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
The moment it becomes clear that the Obama administration is serious about market reforms and acts to prevent wars in the
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Madison Independent Examiner - $4 per gallon gasoline, contango and Koch
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