Enron Loophole, Enron Loophole, Enron Loophole - we MUST educate the public about this

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

I just sat through about 1/2 the usual nitwitted discussion about oil policy, prices, etc. on Stephanopoulis. The conversation was the usual stuff about offshore drilling, oil leases, alternative energies, etc.

So I asked my husband, "have they discussed the role of speculators and the Enron Loophole". My husband said that someone mentioned speculators and Stephanopoulis said "Let's not talk about speculators" or something along those lines. I would like to check the transcript if one is available.

Of course they don't want to talk about the Enron loophole in the Commodities Futures Modernization Act that was inserted by Senator Phil Gramm whose wife Wendy was actually compensated handsomely by Enron.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0203,ridgeway,31534,6.html

You can find lots of stories about this.

Close the loophole and the prices of gas and oil will drop immediately. The current situation is equivalent to Enron "gaming" the California electrical grid.

Now, the larger question is : how come no one wants to discuss the role of speculators on the Sunday chat shows? Too much money being made is why. It will just upset the little people. Just make them think it's just all about offshore drilling and Anwar.

[Pirate Smile]

1. Good News!

Obama Team to Unveil Plan to Close “Enron Loophole”

New Jersey Gov. Corzine, Obama economic aide Jason Furman to discuss new energy initiatives on 1 pm ET conference call.

“The Enron Loophole is just one example of the special interest politics that put the interests of Big Oil and hedge fund speculators ahead of the interests of working people-resulting in record corporate profits while Americans pay record prices at the pump.”

http://thepage.time.com/2008/06/22/obama-team-to-unveil-plan-to-close-enron-loophole/

[Vanje]

2. Kick

Jeebus eating cheetos! I HATE George Stephanopoulis

[midnight]

3. The new buzz word "speculation" it is what is driving our

economy out of reach of the middle class.

[backscatter712]

4. Didn't the Enron Loophole recently get closed?

IIRC, the legislation to close it was included in the recent farm bill, passed by a veto-proof margin!

[TahitiNut]

5. September 1, 2009, iirc.

That's the effective date I recall was included in the Ag Bill.

[cojoel]

6. that was the KBR loophole on tax avoidance

The Enron loophole on commodities speculation in energy is not yet closed.

[fasttense]

7. Nope. The ENRON loophole was closed with the Farm bill.

"Congress has passed a veto-proof measure reauthorizing the CFTC and closing the Enron loophole as part of a massive Farm Bill. Provisions in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act (HR 2419) would end the Enron-inspired exemption from federal oversight now provided to electronic energy trading markets set up for large traders. It will ensure the ability of the CFTC to police all US energy exchanges to prevent price manipulation and excessive speculation. These bipartisan provisions would give the CFTC the ability to scrutinize these transactions in energy commodities and prosecute traders that are manipulating energy prices. The House passed the bill 318-106; the Senate vote was 81-15."


http://jimhamiltonblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/veto-proof-farm-bill-terminates-enron.html

[nashville_brook]

8. unfortunately, this did not solve the problem. google "dark markets"

http://www.stopoilspeculators.com/

Congress is aware of the problem and lawmakers recently passed legislation to address the “Enron Loophole,” one of the major loopholes that opens the door to abusive trading practices, but the law didn’t go far enough.

Unfortunately, other loopholes exist that allow energy trading on completely “dark” exchanges. For example, the “Foreign Markets Loophole” allows American energy commodities to be traded overseas – exempt from U.S. oversight.

These so-called “Dark Markets” – commodities markets that are not policed by U.S. authorities provide for an open the door to manipulation, even outright control of the markets.

For example, speculative investors can buy and sell millions of barrels of U.S. destined oil and other energy products every day in the United Kingdom and even in Dubai… but are not made subject to the transparency and accountability laws that govern exchanges here in the United States!

Additionally, through the so-called “swaps loophole,” financial investors can “game the markets” for pure profit by buying up positions in the energy markets, without any limitation on the size of the positions they can take. One recent estimate suggested that they now control one third of the commodities markets, or $150 billion - a 1,000% increase in less than five years!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. Here is John McCain defending the Enron loophole on the advice of his buddy Gramm

http://www.baltimorechronicle.com/2008/051908Leopold.shtml

McCain Defends 'Enron Loophole'
by Jason Leopold
May 19, 2008—Sen. John McCain says he opposes the $307 billion farm bill because it would dole out wasteful subsidies, but his chief economic adviser Phil Gramm also wants to stop its proposed regulation of energy futures trading, a market that was famously abused when Enron Corp. manipulated California’s electricity prices in 2001.

That's a great article to get a really complete picture of cause and effect as regards the loophole.

This makes you feel real good about Mr. Straighttalk Express too, doesn't it? Wonderful that the self-interested Mr. Gramm is his "chief economic adviser."

Our government has been overrun by politicians who are bought and paid to do the bidding of the corporations.That's what people need to learn from the Enron loophole.

If the effective date for closing the loophole is Sept 09 as one poster above stated - that is too far off and a lot more damage can be done in the meantime. They need to close it NOW!