Grandstanding Politicians - this time it's over oil

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yep. Let the buffoonery continue. The government must pretend to save us all!

Here comes rationing if they get their way. Or at least some sort of new tax/moneymaking racket that will leave us all poorer and worse off for their actions.

For one, I hope this is just more hot air and no hard policy/law comes out of it. I'd rather have speculators than government controlling energy supply.

I find it ironic and telling that the jackasses in government that couldn't see rampant inflationary pressures coming as early as 2002-2003 (like I did, and I'm not even an economist) are getting pissy with speculators trying to use petroleum as a hedge against it. I guess maybe they're just upset that people are outsmarting their efforts to impoverish the entire country. . .

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http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/03/news/economy/energy_manipulation_hearing/index.htm?cnn=yes

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Senate panel mulls oil manipulation talk

Commerce Committee hearing testimony as it tries to determine if speculation needs stricter federal regulation.

Last Updated: June 3, 2008: 10:03 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices are soaring near records, and the government wants to know if those prices are being manipulated higher by oil companies and artificially inflated by speculators.

The Senate Commerce Committee was set to receive testimony from a former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) official, oil speculator George Soros, and a consumer rights activist among others Tuesday.

Recent investor interest in commodities is an issue of intense debate. Some analysts believe that commodities investors have boosted the price of crude with speculative trading, treating oil as a hedge against inflation due to the weakened dollar.

But others say market fundamentals are playing a large role in the doubling of oil prices in a one-year span, driven by strong global demand and a shrinking supply.

Oil companies' role in the escalating price of crude has also come under intense scrutiny lately. Some analysts have accused Big Oil of failing to invest enough of their profits into exploration and drilling.

Last Thursday, the CFTC announced it launched a wide ranging probe into oil price manipulation six months ago, saying it would get more information on the effect investors are having on the market. The commission's public acknowledgment of a normally secret probe has sparked talk that it has evidence oil companies are withholding oil from the market in an attempt to manipulate prices.

Regarding speculators, CFTC has previously said that it has not found any evidence that traders were artificially inflating prices.

On the day the CFTC announced its investigation, crude oil futures dropped $4.41 - the third-biggest one-day slide since 1991 - and prices have hovered around that $127 level since.