Up to $14 of every tank of gas you fill up is the result of oil speculation
By louisehartmann
Americans are getting screwed at the gas pump. But it has nothing to do with supply and demand or instability in the Middle East. Instead – it has to do with corruption. As investigative reporter Lee Fang at the Republic Report uncovered – a slew of lobbyists are working on behalf of Wall Street to shoot down regulations intended to curb oil speculation.
Bart Chilton, a commissioner with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, said that as much as $14 in every tank of gas you fill up in your truck is a result of excessive oil speculation. That comes out to a $750 a year tax on all drivers courtesy of Wall Street banksters.
Unfortunately for Americans who can’t afford these inflated gas prices – the top Republican financial watchdog in Congress – Representative Spencer Bachus –believes that his job is not to regulate the banks, but instead “regulators are there to serve the banks.”
Comments
#2
Regarding your observation about Congressman Spencer Bachus, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, saying that "regulators are there to serve the banks," in February of this year the Washington Post ran an article about him being the subject of an insider-trading investigation (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rep-bachus-faces-insider-trading-investigation/2012/02/09/gIQA21Ui2Q_story.html). Naturally, we citizens would get a prison sentence for the same activity if proven true, but I think that Congressmen conveniently have immunity from such prosecutions.
#3
Thanks to Thom and Louise for these daily blog postings.
I appreciate the insight, and enjoy reading the postings plus all the comments!
I agree with followthemoney, above, about "wealth creators." It's all in the semantics and the positioning of key words in the corporate media's framing of the issues. The right wing thinktanks cleverly use PR tactics to misinform those who are so easily led down the path which is against their best interests.
Why do some citizens "get it" about the mis-use of PR tactics and others are prone to blindly following Faux News?
#4
I love the idea of a solar driven house that is also tanking an e-car.
#5
My God, what the hell happened?! Barney Frank is out and now -is there no way to stop these guys??
I wish we had a president that could do something about this!
#6
Spencer Bachus = Spendyours & Buttkiss
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
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Wealth Creators!
Thom-
Been mulling this over for awhile, think I have a response to the bogus "job creators" meme. This is just so upside down, like "trickle down", but coming from the right, has been quickly embraced in the media. There is no data to support the monied class as "job creators" - it is bogus on its face.
A possible response is to embrace the notion of "wealth creators" - individuals, workers, entrepeneurs, small businesses, even organized labor, who produce the goods and services that GROW the economy and create real wealth through production and increased demand. This shifts the discussion from scarcity to abundance, much the same a Occupy has shifted the focus from deficits/austerity to growth/opportunity. It also calls BS on the falacy of the wealthiest people being "job creators". Plenty of jobs are created when we focus on the wealth creators.
Just a thought...
FtM