Politics & Power Quote by Maurice Hinchey

The line lands like a prosecutor’s closing argument, not a policy memo. Hinchey isn’t merely alleging high prices; he’s indicting a villain. “It’s clear” front-loads certainty, a rhetorical move meant to box out nuance before it can enter the room. “Price gouging” is a legal-scented phrase that implies not just profit but wrongdoing, turning a complex market story into a moral breach. Then he escalates: “aggressively, relentlessly” gives the accusation motion and menace, as if gouging is an ongoing assault rather than a byproduct of supply constraints, geopolitics, or refinery capacity.

The real payload sits in “without any sense of conscience whatsoever.” That’s not economics; it’s character. By framing oil companies as conscience-free, Hinchey invites listeners to see them as beyond the usual bounds of negotiation. The subtext is that ordinary regulatory tweaks won’t work on actors this shameless; what’s required is punishment, oversight, windfall taxes, hearings, or anti-gouging laws. It’s a call to treat corporate behavior as a civic threat.

Context matters: these sorts of statements typically surge during gasoline price spikes, when households feel the hit weekly and anger seeks a target with a logo. Hinchey’s intent is to translate diffuse frustration into a simple narrative with a clear antagonist and a clear constituency: “the American citizenry.” It’s populism with a paper trail, designed to make outrage legible enough to become legislative pressure.