Posted on 06/13/2008 7:28:33 AM PDT by Sir Gawain
Speaking on Wall Street last night, Senator McCain of Arizona sounded more like an economic populist than a proponent of the kind of unbridled free-market capitalism promoted by many who work on the trading floors nearby.
At a town hall meeting in Federal Hall, the presumptive Republican nominee for president endorsed a federal probe into speculation in the oil markets, a phenomenon that some analysts contend accounts for about a third of the escalating cost of crude.
"I believe there needs to be a thorough and complete investigation of speculators to find out whether speculation has been going on and, if so, how much it has affected the price of a barrel of oil," Mr. McCain said in response to an audience member's complaint about investors driving up the price of fuel and other commodities. "There's a lot of things out there that need a lot more transparency and, consequently, oversight."
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Speculators only have short-term effects on prices, and in the long run a free market, with economic exchanges, is the most efficient way to price commodities.
I read a long an interesting article yesterday to the effect that it was actually five large firms who were SHORT oil futures who caused the recent pop in prices. Their bet turned out to be wrong, and they had to cover their shorts at a loss, which brought prices back up. But after these guys have taken a bath, oil prices will come back down again, since they are showing signs of topping.
The idea that some speculator has a big reservoir full of oil in his back yard that he is hoarding is just silly. And the same with the oil companies. They only have so much room in their tanks, and if they are full, so much the better.
“I believe there needs to be a thorough and complete investigation of speculators to find out whether speculation has been going on”
Stone cold moron.
John McCain: Big Beer = good, Big Oil = evil.
Angry? As angry as an old man returning soup at the deli . . .
Its actually very easy to determine the cause of the oil speculation. Stopping it is also a simple task: Stop sending messages that you will make the oil problem worse.
First, The reason for the oil speculation is the speculators are counting on people like you getting elected and thus real market supply solutions will not be introduced. Thus far, they have predicted correctly. Neither you nor your Democrat counterpart will provide any real solutions.
Second, you already said you were pretty light in the area of economics. Your recent speech demonstrates this quite adequately. Get someone on board that understands supply and demand and follow his advice no matter how much it goes against your populists instincts.
Third, You always tout yourself as a "national security" candidate. News Flash, energy independence is a major factor in our national security.
You can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. Right now, you are part of the problem.
THe only guarantee about hte price today is that it will be higher tomorrow.
That's why contracts are being sold today.
“How am I supposed to vote for this idiot? He’s not making it easy.”
Agree! Just recently heard Romney on two different radio programs and he is against closing Getmo and the court decision, against Cap & Trade, against amnesty, and FOR drilling here and now in America. He is still out helping to elect McCain because Obama should not be anyway near the White House due to the damage he would cause! How I wish McCain would pick Romney for VP, but doubt that will happen since Romney is a conservative and McCain isn’t! My choice is still clear. I will hold my nose with both hands and vote for McCain.
“I have to balance optimism with reality. “
Teach me how to do that!!! Please! My optimism is going the way of the Titanic each day.
I have to try more every day. One of the most difficult things for me to deal with is ignorant people who are spoiled and complacent and don’t seem to care about or even realize their slow demise. It is like watching the country go through a slow motion suicide. They are “useful idiots” and don’t even realize it. They are being used and are like sheep. Something bad and big is going to happen and some might wake up. I am looking on more and more people as my personal enemies because they are jeopardizing my freedom and prosperity. And Obama and his ikl are going to jeopardize our very survival. We will see violence in the near future.
Optimism is about to be overwhelmed by reality.
I experience that too. A long time friend of mine who is a liberal and who denies that Bush gave him any tax cuts came over to my house to show me his vacation slideshow of skiing at the Grand Tetons with is 3 kids and wife. I asked how expensive it was and he said he got $5k back from his tax returns. I told him he could thank GWB for that vacation. An argument pursued and I ended up kicking him out of backyard and sent his butt home. We haven't talked since.
He threatens my prosperity and his own and is too stupid to know it.
How well did that work out for Nixon?.........
“He threatens my prosperity and his own and is too stupid to know it.”
Exactly. Their indoctrination prevents them from realizing logic. They will not even listen to or attempt to reason. Their hate controls them.
If I did not know any better, I’d swear McCain was a DEMOCRAT!.................
Agreed, and I think that this also applies (in general) to other imports.
An honest leader would explain the connection between monetary policy/federal spending and oil prices. Speculation and inflation are symptoms, not causes!
McCain has to face the fact that OPEC is a cartel out of reach of American law and that many of the speculators on world oil markets are not in the US. Saying that an investigation of the speculators will reduce the world price of oil is about like King Canute commanding the tides to stop.
I keep hearing about the pronouncements of someone from Oppenheimer’s as though it were cosmic truth. Did he offer some evidence that oil would be $60 a barrel without speculators?
In addition to your very good explanation, I would like to add that futures traders bring one other very important thing to the public notice.
They are a weather vane pointing to a problem. Further, even though they are not always right, they believe in the fact that there will be a potential problem or shortage enough to put their money where their mouth is.
So when speculators jump on a commodity, as they did on gold and oil, the rest of us should pay attention.
In other words, don’t shoot the messenger.
Farmers have learned that lesson well.
Holding your nose with both hands? That’s child play. You must not really hate the guy. For some of us, the idea of voting for McCain is more akin to having a continual root canal operation over several days. For this reason, we ain’t going to do it.
“I believe there needs to be a thorough and complete investigation of speculators to find out whether speculation has been going on...”
If we don’t know whether speculation is occurring, how do we know who the speculators are? How do we know IF there are speculators?
I only regret that I have but one vote to deny this cretin. Is it voter fraud if I go to the polls several times to not vote for this full-on-brain-o?
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