Price gouging ensures that scarce resources go only "to those who really n

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

Stossel: Price gouging ensures that scarce resources go only "to those who really need it"

In his September 7 syndicated column, ABC News 20/20 co-anchor John Stossel defended price gougers, writing that by charging $20 for a bottle of water to a person whose baby needed it to live, "the price gouger makes sure his water goes to those who really need it." Stossel added: "It was the price gouger's 'exploitation' that saved your child." He justified this claim because price gougers -- people and companies that charge exorbitant prices for scarce and necessary resources (such as water or oil) -- "save lives" because they dependably provide those necessary goods or services to those who need them, motivated by their own self-interest to make money.

A September 7 Wall Street Journal editorial (subscription required), titled "In Praise of 'Gouging,'" also defended high oil prices and criticized anti-gouging laws.

Please let's all email this porn mustached son of a bitch.

[e-mail]


http://mediamatters.org/items/200509080021

[Zenlitened]

1. This guy just has no capacity to reason clearly, does he?

:wtf:

[Mairead]

2. Or else he hopes no one else does. (nt)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. I've always thought he really wasn't human. I guess I was right. n/t

[whistle]

3. "the price gouger makes sure his water goes to those who really need it."

...the stupid ass, the price gougers make sure their products go to those who can pay the price. Need has nothing to do with it.

[Mutley]

5. I'm sure the owner of the gas station near me had that in mind as he

raised the price of the same gas he already had before the storm started by $.40 on the day the hurricane hit, and another $.60 the next day. :eyes: These jackasses will really say anything, won't they? Why do I continue to be surprised by crap like this?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. It boggles the mind. Does it not? n/t

[SmokingJacket]

7. By his reasoning, people with more money always have a greater need

:crazy:

[valerief]

8. I sent porno face this

I'm not the sharpest tack in the box, but I made my point.


Subject: You oil industry shill
To: [e-mail]

So you like gouging, huh? Well, it's clear you just love gouging. You reap the benefits from gouging, you shameless shill.

How about being gouged? You like that?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. Thank you. n/t

[Zenlitened]

10. John Stossel: Dumb As a Box of Waffles

:dunce:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

11. Just when you think they can't be any more inhuman...

They prove you wrong again.

Shame on ABC for keeping this stooge on the air.

[Ian_rd]

12. Satirical Letter to Stossel (enjoy)

Dear Mr. Stossel,

You are probably getting a lot of hysterical hate mail regarding your article "In praise of price gouging." Your argument is essentially a defense of capitalism itself, which I find to be completely appropriate.

Your hypothetical situation is a "gouger" who is charging $20 for a bottle of water. Even though greed is the gouger's motivation, his price ensures that only the truly thirsty will buy the water, thus preventing people from cleaning out the supply for themselves.

True, many people who had to evacuate, especially the poor, would not have a twenty dollar bill on hand to save their baby from death by dehydration. But if they really needed the water, they would be willing to steal it from someone else, perhaps killing them in the process. And if your theory holds true, they could only steal the money from someone who does not need the money, and hence water, for if they did, they would adequately protect themselves from being robbed by someone who needed money to save their baby from death by dehydration, such as stealing guns. With this in mind, the noble gougers themselves should always be armed and ready to kill desperate mothers if they try to steal the water.

Some Liberals think that the federal government should have an agency in place to manage emergencies, which would do things like distribute water and other needs for free (free!) and ensure that no gouging, theft, and robbery occur in the process. In other words, they want to use a natural disaster as an excuse to establish a communist dictatorship in America.

Never! I'm with you, Stossel. People like us believe, as Grover Norquist once said, that the federal government should be shrunk until we can "drown it in a bathtub." In a situation like the Katrina aftermath, it is best to leave the distribution of essential services to people who charge $20 per bottle of water. If you don't got it, too bad. Don't have $1000 in cash to pay for an evacuation? Too bad. That's capitalism, baby. And if you don't like it, go to Cuba.

On second thought, I suppose it's possible that you are a spectacular moron. Just a thought.

Yours,


Ian

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

13. That was splendiferous as Don King would say. n/t