There you have it!!! The banks and Fed are quick to point the finger in this joke of a "witch hunt" against market players all the while the printing presses are going non-stop which is truly causing this inflation. It's just that the smart market players know this is the case (inflation of fiat money) and are riding the profit train of inflation which is actually the fault of the money printers. They set the stage for this "free-for-all." If monetary policy was more responsible, the conditions for this commodity explosion would not be as favorable or obvious.
If I see Paulson talk about how he supports a STRONG DOLLAR ( one more time ) I'm gonna freaking puke!
If there are deceptive practices going on, then by all means, throw the book at them. However, for some reason, the word 'speculator' has become a dirty word. Why on EARTH would anyone think it's a good idea, in this day and age and in this country, to make a move to curb speculators? If some of you are thinking this is a good idea, then I'm SURE that you don't make your living trading these or any other markets. Our Congress is completely incapable of solving the energy problem. Messing with free markets is another in a long line of foolish ideas born in the minds of pandering politicians and sold to a foolish public. If the exchanges were to decide that the margins needed to be raised, then I could live with this, but having a lawmaking body tell us who can and can't trade is the first step on the path to socialism. WISE UP!!
It's frightening that Lieberman is a very real possibility as McCain's VP pick. Somehow, he has this media-generated aura of common sense and integrity, but all I see is a typical liberal pushing a leftwing agenda. This nonsense about energy markets is classic. Blame it all on the evil speculators. Oh yeah, and the evil oil companies. I'm sure the foreign futures exchanges will appreciate the extra business when they drive trading offshore through a combination of mindless regulation and sharply higher taxes. In all this blathering, never a word about the true culprits for our current problem. How many nuke plants have we built? How many new refineries? Why are there scores of different regional formulations for unleaded gas? Think that helps prices? How about coal, as we are the Saudi Arabia of coal? Shouldn't we be building coal-fired plants like the Chinese are doing? Coal gassification, good idea or not? Oil sands? Or, to keep it simple, drilling in alaska and off the east coast? Or is it better to let the Cubans and chinese suck up that florida oil? Politicans, mainly democrats, have sabotaged our energy policy for 30 plus years. They have let radical environmentalists and global warming alarmists set policy. They pay lip service to their concern for the poor, but when it is time to vote, the wealthy liberals with their delicate sensibilities call the tune. Joe Sixpack has to cough up $120 to fill up his pickup truck to drive 50 miles to the one construction job that has not been taken over by illegal aliens.
You left out the disaster of a clusterf$!$ck that is the Iraq War, and the financial and social legacy that will befall to future generations of Americans because of starting the wrong war against the wrong country. Not only that, they want to double down, in Iran!! And give ALL ADDITIONAL government funding to private contracting and defense contractors, rather than the middle class of America (who will actually spend the money in American stores and places of commerce)!!!! Whatever happened to common sense Republicans such as Reagan? Seriously? Am I alone here in believing you don't screw around starting MASSIVELY EXPENSIVE wars unless you have a damn good reason to do it (as in necessity), and that you talk to anyone (like Reagan talked to Gorby), no matter what, as long as it gets your goals accomplished? Bring back Reagan or the GOP can rot in hell.
I've been saying all along that the market manipulators need to have their butts kicked. Maybe they are finally getting smart
this will go to the hearing committees and they will have 20 or 30 meetings on it, the lobbyists will show up, everyone will get paid, it'll move to the back burner and they will pass a bill which takes away one loophole and opens another,same old same old, don't expect any changes
As a percentage of GDP Reagan's defense budget was fairly comparable to this administrations. Where GWB has gone wrong is his non-defense discretionary spending. It is off the charts- disgusting. If you're looking for a critique of Bush, that is where you'll start and end, not defense.