Sanders Applauds Tapping Oil Reserves

[ProSense]

Sanders Applauds Tapping Oil Reserves

Says Speculator Curbs Would do More to Lower Gas Prices

Sen. Bernie Sanders Thursday applauded the decision by the United States and other oil-consuming countries to push down energy prices by releasing 60 million barrels of oil from government reserves.

A member of the Senate energy committee, Sanders had called on President Obama to help lower prices by tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Strict new limits on commodity market speculators, like those proposed in legislation that Sanders introduced last week, would have a greater impact on lowering prices that consumers pay for gasoline and other fuels.

"I applaud the Obama administration for releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, something that I have strongly supported doing for a long time. While today's action is a positive step forward, much more needs to be done to bring real relief to Americans at the gas pump," Sanders said.

"We have got to stop Wall Street speculators from ripping off the American people by constantly betting that oil prices will go up and up and up. The bill that I introduced would eliminate excessive oil speculation once and for all."

Sanders' bill would force the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to establish strong position limits to eliminate excessive oil speculation. It also would impose margin requirements so investors would have to back their bets with real capital.

In addition, the measure would classify as speculators bank holding companies, investment banks or hedge funds that engage in proprietary oil trading. The commission chairman would be given broad power to take any other actions needed to ensure that the price of crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and heating oil accurately reflects the fundamentals of supply and demand.

[Cali_Democrat]

1. A simple way to curb oil speculation would be to raise the margin requirements...

for holding oil futures contracts. The CME recently did this for silver futures and the price collapsed shortly afterward.

I'm surprised the NYMEX and the CME haven't done this yet. Perhaps a little more arm twisting by the CFTC will be needed because clearly they're taking in quite a bit of cash from those transactions. They certainly don't want volume to dry up.

[dkf]

2. Goodness are we now into pegging the price of oil?

Don't the Chinese do this sort of thing?

[mkultra]

7. now?? Where have you been for the last 2 decades?

They do this all the time to spur the economy.

[dkf]

9. They've only released the SPR a few times in the Past.

3 I believe?

[TheKentuckian]

15. We have the most controlled economy in history.

That control being used in the interests of our citizens is no bad thing whether the Chinese do it or not.

You are so very caught up in the fairy tales surrounding our failed and false national secular religion that you can't see in front of you anymore.

Instead of being concerned about "heresy" (for lack of a better term), explain why pegging the cost of a product is bad for the people. You might have a real point in there but your post was seemingly a abhorrence against intervention in a market for it's own sake to me.

[Overseas]

3. K&R!

[66 dmhlt]

4. A shot across speculators' bows. "We'll do it again when it'll really hurt!"

[vroomvroom]

5. Good luck in getting that Bill Passed

[mkultra]

8. its not a bill lol

[bigwillq]

10. Please read

Sanders introduced a bill:


"We have got to stop Wall Street speculators from ripping off the American people by constantly betting that oil prices will go up and up and up. The bill that I introduced would eliminate excessive oil speculation once and for all."

Sanders' bill would force the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to establish strong position limits to eliminate excessive oil speculation. It also would impose margin requirements so investors would have to back their bets with real capital.

In addition, the measure would classify as speculators bank holding companies, investment banks or hedge funds that engage in proprietary oil trading. The commission chairman would be given broad power to take any other actions needed to ensure that the price of crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and heating oil accurately reflects the fundamentals of supply and demand.

[Ishoutandscream2]

6. If Bernie likes it, then I like it

nt

[FrenchieCat]

11. Shhhhhh!

Obama deserves no credit......
cause he never does anything well enough to be praise
but for a nano-second.

[The Eagle 718]

12. LOL nt

[flpoljunkie]

13. Best time to release oil reserves is when the price is going down, to further drive down the price--

despite what the ignoramuses on Morning Joe (no one disputed Joe, of course). When the price is barreling up, almost nothing can stop the climb--including releasing oil reserves.

Our media is woefully ignorant--and, apparently, willfully uninformed.

[TheKentuckian]

14. I'm OK with it too. It is one of the few tools available without addressing the problem directly

which would require the willfully captured Congress to act for the good of the people.

It is a limited and stopgap action but a reasonable use of tied hands.