West Virginians hit hard by gas prices

Help with High Gas Prices (4.00 / 2)

Try checking out the Drive $marter Challenge (www.drivesmarterchallenge.org).  You can enter your specific vehicle data and figure out how much money you can save my taking six fuel-efficiency steps.  They also provide other fuel-efficiency tips to help you save on gas costs.

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by: kloa @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 14:22:34 PM UTC

Not all WVians (4.00 / 1)

Big Oil's best friend in West Virginia, the inept Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has done pretty well getting contributions from the Big Oil contributors and also from her own investments as One Citizen points out.

High gas prices have hurt the rest of us, but I haven't seen where she actually cares about that.

When a man embarks upon a crime, he is morally guilty of any other crime which may spring from it. Sherlock Holmes.

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by: Carnacki @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 15:02:26 PM UTC

If the NY Times would only report the impact of speculators, (0.00 / 0)

then there would be more pressure on Capito and the rest of her ilk to give us immediate relief from these high prices.

I'm talking about gas dropping to half what it does now Within thirty days of congress imposing much-needed regulation.

On Monday June 23, 2008, I listened to a hearing on CSPAN called "Energy Speculation: Is Greater Regulation Necessary to Stop Price Manipulation? - Part II" held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

I listened to it while doing other pressing stuff, including downloading, resizing and posting the photos of the Dem convention, so I didn't really focus on the hearing all that closely. But one thing stood out, and that offshore hedge funds are doubling the price of each barrel of oil without adding any value whatsoever. Except to the hedge fund houses and their managers.

So I made a mental note to find the transcript and/or listen to it again. The transcript isn't yet available, but as the entire webcast has been posted I now have had the opportunity to listen (and watch) that hearing. I've watched it twice again, and after reviewing the resultant copious notes I can report the following:

1. Offshore market speculators and not the lack of production is responsible for up to 60 percent over what it should be to U.S. consumers.

2. The over-inflated cost of oil by speculators hurts American consumers dearly at the grocery store by driving up what it costs to both produce and deliver food to them.

3. The cost of oil is seriously undercutting the value of the U.S. dollar, and these international hedge fund managers are causing even more problems for Americans.

4. Major brokerage houses (like Saloman Smith-Barney/ CITI) have taken advantage of a loophole by using a little hat trick called special "swap" houses since the Bush-appointed CFTC has rescinded its limits on how much speculators could buy as long as they went through at them.

5. Rampant, unregulated speculation has produced a major disconnect of the price of oil from the normal forces of supply and demand. Once market speculators are regulated, the price of gas and diesel at the pump will drop to half or less-than-half what its currently costing us.  

I am somewhat amazed that the media hasn't picked up on this. If it ever does, then House Republicans will be forced to abandon their drilling arguments and help Dems close the loopholes. I suspect that congress' insider trading on oil futures is at an all time high.

Here's just a glimpse of what went on at that hearing:

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by: One Citizen @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 17:32:53 PM UTC

Congress has introduced a number of bills directed at dealing with the problem. (0.00 / 0)

Oil speculation:
Lawmakers are threatening to get tough on traders and have introduced 9 different bills. But it's unclear if they'll succeed.
By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: June 24, 2008: 1:34 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Close loopholes on foreign oil trading. Limit hedge funds from pouring money into the market. End oil speculation altogether.

Congress is vowing to take actions that it believes will reverse runaway crude and gasoline prices. Oil rose above $136 a barrel on Monday - more than double what it cost a year ago - and gas hovered around $4.07 a gallon.

Lawmakers have introduced nine different bills on speculation - not to mention many more that tackle other causes of escalating fuel and oil prices. Several of the speculation measures have bipartisan support. No fewer than four separate hearings have been scheduled for this week, including a House hearing held Monday exploring foreign trade regulation.

On Tuesday, a Senate panel will explore legislative options for ending "excessive speculation" in commodity markets.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she wants to address speculation on the House floor this week or the week of July 7. A spokesman for Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., one of the strongest advocates for legislation, said he believes one of the proposals could get voted on by the House in July.

Regulating traders abroad

Perhaps the most contentious issue is the regulation of foreign oil trading, and it appears in five of the proposed bills.

Some proposals would only allow American investors to trade oil on regulated exchanges, while others would direct the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to collect trading data from foreign trade boards.

Though Congress addressed the controversial "Enron loophole" earlier this year in the farm bill, that piece of legislation only closed the door to natural gas trades on unregulated exchanges - not oil trades. Many bills attempt to further close these trading "loopholes." The most comprehensive was proposed by Rep. Stupak in the "Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices Act of 2008" (H.R. 6330). much more here

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by: One Citizen @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 18:25:33 PM UTC