Hawaiian gas cap fails miserably

How do you commit political suicide? Why, institute a gas cap that costs your constituents $55 million more than it would have cost otherwise, of course. Hawaii governor Linda Lingle decided to sign a bill today that would stop the madness that is the Hawaii gas cap, which has put a limit on wholesale gasoline prices based on New York, the Gulf Coast and Los Angeles gas price averages, plus transport. Unfortunately for Lingle and the good citizens of Hawaii, the cap didn't regulate how much gas stations could mark up the wholesale costs, putting gas prices at a whopping $3.38 per gallon. The new law, which suspends the price cap, also computes what gas would be with the cap, as well as showing what wholesale costs are compared to what consumers are paying at the pump -- information that was previously kept confidential.

[Source: Associated Press]