S. House Majority Leader John Boehner told reporters today that the House and the Senate were looking at moving another energy bill this summer. Speaking at the White House following a meeting between Bush and a bipartisan group of senators on Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist also suggested that legislation may be needed.

This article reports on the statement issued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that its congressionally mandated investigation into gasoline price gouging is making considerable progress. The U.S. Congress ordered the agency last year to investigate whether gasoline prices are being manipulated and whether there is price gouging in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. FTC staffers are also conducting 15 investigational hearings. While there has been widespread speculation of possible price gouging as a reason for gasoline prices going above $3 a gallon, the industry blames international supply and demand for rising costs.