N.J. charges 8 private sector merchants with gouging after Sandy

[bripat9643]

First off, the issue isn't New York, it's New Jersey. The lines quickly went away when Christie implemented odd-even gas days for a week. Are you against the right of a state to pass laws? Take that up with Trenton.

No one's arguing that the state of New Jersey doesn't have the authority to pass stupid laws. The point is they hurt people, not help them.

 

[bripat9643]

So only these 8 businesses were able to supply people with the commodities they needed and it was because they jacked up their prices. Their power stayed on and their supply lines stayed open - because they gouged people.

Got it.

They charged the market price, moron. Only libturds are so stupid as to believe there is some "just" price lower than the price the market sets.

 

[Ravi]

I love it, Government fails to be there, the privet sector shows up and libernoobs blame the privet sector. I wonder if the Government will wait until AFTER they are back online to stop the evil privet sector or shut them down so people can go back to being homeless, lack of food and water and no power...

Maybe one day the Privet sector will get to run trillion dollar deficits and keep doing business. I wonder how well the Government would be doing if they had to pay 30% taxes on all their revenue (made by taxes) and bankrupcy when they spend more than they have.

This has nothing to do with shrubs.

It has to do with eight people overcharging people in a bind.

 

[bripat9643]

Kind of sad when people are more concerned with keeping those providing services from profit than they are of helping people.

No one is helped by price gouging except the store owner.

Wrong, butthole. In the first place, the term "price gouging" doesn't mean anything other than the fact that some moron doesn't like the price you are charging. In the second place, charging the market price means everyone who really needs the product can get some.

The idea that jacking up the price on your existing inventory will somehow cause damaged infrastructure to magically be repaired in such a way that only you and other gougers will be able to get more inventory in - is just plain fucking retarded. If the road that your gasoline is shipped in on is out - its out - and no amount of fucking your customers will change that.

No one claimed it would "magically be repaired." What it does is provide business owners and other entrepreneurs the incentive and the funds to do everything in their power to get their product to market. If that means buying a generator to keep the pumps on, then they can do that. Why would they bother if they aren't going to be compensated for the extra effort and expense? For $10/gal, tanker trucks from all over the region would be willing to change their usual destination to one in the affected area. Why would they bother if they aren't going to receive an additional dime?

The liberal hatred of the market price only demonstrates what a bunch of numskulls they are.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

So only these 8 businesses were able to supply people with the commodities they needed and it was because they jacked up their prices. Their power stayed on and their supply lines stayed open - because they gouged people.

Got it.

They charged the market price, moron. Only libturds are so stupid as to believe there is some "just" price lower than the price the market sets.

I didn't say they didn't charge a "market price". Only an idiot would pretend such a term has a meaningful use in the context of a natural disaster.

 

[bripat9643]

This has nothing to do with shrubs.

It has to do with eight people overcharging people in a bind.

It actually has to do with the economic ignorance of morons like you.

 

[Katzndogz]

When is FEMA, the Red Cross and LIPA going to be prosecuted for taking money and not showing up at all?

Are you going to be prosecuted for being a lying sack of shit?

That picture looks like it was clipped from a Red Cross commercial.


The Red Cross: Missing in action | SocialistWorker.org


THE RED Cross was nowhere to be found after Hurricane Sandy hit on October 29 and New Yorkers most needed the best-known private humanitarian and disaster relief organization.

But this was business as usual for the American Red Cross,which had already failed the victims of September 11, Katrina and the AIDS epidemic, to name just a few.

When Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro told the media that the Red Cross was an "absolute disgrace" and urged people not to contribute to it, he could have been speaking for everyone from the public housing residents in Manhattan's Alphabet City and Brooklyn's Red Hook to the washed-out homeowners in Breezy Point in Queens and Garretson Beach in Brooklyn.

Staten Island president calls Red Cross a 'disgrace' | Times 247

At a press conference this morning on Staten Island, a host of local officials, including Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, gathered to highlight the needs of the hard-hit borough in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. And, although many pols spoke, no one was more impassioned than Borough President James Molinaro, who called the Red Cross an “absolute disgrace” and even urged the public to cease giving them contributions.

What the government has done, just to show that it is doing something, it to threaten the homeowners with criminal prosecution for having uninhabitable homes.

 

[Ravi]

This has nothing to do with shrubs.

It has to do with eight people overcharging people in a bind.

It actually has to do with the economic ignorance of morons like you.

Poor you. A loser with no sense of humor. Another reason Republicans lost.

 

[Missouri_Mike]

I love it, Government fails to be there, the privet sector shows up and libernoobs blame the privet sector. I wonder if the Government will wait until AFTER they are back online to stop the evil privet sector or shut them down so people can go back to being homeless, lack of food and water and no power...

Maybe one day the Privet sector will get to run trillion dollar deficits and keep doing business. I wonder how well the Government would be doing if they had to pay 30% taxes on all their revenue (made by taxes) and bankrupcy when they spend more than they have.

This has nothing to do with shrubs.

It has to do with eight people overcharging people in a bind.

