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Home Front: Politix
Barack Obama cracks down on oil traders
2012-04-18
President Maldives: SPR, what SPR!
Barack Obama pledged to put more "cops on the beat" to oversee the oil market, as he went on the offensive with a range of curbs to stop traders from driving the oil price higher.
His actions will drive the price of oil higher; he's trying to assert control of the market in his thug-socialist way, and that will clearly push prices up.
The US cannot afford to let speculators artificially drive up the price of oil, the US President said on Tuesday, revealing plans to boost supervision of the market and tackle manipulation.

"Rising gas [petrol] prices means a rough ride for a lot of families," President Obama said. "It's like an additional tax that comes right out of your pocket."
And who would know more about higher taxes than a progressive Democrat?
The high oil price and its impact on consumers is underlining concerns about how the market is functioning and how much it is driven by speculation. Brent crude, London's benchmark oil, trades around $118 (£74) a barrel.

The measures from the White House, to be approved by Congress, include an "at least six-fold" increase in the number of staff who scrutinise the trading of oil futures contracts at US market watchdog the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The Obama administration also wants the maximum penalties for manipulation in oil futures markets to rise tenfold, from $1m and 10 years in prison to $10m plus sentencing which reflects the "seriousness" of the misconduct.
Posted by:tipper

#17  George Unique7923 - Obama and his Oil police are "Keystone Cops".

Very well done, my man!
Posted by: newc   2012-04-18 22:14  

#16  Mr President. Since you killed the Keystone pipeline, which caused oil prices to skyrocket, your cops will hence forth be referred to throughout the blogger sphere as the "Keystone Cops".
Posted by: George Unique7923   2012-04-18 20:11  

#15  #6: 1984 and The Fountainhead were not written as guidebooks.

Assuming he's read them. Those are "white" books, which - except for die-hard commies like Foucault, Marcuse, and Adorno - have been all but removed from standard college curricula.
Posted by: RandomJD   2012-04-18 18:10  

#14  Holland & EU SUPPORT LIBERALS AND DEOCRATS THIS ELECTION SEASON AGAIN
Posted by: Uneang Scourge of the Slytherins6067   2012-04-18 17:56  

#13  Third world socialist thug.
Posted by: Gomez Trotsky9549   2012-04-18 16:27  

#12  "But Obama is unswayed. He is running as a “provider” and believes there are enough Americans who want free stuff to catapult him to victory in November."

Bill O'Reilly
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-04-18 15:00  

#11  Polling must show the price of gas is hurting Obama's numbers and he has to deflect now to avoid his energy secretary's $10 a gallon goal comment becoming mainstream knowledge.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2012-04-18 14:46  

#10  My problem with speculation is when its done with paper backed by little or no assets, particularly of the person playing the game. About the time the last run on oil [somewhere near 148 barrel] in 2008, the banking system was freezing up, thus curtailing lending [which is the start of the bailout]. As soon as that happened, oil prices dropped. The government already had the ability to call margin well before then to avert that run, but didn't. Make the speculators back their game and put up dollar for dollar for their bids. Let them gamble with their own money.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2012-04-18 12:55  

#9  Dear Zero,
1984 and The Fountainhead were not written as guidebooks.
Posted by Bright Pebbles

I see a winner!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2012-04-18 12:19  

#8  Its the one and only Boogie man
He creeps, he hides, he sneaks, he slides
Posted by: swksvolFF   2012-04-18 11:37  

#7  Glenmore (#5) - nicely explained, but much too complicated for Joe Sixpack when you can whip up a nice Strawman™ and keep pushing your populist poop.
Posted by: Bobby   2012-04-18 11:06  

#6  Dear Zero,
1984 and The Fountainhead were not written as guidebooks.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2012-04-18 09:47  

#5  If a 'bet' on future price of oil (or any commodity) was such a sure thing then everybody'd be making it, and the price would come down. Kind of like horse-racing - as more bets flow to one horse, the payout to the winner goes down. If the price keeps rising, then the bet is not a sure thing. The futures price just represents that which it takes to balance the bets (plus the commission). When the contracts expire or are settled the winning and losing speculators balance out. End users who absolutely, positively must have a set supply at a set date pay a lot for that guarantee; sellers who absolutely, positively must have a set income and a set time sell their potential for greater income in return for that guarantee (end users who find themselves more flexible than they had expected to be receive payment for re-selling guarantees they previously bought.) It's not evil at all (unless manipulated by insiders and crooks at protected, 'too-big-to-fail' Wall Street firms), it's just a means for balancing supply and demand and criticality of each.
Posted by: Glenmore   2012-04-18 09:11  

#4  Tacking to the middle.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-04-18 08:22  

#3  this week's Strawman™
Posted by: Frank G   2012-04-18 08:19  

#2  Ben Bernanke must be worried about a knock on the door any moment now.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2012-04-18 08:17  

#1  Of course, for a modest "donation" to a certain presidential campaign, the CFTC might develop glaucoma...
Posted by: tu3031   2012-04-18 00:28  

00:00