Bush, Davis Clash on Energy Price Caps

I am disappointed that President Bush and Gov. Gray Davis could not agree on short-term price caps for electrical rates in California during their May 29 meeting. As a businessman and resident of California, I support the free-market system; however, the demand for electricity is no higher now than a year ago. The supply of electricity is no smaller than a year ago. The only thing that has changed is the system that is used for setting prices.

Businesses in California deserve a break from the crippling increase in prices. Working moms and dads should not be asked to subsidize power executives in other states. The federal government owes the working people and businesses of California a chance to sort out the mess imposed upon us. We deserve a short-term cap on prices.

Steve Graves

Highland

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Bush is correct to say that electricity price caps will not change either the supply or the demand. But he is wrong to allow the greed and price-gouging of the energy suppliers. Greed and gouging are not parts of compassionate capitalism.

Porter Ewing

Van Nuys

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Davis has done nothing toward solving the energy crisis over the past year and a half. He has overwhelming party majorities in both the Assembly and Senate and yet has passed no meaningful legislation regarding energy. Furthermore, California voted against President Bush by a 2-1 margin in the recent presidential election. Despite this, all we hear from the governor is, “President Bush, federal government, save us! We need price controls.”

Governor, instead of crying to the federal government for help, provide leadership for solving a California problem. California created the problem, not the federal government. It is our responsibility to solve our problems. There is nothing stopping you from enacting meaningful solutions to the energy crisis except your own indecisiveness.

John Anagnost

Torrance

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Hurray for Davis! Finally he’s going to do something: Sue the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for relief from the gougers. Our “compassionate” president, who thumbed his nose at California, is certainly not going to do anything to help us, like capping the prices. He’s only interested in his big business and oil friends in Texas making even more money.

Ann and Dale Johnston

Thousand Oaks

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Perhaps if Intel (headquartered in Santa Clara) and Advanced Micro Devices (headquartered in Sunnyvale) charged Dell (headquartered in Round Rock, Texas) and Compaq (headquartered in Houston) 50 times more for their chips than they charged Gateway (headquartered in San Diego), Bush might realize that there is something he can do about extortion.

Arnie Pierce

Shingle Springs, Calif.

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In “Governor to Stress Price Caps to Bush” (May 29), Davis is quoted as saying, “The marketplace is not working.” I am curious as to how he knows that, when the consumption side of the market has had price caps on it from the very beginning. If those caps have created the price extremes and supply shortages that we have seen, just wait until you see both ends of the market with price caps.

Russell H. Jeans

San Pedro