Regulating the Speculators

What do lottery players, stock traders, house flippers, sports bettors, real estate investors, and Miss Cleo have in common? Answer: They are all speculators of one sort or another. Meaning, they take info, money, and a hunch then they try to read the future.

Congress is talking about further regulation of folks who speculate on the futures market. I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is about as smart as trying to gargle razor blades.

While this might be construed as being within the enumerated powers (commerce clause) it certainly isn't fair, or even fair minded. The Congress is to blame for the price of gas at the pump.

Who decided that there would be virtually no new drilling in the Continental US? Who decided that you cannot drill off our own shores? Who set in place the mechanism that didn't allow new refineries to be built? Who caved to the anti-nuke crowd? Here's a hint, it wasn't the speculators.

Folks, Congress feels your pain. They feel it as a possible loss come the next election. And so, to ease your pain, they are frantically looking for a scapegoat.

Can someone give me a logical reason why we should allow congress screw up yet another market? Can anyone tell me why we would want to expand the power of the .bloat (Brazenly Large Overly Aggressive Tyranny)any further?

Below the fold are some quotes from the more insane. Just click the read more link. Thanks for reading.

Lieberman blames speculators for high commodity prices
-- Purchasing, 7/17/2008

As Congress debates regulating the commodities trading market, Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman told a Senate hearing on commodity speculation that speculators are to blame for much of the high commodity costs. “The steady upward climb of the cost of food and energy is not simply the result of natural market forces at work,” Lieberman said. “Speculation has passed the point where it provides stability to the commodity markets. It is now excessive and hurtful.”

Airline industry launches lobbying campaign to fight oil speculators

07:27 AM CDT on Friday, July 11, 2008

By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News
dmichaels@dallasnews.com

WASHINGTON – The troubled airline industry is launching a lobbying campaign that blames speculators for ballooning fuel prices, but the carriers face stiff opposition to their energy plan from other lobbying powerhouses and some skeptical members of Congress.