Free Republic

So many imaginary villains and so little time. This week, President Barack Obama is taking the fight to "oil speculators" and "market manipulation" (nee "free enterprise"), demanding that traders put up more money for transactions and government ratchet up enforcement and monitoring. "None of these will bring gas prices down overnight," Obama helpfully explained in his news conference. "But they will prevent market manipulation and help protect consumers." No, they won't. They'd probably hurt consumers, and they would doubtlessly raise the cost of doing business. So for a few hundred words, let's treat populist agitation as if it were earnest...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want to go the audio sound bites. Obama in the Rose Garden today, campaign appearance. Another attack here on Big Oil and the speculators. Here we go. OBAMA: As I've said repeatedly, the problem is we use more than 20% of the world's oil and we only have 2% of the world's proven oil reserves. RUSH: Ah, gee. OBAMA: Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we'd still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil. That means we pay more at the pump every time there's instability in...

Under pressure to take action on rising gasoline prices, President Obama wants Congress to strengthen federal supervision of oil markets, increase penalties for market manipulation and empower regulators to increase the amount of money energy traders are required to put behind their transactions. The White House plan, which Obama was to unveil Tuesday, is more likely to draw sharp election-year distinctions with Republicans than have an immediate effect on prices at the pump. The measures seek to boost spending for Wall Street enforcement at a time when congressional Republicans are seeking to limit the reach of federal financial regulations.