Decontrol

When President Reagan decontrolled crude oil, gasoline, and home-heating oil, he did so without formal counsel from Congress and the public.

Even the normal income tax on decontrolled higher-priced, gas could run into the tens of billions of dollars.

Under the plan Mr. Bruno has outlined, any unit that became vacant after June 15, 1997, would be completely decontrolled, permitting landlords to charge whatever the market would allow. He would also expand the policy of decontrolling higher-priced apartments to include more units.

The shortfall caused by the disruption in Iran amounted to only 5 percent of our normal imports. Despite this limited cutback, the oil industry seized upon the Iranian situation as its “Gulf of Tonkin” to justify its campaign, which your editorial now supports, for decontrols, higher prices and higher profits. Clearly, the gasoline shortage in 1979 was not an act of God.

The Administration's accelerated decontrol program also comes at great expense to consumers. It provides an immediate 1 percent increase in inflation, and by the end of fiscal 1981 it will have added $11.7 billion to the price of oil products.