Posted on 07/22/2008 1:33:55 PM PDT by 300magnum
I can’t begin to tell you all what a monumentally stupid idea this is.
This sets a horrible precedent. Wait until people start to sue because their 401Ks are losing money.
what stops speculators from speculating in London,Paris,Dubai or where ever?
will Congress stop them too?
Aaaaaaaaand as the speculators are losing their shirt the brave and couragous Republicans dropped to their knees once more for their superiors. Throw them out!
Sounds like they might be finally ironing out the loophole whereby investment banks could masquerade as "commercials". This is the sort of thing SAJ is so knowledgeable on, so pinged.
Badly needed. This time, oil barrels full of Congress-critters and dumped in the Potomac.
Oh come on; everyone on FR knows the speculators are to blame for high oil prices.
At this point I have no confidence at all that our “leaders” will do anything effective or even sane to put an energy policy in place. That there is not an outcry of utter rage over how the leftists are deliberately putting the nation at grave (and obvious) risk is mind-boggling. We live in not just interesting but insane times. The electorate is likely to reward those doing the most damage to the nation with larger majorities and control of the executive branch come November.
I just call McConnels office...202 225 3121 and told the cowards off...again.
Yeppers, that’ll do it. Free gas for everyone!
Actually I don’t think legislation like this will cause prices to fall in any substantial way. Maybe there will be a small sell off as traders get in line with the new rules, but then it’s right back to current levels, or probably higher unless we increase supply.
Any Republican who votes for this is too stupid to be in office.
It increases regulation of the market, but that isn't going to drive down prices.
Speculation causes short term highs and lows. Oil is reaching these high prices because it is becoming more and more obvious that as supply increases slower than demand, our government will do all it can to stop us from increasing domestic oil supply.
At the same time, much of the rest of the world is taking steps that will significantly increase taxes on oil production raising production costs among our more reliable trading partners.
The democrats in congress have absolutely no intention of taking steps that will actually increase production and reduce the real market pressures driving up the cost of oil. None.
They will make either pointless laws that do nothing, or use the high price of oil to justify grabbing more regulatory power and increasing taxes. Some are determined to do nothing but make a show of trying to address the problem, others are actively working to make matters worse.
However it should be glaringly obvious to anyone with half a brain that they have no intention of undoing the things they have done to cause this problem in the first place.
They did those things intentionally. They have actively worked to drive up the price of oil over the years to appease the environmental lobby. This was not some accidental happening. Most of the democrats are on the record at some point or another saying as much.
The only way they will back down is if a large number of them start getting tossed out of office.
As long as voters remain stupid enough to believe that this is all the fault of rich oil executives and speculators rather than being primarily the fault of legislators, things are just going to keep getting worse.
Might want to add how many years and counting to it. The DEMONS say it’ll take ten years to get any oil but you have to add one for every year they have prevented it.
As I understand it, US investment banks technically own more than 1.1 billion barrels of crude at a high price on a rolling-forwards basis.
A CFTC reclassification or clarification of the banks as speculators rather than (apparently) as thirsty oil-refineries would force the banks to disgorge 600+ million barrels, dropping the price of crude accordingly.
So Reid is technically correct. Assuming the Bill says what it ought to say, the price of oil would drop.
But President Bush accomplished a $14 drop with a single speech. An enlarged future supply is the real key to a lower price, not slapping the Banks’ pudgy, oil-stained fingers.
I thought the oil companies were to blame. Now the speculators. WHich is it Dems?
depends on the focus group numbers.
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