The current "gas crisis" is manipulated....We are being "Enron-ed" by the oil co.'s

[Postman]

http://seekingalpha.com/article/80010-greenberger-s-testimony-i-banks-control-the-energy-market

Michael Greenberger, the former head of the CFTC's Division of Trading and Markets, testified yesterday before the Senate Commerce Committee on the topic of Energy Market Manipulation.

He stated that former Senator Phil Gramm of Texas sneaked the Enron loophole through a large piece of insignificant legislation years ago: the result was that regulations upon the futures industry were abandoned.

Greenberger said that legislation immediately closing the Enron Loophole with a broader, international scope would stop market manipultion and would cause oil prices to plunge over 25% overnight.

As early as the winter of 2002, it was widely known that the 2000 Commodities Futures Modernization Act had created a monster, capable of running up energy prices outside of the normal law of supply and demand.

Worse, our government had been warned this was going to happen. Representatives of the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC had already told Congress not to deregulate energy because "the market was ripe for manipulation."

Professor Greenberger warned about our "New American Economy" far better than I could:

"Should we have an economy that’s based on whether people make good or bad bets? Or should we have an economy where people build companies, create manufacturing, do inventions, advance the American society and make it more productive? We are rewarding people for sitting at their computers and punching in bets. That’s not the way our economy is going to be built, and India and China, with their focus on science and industry and building real businesses, are going to eat our lunch, unless the American public wakes up and puts an end to an economy that praises and makes heroes out of speculators."

Greenberger’s statement explains why Detroit and other American manufacturers suffer while Wall Street speculators make a fortune — and your rapidly shrinking checkbook pays for it, every time you buy food, fuel or feed.

All because there is no shortage of these goods, you’re just being told there is because it’s more profitable – for a few – that way.

[Skip Intro]

1. Of course it is. Two Texas oil men in the WH, secret energy meetings, war on ME oil nations

Gas was around $1:50 when * took office.

A two year old could figure it out.

[Raster]

20. Seriously! What did we expect?

And thank you, Phil-fucking Graham! Every breath the man takes is a waste of good oxygen!

[aquart]

2. Uh huh. Nationalize.

Energy is too important to national security to be in private greedy hands.

[Speck Tater]

9. 91% of the world's oil is already nationalized. It's made it worse.

Because politicians can't seem to figure out that they need to invest in exploration and development. Without those investments the world's nationalized oil companies are depleting rapidly.

I know some people have nationalization as their inflexible cure-all dogma, but dogmatic rigidity will NOT solve this problem.

I can't think of anything worse than putting politicians in charge of our national energy supply.

What is needed is both capitalism, AND government oversight and regulation. Nationalized oil hasn't worked out anywhere it's been tried. Dogma aside, reality is what it is. (Something we all seem to readily agree on when the dogma is something equally absurd like "abstinence only" sex education.)

Black and white dogma does not solve real-world problems. Ever.

[Postman]

11. It's not working in Venezuela?

n/t

[Speck Tater]

15. " Venezuela increases petroleum imports despite vast deposits at home"

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/30/business/LA-FIN-Venezuela-Petroleum.php">Venezuela increases petroleum imports despite vast deposits at home

CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuela's state petroleum company, PDVSA, increased petroleum imports by nearly 150 percent between the first quarter of 2007 and the same period this year, bank statistics show.

A report by the Venezuelan Central Bank this week demonstrated that petroleum imports reached US$1.5 billion (€964 million) during the first quarter of 2008. The imports — which include diesel oil, gasoline and chemical additives for gasoline products — are the country's highest in more than a decade.

A spokesperson for PDVSA said the company had no immediate comment on the issue.

Economist Gustavo Garcia, a professor at a Caracas business school, said called the increase "one more factor that shows how production has fallen," forcing the company to purchase petroleum products outside of the country.

[Postman]

19. Isn't this the same strategy the US partakes in?

They have "vast deposits" but importation has increased. What was their usage before their imports increased 150%?

Doesn't the US import most of it's oil while stockpiling it's own reserves?

[Speck Tater]

25. US "vast reserves"? You are kdding, right?

U.S. production peaked way back in the 1970's.

We have no "vast reserves".

[Postman]

28. Those are your words.

I didn't say we the US had "vast reserves".

Try arguing the facts.

[KansDem]

32. I willing to take a chance.

I can't think of anything worse than putting politicians in charge of our national energy supply.

No, so let's put greedy capitalists who buy governments in charge of our national energy supply. Energy is too important to be left in the hands of a few profiteers.

This "government can't solve the problem" meme is getting tiresome...

