EMAIL SIGN UP!
Progressive Community
The press releases posted here have been submitted by
America's Progressive Community
For further information or to comment on this press release, please contact the organization directly.
Most Popular This Week
- Corporate Win: Supreme Court Says Monsanto Has 'Control Over Product of Life'
- How the US Turned Three Pacifists into Violent Terrorists
- Cornel West: Obama 'Is a War Criminal'
- Revealed: How US State Department 'Twists Arms' on Monsanto's Behalf
- Victory in Seattle as Teachers Win Battle in Standardized Test Boycott
Today's Top News
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Senator Bernie Sanders Michael Briggs (202) 228-6492 |
CFTC Report Reveals Rampant Speculation in Oil Markets
WASHINGTON - August 19 - Sen. Bernie Sanders offered the following statement after having reviewed a list of speculative oil traders responsible for the 2008 spike in oil prices. This list was compiled by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
"This report clearly shows that in the summer of 2008 when gas prices spiked to more than $4 a gallon, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and other speculators on Wall Street dominated the crude oil futures market causing tremendous damage to the entire economy," Sanders said. "The CFTC has kept this information hidden from the American public for nearly three years. That is an outrage.
The American people have a right to know exactly who caused gas prices to skyrocket in 2008 and who is causing them to spike today. The CFTC claims they need more data to impose speculative position limits as required by Dodd-Frank. That is laughable. The American people need action to bring down gas and oil prices and they need it now, which is why I have introduced legislation with eight co-sponsors to do just that."
On June 15, 2011 Sen. Sanders introduced a bill titled the "End Excessive Oil Speculation Now Act of 2011", which would force the Chairman of the CFTC to impose strict limits on the amount of oil speculators can trade in the commodity and futures markets.
Excessive oil speculation is widely considered to have been a major contributor to high gas prices at the pump and unnecessary volatility in the oil commodities and futures markets. Sen. Sanders' bill currently has eight co-sponsors: Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).
"We have a responsibility to do everything we can to lower gas prices so that they reflect the fundamentals of supply and demand and bring needed relief to the American people," Sanders said.
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
4 Comments so far
Show AllBernie is the face of socialism and when the democrats stop calling him a democrat we'll be better served. He's a treasure.
Bernie usually nails the problems our nation endures from the small cabal of international capitalists destroying it. I just wish he would drop the generic moniker of "American people". It's a classification deliberately side stepping our political status - citizens. American citizens are duty bound to country and not some narcissistic over paid, under worked politician.
The simplest way to stop that kind of speculation is to require that anyone trading in oil futures be required to accept the delivery of the oil when the contract expires. None of this buying and immediately reselling to jerk the prices to make a profit. If you buy a futures contract you should be required to hold it until delivery. What would Goldman Sachs do with a supertanker of oil sitting in Manhattan harbor?
Love the Bernie Sanders a true representative of the people. Surely, Wall Street speculators who have made money hand over fist before and during this great recession are using that money in commodities to make even more money while making prices for consumer even higher and driving more children in poverty. This should be stopped and there is a quick way to do that roll back the deregulation of commodities trading market and make them take delivery of that trading items which was always the case before deregulation.
Cost of oil is never truly recognized in the price at the pump and the profits taken by the oil industry never pays the true cost of oil. Think of the suffering of the people and wildlife on the Gulf Coast which is a true cost of oil. Many more xamples of air pollution and disease and cost to society of these related diseases.
I'm personally acquainted with one of these traders. He has no shame about it -- he thinks it's pretty cool what he did. He never knew he could have that much power because in every other way he's a pretty insignificant guy.