Michael Giberson
I don’t know the answer, so someone let me know if you do, but has the President of the United States ever declared a state of emergency over a local water main break before? According the the announcement, “The President’s action authorizes … Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts….”
The water main break already had been repaired (though the boil water order was not lifted until today).
Meanwhile, the local media is all excited by reports by a woman that “her son was charged $23.76 for a 24-pack of bottled water. The … family has since contacted the Attorney General’s office.”
Let’s do the math: 99 cents/bottle? Is this a crime? Not in Massachusetts, despite what the Governor and Attorney General want people to believe.
Here’s more from the Boston Globe:
Boston police were sent to a Tedeschi Food Shop in Hyde Park at 8:57 a.m. after the mayor’s office reported the store was charging $16 for a case of water, according to police and a mayoral spokeswoman.
The store manager denied the allegation. But really, the police were sent after a report from the mayor’s office? Do the city police and mayor’s office really have absolutely nothing at all to do these days?
Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby asks, “What’s wrong with price gouging?”
ALSO NOTED: Eight Venezuela Butchers Arrested For Price Gouging. That’s rockin’ it to price gouging merchants Hugo Chavez style. I bet Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley is envious.