[Selatius]

3. The Enron Loophole is about to be shut down if Bush does NOT veto this legislation:

http://www.closetheenronloophole.com/

[Stinky The Clown]

4. These two belong on Wanted posters on the post office walls

Phil and Wendy ..... America's fun couple ....... progenitors of the "Enron Exemption."

[Mind_your_head]

5. I've got 'old American Oil (Indiana) stock'.......

Standard OIl Company, that became "Amoco"...American Oil Company.....which then was purchased by British Petroleum (BP)

[napi21]

6. It's not only that. Earlier today I posted links to memos from the

oil compant files stating that they weren't making the profit they wanted because they had too many refineries. They CLOSED 200 of them! They stated that their profits would be so much better if demand was greater than supply! I also sited that they have 10,000 offshore drilling permits, but have only drilled 4,000 of them. They also have permits for 25 exploratory wells that have never been used!

This whole thing is total BS!

The person I quoted was Rep. DeFazio. I got the info confirmed through Google on the memos and the permits & wells dever used!

How can we get our Dems in Congress to push this info? I'm trying but I'm just one voice in the wilderness of DU!

[Wizard777]

7. Bush Sr. had his Oil Buddies do it to President Carter.

Once Reagan & Bush was safely in the White House. The oil companies miraculously found several hundres million barrles of oil they had lost in their own holds. Reagan and Bush had a big laugh and the gas crisis was over.

[KeepItReal]

8. REUTERS: OPEC boss slams speculators

With oil prices rallying OPEC again insists tight supply is not an issue.

Speaking exclusively to Reuters, the oil cartel's Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri has instead blamed the oil bubble on rampant unchecked speculation.

Darcy Lambton reports

http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=84361&videoChannel=1

[Postman]

10. OPEC Chief says -- there is no shortage of oil --

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/watch-opec-chief-there-is_n_106438.html

It's the greedy scumbags on Wall Street raping us with their manipulation of the market just as Enron did.....

Create hyper-demand by shutting down refineries and then claim to be operating at max capacity to manipulate prices upward.

There is a word for this.

Robbery. Blackmail. Stealing. etc., etc....

[Speck Tater]

12. And of course we trust a trader to know all about geology. NOT.

Ever notice that to a carpenter every problem needs hammer and nails to get fixed.
To a doctor, every problem needs a prescription drug to get fixed.
To an account, every problem is just a matter of correcting the accounting errors.
To a Wall Street speculator, every problem looks like speculation run amok.

Maybe we should ask the geologists about what is, essentially, a geological problem.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3433228

There IS a growing shortage of oil. There are getting to be fewer and fewer fools who deny that fact every day. Economists will be the last wake to reality because they live in a make-believe world where demand ALWAYS creates supply by some magical "hand of the market".

I'm shocked that anybody would believe a word any economist has to say, given their abysmal track record. Yet, when they play the right Pollyanna tune, everybody loves to sing along.

[Postman]

16. Oil extraction is a problem

But I don't think it's as big a factor in driving prices higher than the unregulated speculation.

Are we at Peak Oil? On the downhill side?

[HughMoran]

13. Of course it's manipulated

...welcome to capitalism!

[Vanje]

14. Michael Greenberger was on Washington Journal

a week or 2 back.
He discussed this. He suggested that if justice dept launched an investigation into energy commodities trading, gas prices would come down Immediately.

Also, It isnt just guys LIKE Enron, that are hiking gas prices, It is in fact some of the very same individuals....2nd tier Enron ex-employees. The same assholes that were laughing about "turning off Grandma's electricity".


PS. De Fazio for President

[progressoid]

33. I'd be surprised if an investigation happens before the election.

It seems like congress turns to jelly at election time.

[defendandprotect]

17. Right . . . just like the 70's .... shortage crap . . .

And there's good ole Phil Gramm again !!!

[defendandprotect]

18. They were supposed to be opening the oil reserves ...what happened to that???

[Rex]

21. Well they got caught selling death futures and decided to just

tell us what we should and should not buy, directly. Just like who we should vote for and the M$M's biased conjecture on what we should believe. If you don't, you're a terrorist!

[jgraz]

22. Pardon me while I die of not surprise.

[Imagevision]

23. Today they announce that gas will level off at $4.15 in Mid August, how the fuck can

they merely declare this to happen? Americans are being had by government and big oil, plain and simple.

[earth mom]

24. Yep it's another Enron all right and Congress & * Co is looking the other way.

:grr:

:argh:

:mad:

[Old Hickory Fan]

26. Video of Greenberger Testimony ------ Must See

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbdtTGYQBMU

[Postman]

27. This is criminal.

This is "legal" theft.

