Politics and gas.

ITEM: California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante "focused on soaring gasoline prices in his campaign for governor ... by announcing his support for a constitutional amendment that would give public utility regulators authority over California oil companies," reported the Contra Costa Times for August 29th. "'Gas prices in California are the highest in the nation,'he said at a news conference in front of a Sacramento gas station. 'Californians are being gouged and, under current law, we are powerless to do anything about it.'"

BETWEEN THE LINES: This demagogic move should have elicited nothing but hoots of derision. It would undoubtedly mean that Californians would face long lines to fill their gas tanks. Other probable results, which occurred during price controls in the 1970s, would be shortages, black markets, and politicians deciding who might buy gasoline, when, and at what price.

Even the liberal Socrumento Bee could see this: "The price controls Bustamante proposes would be a disaster ... Either Bustamante doesn't understand simple economics or he's pandering to people who don't. Fool or panderer: It's not a pretty choice."

California's gas prices are higher than elsewhere largely because of previous political actions. The state requires a unique blend of fuel particularly susceptible to price hikes when there is a disruption in supply, as recently occurred when an Arizona pipeline broke. Moreover, as state Senator Tom McClintock put it, there hasn't been an in-state oil refinery built since 1969. And Californians have been saddled with the fourth highest gasoline tax in the nation, nearly 51 cents a gallon.

Bustamante's claims notwithstanding, gasoline prices are not at a historically high level. The California Energy Commission reports that real prices are only slightly higher than in 1982.