Running on Empty

People are right to be angry at oil companies, particularly when an ExxonMobil CEO retires with a $400 million compensation package. According to Public Citizen, a growing concentration of ownership, especially of U.S. refineries, has increased the spread between oil costs and gasoline prices. But such anti-competitive practices play only a small role in the recent increases.

Politicians can score some points by making price-gouging a federal crime, as Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has proposed. More importantly, they could eliminate the billions of dollars in tax subsidies Bush