Well it took the state demagogue-in-chief exactly one day to make political hay out of the fact that when demand goes up in relation to supply, prices will and should rise. This is the only way to alleviate shortages.
From the NJ101.5 web site:
Prices at some gas stations in Jersey shot up 15 cents a gallon after hurricane Irene blew through on Sunday – and other supplies including water and batteries were also suddenly a lot more expensive in some areas.
During last night’s Ask The Governor program, Governor Christie said “we have the most aggressive head of the Division of Consumer Affairs that we’ve had in Jersey in a long time – Tom Calcagni…anybody who sees price gouging – you need to get on the phone immediately with Consumer Affairs.”
Christie said Calcagni “has investigators answering the phone- not assistants or support staff…and he has done more in the 16 months or so that he’s been head of the Consumer Affairs than anybody’s done in decades in that job…he is one of the folks I brought with me from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he was a corruption prosecutor, who had a number of big corruption wins as a prosecutor.”
The Governor also said “where they can prove there is price gouging, there will not only be serious fines, but they will also inform the local police department for criminal charges.”
As you know, I predicted with 100% certainty that this would happen. So-called conservative Chris Christie was the first one out of the gate, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing from a few more of the usual suspects.
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