Senator: Probe of rising gasoline prices needed

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — With the price of crude oil hovering near $110 a barrel and gasoline prices at record levels, a Washington senator says federal regulators need to stop delaying and start investigating whether petroleum markets are being manipulated.

Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell said the Federal Trade Commission should move quickly to implement a provision she inserted in a national energy bill approved by Congress late last year that gives it authority to investigate whether excessive speculation and manipulation have driven up prices.

"Their response has been tepid," Cantwell said in an interview. "They said they want to work with us, but they need to get in the game."

Cantwell said the FTC response wasn't surprising. She said she expected the agency would "run out the clock" and leave the manipulation regulations for the next administration to write and implement.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/33406.html

Never going to happen. Hedges are the only place in Wall Street which are making money these days and the elite are very protective of their cash cow.

Not surprising the FTC is blowing off Cantwell.

at the very least we need to cut their corporate tax cuts. They don't need any breaks- they're not giving us any!

:thumbsup:

they could probably get that passed.

... why people aren't marching on Washington DC and/or Oil Co HQ's with torches and pitchforks about these freakin' gas prices?

... Of course I know the answer. (insert sheep icon here) Sigh.

It just feels good to at least get riled up once in awhile. :(

:P

There, no investigation needed.

On a side note, I was up in Burnaby, BC a few weeks ago and gas was over $5 USD per gallon. We've got it good compared to other countries.

Any drop in demand is only tiny. The world consumes more and more oil each year and we are near/at peak oil.

As the East becomes more industrialized, demand will continue to rapidly increase.

We need to develop energy technologies to rid us of this "black crap"

Until then, we need to do everything we can to reduce our consumption.

Domestic Drilling and Exploration are not the answers - how much would that last, anyway? 10 years, tops?