America Burns, Government Fiddles.

The same old partisan games are afoot. To tax or not to tax, that is the question, or is it, to drill or not to drill? You'd think there were only two ways to fix any issue according to the ideologues on either side of the aisle in Washington.

Yet in a House subcommittee on energy, chaired by Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, a panel of four top economic advisors on oil futures trading, stated that, regulating speculative trading could reduce by half the cost per barrel of oil in thirty days. They collectively and with rare unanimity stated that the pressures on the price per barrel were artificial, caused by large Index Funds hedging against a slumping dollar and that regulations already in place, that are not being enforced, could start to bring an end that speculation. They went on to say that with additional regulations that the current speculation could not be repeated.

To quote the Wall Street Journals coverage of the story.

"Prices would probably drop over a reasonably short period of time back to somewhere closer to the marginal production cost of oil, to $65 to $70...and I think gas prices would reflect that in a relatively short order," said Mike Masters, a hedge-fund manager testifying before a Congressional panel probing speculation in the energy markets.

Benchmark light, sweet crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were trading Monday just below $138 a barrel.

Fadel Gheit, managing director and senior oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., said prices could come down to a range of $45 to $60 a barrel.

Edward Krapels, a special adviser at the consultancy Energy Security Analysis Inc., said he would expect the retreat from energy markets to be fairly fast.

"I think the amount of speculation is really substantial, [and] I don't think it would take 30 days after the President signed the bill, it would happen more quickly than that...as soon as Congress passed it, commodity funds would withdraw their positions," he said. End quote.

To read the full article go to: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121426978977398795.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Here's the rub, playing the same old tune, they (Republicans) want to open up more oil leases for off shore drilling, because that's what the large oil companies paid them to push forward as their agenda. Even though, One, the large oil companies are not currently looking for oil on the 41 million acres they already have under lease. And two, there is no real shortage of supply. Let me repeat that, there is no shortage of supply.

There is a short fall in the production of crude into gas, but thats' because the big oil companies have not bothered to build a new production facility in 30 years. That's how they really control their profits by not producing enough gas. The so called supply and demand is a shell game that's rigged. And the kicker is that even if big oil gets every last oil lease in the entire northern hemisphere not a drop of new oil will be produced for at least a decade. Which makes it difficult for me to see just how more leases will alleviate the current price crisis at the pump.

To be fair I don't think the Democrats plan to tax windfall profits will do anything but add to the price of gas at the pump.

So here's where we stand, the paid lackeys of big oil have once again impeded progress in resolving a problem at the expense of the average American consumer in favor of their big corporate donors. And Democrats, say, tax the fat bastards, which will drive up gas prices even further.

Or, how about a third option, suggested by the experts who have already testified, that we enforce current regulations on speculative trading in the futures markets and bolster them with new regulations that restrict unreasonable speculation that hurts our entire economy. Tell the House, the Senate and, the President to stop fiddling around and enforce the current regulations on the books and to enact tougher regulations to prevent this from ever happening again.

It's time to become an activist and badger your elected officials with phone calls and e-mails until they get the point, "we are mad as hell and we aren't going to take it anymore".

Here's where you can find them.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/