[progressoid]

34. When was that testimony?

[Old Hickory Fan]

38. Approximately one week ago with link

http://www.oea.umaryland.edu/communications/news?ViewStatus=FullArticle&articleDetail=3975

[progressoid]

39. Thanks!

[NashVegas]

29. Funny

I was saying much along these lines about the food prices crisis - that people buying food commodities should be forced to show proof of a distribution network ... I had no idea legislation like this existed for gas or that there was a loophole.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

30. Pump and dump.

You raise the prices of gas a lot, then lower it a little and people get relieved. You then raise them again a lot, and then lower it a little and people get relieve. Repeat over a few years and you rake in quite a nice sum of money.

Case in point: If you ask people now if they would like to be paying $3.00 a gallon instead of $4.00 like they are now, most of them would jump at the chance. But a year ago, $3.00 a gallon was rididulous amount to pay and people wouldn't have wanted to pay that at all. The oil and gas companies have just subscribed to the theory if they make people think they are paying less for an amount they were going to charge all along, they will be happy.

So the question is begged: When gas goes to $5.00 a gallon, will we be happy to pay $4.00 a gallon for it?

[Lugnut]

31. Where's Congress? n/t

[jazzjunkysue]

35. I don't know but their hands are in the cookie jar.

And they're pulling up money, not cookies.

Until we reform elections, lawmakers will be owned by the big sources of reelection funds:

Media and energy.

So, it's no surprise that the media and the energy companies are the real kings of the world now.

If we publicly funded elections and limited their spending, good candidates who care and believe in the constitution would rise to power and represent us.

[pathwhisperer]

36. A successive speculative bubbles economy is a psychopath's wetdream

"the only true kind of economy is a value-added economy. If a company asked to be chartered (incorporated) so it could run a business with a printing press and print more dollars, it would not be allowed. Such a business would add nothing to an economy. Well, how about speculative bubbles and runaway speculators? What’s the difference? There is no such thing as a bubble economy, kept afloat by inflating one bubble after another. Sociopaths cannot understand this, adult cause and effect are beyond them. Their analysis stops at ‘money in my pocket, good,’ ‘money not in my pocket, bad.’ To this day, sociopaths continue inventing perpetual motion machines — cause and effect are truly beyond them. A speculative economy is the economic equivalent." http://pathwhisperer.wordpress.com/proposal-to-ubs-upper-management/

It's worth noting that UBS hired Phil Gramm after he left government (they were very proud of that when I was there) and also bought the Enron trading arm (paid for by future profits, which by the magic of accounting may turn out to be for free).

[leftofthedial]

37. absolutely

but it is getting some moronamericans to ditch their SUVs and buy hybrids

[PATRICK]

40. Don't rock the boat, baby!

The media is so conditioned to shrug off the rise in gas prices generally as meaningless rage and stoic inevitability with fudged blather from the oil industry that this beauty just blows right by.

Think of Americans being told that in place of the housing bubble they are being dinned by speculators and big oil for both food and gas to float the stock market. Even if they are invested in the market(at no gain if the bubble is coming directly- this time- and measurably visible out of their pockets daily and through slavish necessity- even then they are effectively flat taxed with no upper limit regulation or mercy by private companies.

A nickel? A quarter? A dollar per gallon and a percent of all food prices...what would it take for the mobs to really have an object to focus their emotions on?

Instead we are providing a lawless example of complete impunity where the funds are directly and uncontrollably pulling money away from Americans for the speculation game of the big guys. We are, by not tearing down Wall Street and the corporate offices of the pirates setting a precedent unprotected by any law, unreported by any large news source.

A precedent to kill us for profit and we will never think to know, to protest, to strike back at this ultimate daring.

They murder people every single day for profit. It is often faraway places where those peoples rioting for food don't bother us much. It is often indirectly with some choice or seeming benefit involved to make the surgery painless. It is more often simply invisible or not spoken about at all. This time however this is literal highway robbery on all consumers for all necessities of work or survival, profiteering on impotence, habitually kicking the guy who hasn't fought back and isn't sure where it is all coming from.

If it was hammered home by the stupid press who themselves are inevitably robbed daily, they, their families, their nation, their human race in general, it would stop very quickly. Instead, it gets worse. Maybe they know the limits of public endurance or their greed will be too strong- like Enron's.
What the hell can the public know?

[krkaufman]

41. By the energy companies or hedge funds and investment firms?

I heard today that Morgan Stanley is the biggest holder of oil futures, at present, and I figure it very likely that some investment and banking firms are looking for a way to make-up their mortgage losses. Until the commodities bubble bursts, and we have a complete meltdown.