It's scary when the Saudi's are more protective of the US economy than US elected officials. Saudi Arabia is taking steps to punch a hole in the hedge fund trading bubble by increasing oil production. While our elected officials play the same old games, nothing happens to help energy consumers. If there were no other evidence, the run-up of $11/barrel in one day is proof beyond a reasonable doubt of an energy futures trading market gone bad.
Oil prices, and anything made from or makes use of a barrel of oil in getting to their respective market places, are drastically impacted by current oil prices, and the businesses and consumers who have to deal with the fallout are bankrupted. Yet, the U.S. Senate continued to do nothing this week on two energy-related bills. The only recent action on the problem (if you can call it action) is that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finally began to investigate energy market trading for manipulation and now sees the need for a task force. Just what we need -- another task force! The Bush Administration owes it's continuing existence to the delays Senate task forces bring to any actual truth finding mission.
Yet Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill) wants to give the CFTC even more money to continue thinking about the problem. "I don't pretend to have all of the answers as to why gas prices keep going up, but I certainly see a problem that needs to be addressed," Durbin said on the Senate floor Monday. "It is time to give the CFTC the resources it needs to collect and analyze all of the relevant data, so that it can really understand what is causing these huge spikes." Prehaps Durbin didn't catch the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on energy markets chaired by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) last week.
Dick may not have all the answers, but the Senate hearings last week revealed a solution that promises to quickly halt run-up in energy prices. It's a simple solution that costs nothing. Just remove the "Enron loophole" put in place in 2006 that allows unregulated commodity futures trading in the US. The House of Representatives has introduced legislation to do just that.
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-MI, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said a lack of regulation has contributed to the meteoric rise of crude oil prices: "You can certainly see manipulation of the price in the market that you never saw before." Stupak's bill would require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to oversee U.S. crude oil futures even if they are traded on overseas exchanges. "This is Enron all over again, just a little bit more sophisticated.
Instead of throwing our good money after bad at a do-nothing federal agency (and continuing to confirm Bush Administration do-noting appointees to federal agencies), Senator Durbin could lend his support to Representative Stupak's legislation by going on all the airways and lobbying to the public about this much needed legislation. So far, the news blabbers on the airways haven't blabbed a word -- they're still on the "use less, drill more" mantra. Maybe Senator Durbin could even show up for the June 23 House hearing on CFTC oversight to see what he can learn without throwing more money at the CFTC. Maybe some of the others Senators running for re-election this year will want to do the same and then hit the airways. As Congressman Stupack has said, "We don't have time for studies. We need solutions now."
What can we, the tax-paying energy consumers, do? Well, there is the impeach Bush movement underfoot that will let you vent some of your frustrations. I'm more for a movement to impeach our entire do-nothing government by voting for term limits in November. Maybe you will want to vote your pocketbook this year as well! Unless you just want to outsource all our elected official jobs to a country who seems to care about our (one of their best customers) economic well-being -- like Saudi Arabia?