In a bind? Everyone was in a bind but the business huh? I'm sure their costs didn't go up for repairs, overtime for employee's covering for those that couldn't make it to work, limited supplies and uncertainty? Somehow in your world the hurricane didn't hit those business'. Were they in some rich business owners price gauging bubble or something?

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Wrong, butthole. In the first place, the term "price gouging" doesn't mean anything other than the fact that some moron doesn't like the price you are charging.

Wrong. Its specifically defined by the law. It has nothing to do with anyone's feelings.

charging the market price means everyone who really needs the product can get some.

No it doesn't. The above statement is quite simply and obviously not true. The idea that everyone who needs a product can get it flies in the face of basic economics - both in the context of a disaster and in the context of business as usual. The fact that one might need 5 gallons of gas doesn't mean they are able to obtain it - you should have learned that in 1st grade but I guess you were to busy huffing glue.

 

[bripat9643]

I didn't say they didn't charge a "market price". Only an idiot would pretend such a term has a meaningful use in the context of a natural disaster.

Do you think the laws of economics are suspended during a disaster? If the supply is reduced, then the market price goes up. Laws that prevent merchants from charging the market price cause shortages, and the product quickly disappears from the shelves.

That's economics, and none of your hysterical sanctimonious pontificating about "price gouging" will alter it.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

This has nothing to do with shrubs.

It has to do with eight people overcharging people in a bind.

It actually has to do with the economic ignorance of morons like you.

Economic ignorance?

You're the idiot that suggested that if we just let people charge what they want - everyone who needed a good would be able to obtain it.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Laws that prevent merchants from charging the market price cause shortages, and the product quickly disappears from the shelves.

Price gouging laws are only in effect during natural disasters.

And sorry but your suggestion that a hotel will instantly have more rooms to rent just because its charging more is fucking stupid. Do you really think the HoJo mentioned in the OP got bigger when it jacked up its prices?

 

[bornright]

Do we know if there were any additional costs to provide the services at such a time? Running on a large generator, for example, is much more expensive than using electricy. Are the employees having to charge more to come in and work much longer hours? They may be greedy and just raise because they had everyone in a bind but all things should be looked at.

 

[sfcalifornia]

So only these 8 businesses were able to supply people with the commodities they needed and it was because they jacked up their prices. Their power stayed on and their supply lines stayed open - because they gouged people.

Got it.

They charged the market price, moron. Only libturds are so stupid as to believe there is some "just" price lower than the price the market sets.

From the link:

“We have received no indication that these defendants faced costs that would have made these excessive price increases necessary or justifiable. One gas station even paid less per gallon for a shipment of fuel after the storm than it had paid before the storm,” Chiesa said in a statement.

Only a moron would gladly argue that the merchant was justified in raising prices during a humanitarian crisis simply for pure greed.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Running on a large generator, for example, is much more expensive than using electricy.

Yeah especially when you're getting gouged on the price of gas and diesel.

 

[bripat9643]

Wrong, butthole. In the first place, the term "price gouging" doesn't mean anything other than the fact that some moron doesn't like the price you are charging.

Wrong. Its specifically defined by the law. It has nothing to do with anyone's feelings.

I doubt that it is. How high a price is considered "gouging?" Charging 1% more than the day before the hurricane? How about charging 10%? Of course, that ignores the fact that the price was going up immediately before the hurricane in anticipation of a hurricane. I live in Florida, and whenever they announce a hurricane is coming, stuff like bottled water, plywood, generators and canned food disappears from the store shelves the day before the hurricane arrives.

charging the market price means everyone who really needs the product can get some.

No it doesn't. The above statement is quite simply and obviously not true.

Wrong. Its absolutely true.

The idea that everyone who needs a product can get it flies in the face of basic economics - both in the context of a disaster and in the context of business as usual. The fact that one might need 5 gallons of gas doesn't mean they are able to obtain it - you should have learned that in 1st grade but I guess you were to busy huffing glue.

Uh, wrongo. The market price is the price where everyone who wants a certain product can buy it. It's what economists call "the market clearing price." The definition of the market price is where everyone who wants to purchase a given item has done so.

 

[bripat9643]

Economic ignorance?

You're the idiot that suggested that if we just let people charge what they want - everyone who needed a good would be able to obtain it.

That's basic economics, shit for brains.

 

[bripat9643]

This has nothing to do with shrubs.

It has to do with eight people overcharging people in a bind.

It actually has to do with the economic ignorance of morons like you.

Poor you. A loser with no sense of humor. Another reason Republicans lost.

You have a sense of humor?

Who knew?

Republicans lost because too many people just like you don't know jack about economics.

 

[bripat9643]

Laws that prevent merchants from charging the market price cause shortages, and the product quickly disappears from the shelves.

Price gouging laws are only in effect during natural disasters.

And sorry but your suggestion that a hotel will instantly have more rooms to rent just because its charging more is fucking stupid. Do you really think the HoJo mentioned in the OP got bigger when it jacked up its prices?

Yes, it will have more rooms to rent. For one thing, the family of 8 that may have originally wanted to rent 3 rooms at $100/night will make due with one room when the price is $400. Presto-chango, two more rooms are available for others to rent.

You really are a stupid shit, ya know that?