Obama calls for oil crackdown

The Politico ^

[Sub-Driver]

Obama calls for oil crackdown By: Mike Allen June 22, 2008 12:39 PM EST

With the cost of gas a top issue in the presidential campaign, Barack Obama on Sunday will announce a plan to crack down on oil speculation by tightening regulations on energy traders.

The announcement is further evidence that an Obama administration would take an activist, populist approach to regulating business.

Obama wants to close a loophole in federal law that exempts some energy traders from regulations that govern other exchange-traded commodities. Democrats call this “the Enron loophole” because it benefited the Houston energy-speculation firm that collapsed in an accounting scandal.

The Obama campaign accuses Phil Gramm — the former U.S. senator from Texas, who’s now a McCain campaign co-chair and economic adviser — of helping insert the exemption. Gramm's wife, Wendy, was a member of the Enron board of directors.

So today’s announcement — in an early-afternoon conference call featuring New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine — allows the Obama campaign to both side with consumers and take a whack at McCain’s brain trust.

Obama said in a statement: “My plan fully closes the Enron Loophole and restores common-sense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future.”

[Riley]

You know, every time McCain convinces me to sit this one out, Obama or Hillary convince me to get back in. Then McCain convinces me to ...

I know exactly how you feel.

[pleikumud]

The Democrat Senator from FL, Bill Nelson, has said the same thing. He wants new legislation to rein in speculators. Apparently he and Obama think that US laws apply to the entire world. What about speculators in China, India, Japan, UAE, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Germany, France, England, Scotland, Australia, et cetera?

The problem isn’t speculation anyway. The problem is that worldwide demand exceeds worldwide production. Democrats have been blocking exploration and production of domestic energy for at least 30 years. Now they want to shift blame away from themselves to “oil executives” and “speculators”.

George W has called for lifting the ban on drilling offshore, drilling in the ANWR, and using shale oil in western states. Now the socialists (Obama, Bill Nelson - D-FL, Pelosi, Reid, and ALL Congressional Democrats) need to find a way to blame the current high prices on someone other than themselves.

McCain has proposed the construction of 45 nuclear power plants over the next couple of decades. The Democrats will oppose that too. They would rather we be dependent on foreign oil. Meanwhile, France is currently generating 75% of its electricity with nuclear power plants, while the US only generates 20% of its electricity with nuclear power plants. We are in this current mess due to Democrats, socialists (pardon the redundancy), and those who seek to undermine the economy of the US by blocking the use of domestic energy sources, and getting the US committed to the idiocy of such UN schemes as the Kyoto agreement.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Here’s several million former Hillary supporters that aren’t falling for Obama’s B.S. at Hillary Clinton Supporters for John McCain: http://www.hcsfjm.com

There are lots of other similar sites...

[aculeus]

Brilliant way to send our commodities markets overseas forever.

Oba isn't anti-business. He's anti American business.

[Maceman]

Did you watch the video? Click on the link. You won’t be sorry.

[Jeff Head]

This guy is an abject marxist, wanting the government in total control...as if though his proposals will help the issue in the least.

What is needed is the US drilling and refining the vast oil reserves we have in ANWR, the Gulf, the Pcific, and the oil shales. That will end the manipulation by OPEC and other nations, which is the real issue here.

If we were serious about going after these reserves (meaning putting the kabosh via executive order as a result of national security on the endless delays caused over done environemtal regulations) we would see the fuel from the ANWR and Gulf and Pacific fiekds within two years.

Just announcing that we were dead serious about this and then proceeding with it would see OPEC immediately cut ts prices drastically to try and make it economically unfeasable for us.

All of this hogwash about ten years, and not impacting OPEC are just that...hogwash...and Obama and his handlers know it.

THE GREAT SEAL OF OBAMANATION



THE AUDACITY OF TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Obama will make Jimmy Carter look like a great, wise president after only a year in office. He must not be elected.

[muir_redwoods]

Nothing is going to bring down the cost of gasoline faster than increasing the costs and aggravation borne by the oil companies. Nothing, I tell ya, Nothing!!!

[devere]

“Seriously, how did it come to pass that this Marxist might be our next president?”

As I recall some misguided Republicans changed parties to vote against Hillary in the primaries.

[airborne]

“Misguided”?

You give them more credit than I.

[TigersEye]

Enron loophole? This is just legislation based on “Gotcha!” politics. I thought this guy was supposed to be “new!” and “different?” Same ole same ole D.C. games.

[Prole]

Headline should read:

"Americans call for Obama crackdown"

Why does he fail to understand that oil companies are taxed by the government? What did he misunderstand about their testimony on Capitol Hill a month ago? What does this IDIOT not understand about 350 million people in the Nation requiring energy, and China and India also have a reavenous hunger for oil. It's a simple equation of supply versus demand.

Obama the idiot needs to factor in production, consumption, taxes and prices.

He is such an ugly fool and liar.

[hinckley buzzard]

The announcement is further evidence that an Obama administration would take an activist, populist approach to regulating business.

Translation: Obama is an authoritarian socialist rat-bastard, but the eunuchs that populate Washington and the various media hives, are too chickensh*t to call a spade a spade. When will "conservative" republicans get the cajones to tell America the truth about this malignant cancerous tumor of a candidate.

[Sig Sauer P220]

I think my license plate means I will get gas on even days of the month.
It was odd and even during the 70’s if I remember correctly.

I wonder when I'll get gas. My tag sez, TAX2DTH.

[HiramQuick]

Do any of these morons have a basic understanding of economics? I include John McClame because he has made comment that violate any one of the tenets of a capital economy. I swear none of these buttheads could get a job anywhere in the world of business.

Morons .. all of them

[Sig Sauer P220]

Seriously, how did it come to pass that this Marxist might be our next president?

Simple. Black people voting simply based on color. White liberal guilt. Of course, dead people voting. That should put him over.

[Who is John Galt?]

Barack Obama on Sunday will announce a plan to crack down on oil speculation by tightening regulations on energy traders.

You wonder what most Americans would say if the D@mocrats had pushed America's farmers off 85% of the best farm land, because of their party's extremist environmental concerns. Limiting our farmers to desert land wouldn't produce much food, so the price would go up. The D@mocrats would no doubt respond by putting a windfall profits tax on food producers, and blaming farmers for not producing enough, because (after all) they would have millions of acres of desert land at their disposal.

Certain areas are MUCH more conducive than others for the production of food (the same is true for oil & gas). The American outer continental shelf (federal offshore), ANWR, and certain onshore areas are MUCH more likely to produce major quantities of oil & gas than the limited areas available under our current extreme 'environmental' restrictions. That is a simple fact the D@mocrats willfully ignore.

The D@mocrat party, at the federal, State, AND local level, is directly responsible for America's skyrocketing energy prices. That is a fact...

[Arrowhead1952]

What jurisdiction does Obama think he has there?

The dims are trying to sue OPEC too. I had to laugh at some previous replies on this thread, but just when you think the dims can't get any dumber, they do something like this and prove us wrong again.