I am going back and forth on whether this vote or the vote to sue OPEC is the stupidest vote the House has made in recent memory. Since this vote actually has meaningful results, I went for this one.

The bill calls for criminal penalties of up to $150 million for corporations and up to $2 million and a jail sentence of up to 10 years for individuals found to be engaged in price gouging. Opponents said the legislation was too vague and amounts to price controls.

“I don’t know what `unconscionable excessive’ means,” Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, complained, referring to a phrase that would trigger a price gouging prosecution.

Price gouging has an effective natural enemy — competition, when we compete against OPEC or when gas companies compete against each other. Our own government’s shackling of industry hampers our ability to compete. We can’t build refineries. We force companies to provide 10% ethanol blends when ethanol doesn’t pay out. 20 states have gasoline price minimums. And we’re angry at gas stations?

Here’s how the roll call went down, which allows the FTC to define price gouging and thus penalize anyone it wants:

John Boehner (R) - No
Steve Chabot (R) - Yes
Paul Gillmor (R) - Yes
David Hobson (R) - No
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D) - Not Voting
Marcy Kaptur (D) - Yes
Dennis J. Kucinich (D) - Yes
Steven C. LaTourette (R) - Yes
Deborah Pryce (R) - No
Ralph Regula (R) - Yes
Tim Ryan (D) - Yes
Jean Schmidt (R) - Yes
Zack Space (D) - Yes
Betty Sutton (D) - Yes
Pat Tiberi (R) - No
Michael Turner (R) - Yes
Charles A. Wilson (D) - Yes

Thank you, Rep. Tiberi, for getting this right.