Are oil companies price gouging?

This is a welcome development. We can trust the Bush junta to clear Big Oil of these scurrilous and unfounded charges. It's not their fault that they haven't built a refinery in 30 years. UPDATE: David Sirota reminds us that the Bush-appointed head of the FTC is Deborah Majorus, ex-lawyer for ChevronTexaco.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether gasoline price profiteering has occurred and if oil companies have constrained refinery capacity to manipulate fuel prices, an agency official said Wednesday.
"A determination that unlawful conduct has occurred will result in aggressive law enforcement activity by the FTC," John Seesel, an FTC associate general counsel, told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing.
The FTC is responding to language in recently passed energy legislation that requires the agency to probe whether gasoline prices have been manipulated by attempts to reduce refining capacity, Seesel said.