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OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 3/29/12

The real reasons for high gasoline prices

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Message Gregory Patin

 

These limits have not yet been implemented by the CFTC because a conservative majority on the CFTC has refused to implement a mandate from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill to close oil trading loopholes and provide more transparency. While CFTC Chairman (and former Goldman Sachs executive) Gary Gensler has spoken publicly of trying to close loopholes, enforcement of the Dodd-Frank bill remains non-existent.

 

In a recent column for the Huff Post, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont stated that the CFTC doesn't "have the will" to enact these limits and "needs to obey the law." He adds, "What we need to do is"limit the amount of oil any one company can control on the oil futures market. The function of these speculators is not to use oil but to make profits from speculation, drive prices up and sell." (See video in the original posting here).

 

The bottom line is that consumers are paying more at the gas pump because of futures trading on Wall Street, inadequate regulation of the oil market and the ability of speculators to drive gasoline prices up every time the drums of war beat in the Middle East. With access to "easy oil" supplies dwindling and new supply sources becoming increasingly more difficult and costly to extract, all possible measures must be taken immediately to keep prices down.

 

The moment it becomes clear that the Obama administration is serious about market reforms and acts to prevent wars in the Middle East by pursuing diplomatic channels, the price of oil will plunge. Until then, the top 1% will be laughing all the way to the bank at the expense of the other 99%.

 

 

Read more here:

 

Madison Independent Examiner

Madison Gasoline Prices

Forbes - Robert Lenzner

Madison Independent Examiner - $4 per gallon gasoline, contango and Koch

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Gregory Patin is a free-lance writer residing in Madison, WI. He earned a BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a MS in IT management from Colorado Tech. He is politically independent and not affiliated with either (more...)
 
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