Friday, July 25, 2008
No bark
One piece of good news today: the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is actually clamping down on oil speculators. It has filed a suit against one group of traders based in Holland and Britain. The suit is not large, but it will certainly put a nice chill on other thieves, who can expect more legal action.
This isn't secret; it's reported in lots of online sources. But I've tried in vain to find it mentioned anywhere on TV or radio. Even the 'business channels' haven't carried it -- or at least not often enough that I could catch it while wandering the channels.
So why are these dogs so quiet? By normal logic, you'd expect the R brand to crow about this, as evidence that the Bush administration is working seriously to bring down falsely inflated oil prices. I'm not on the R team any more, but I do heartily cheer the action and congratulate the administration on showing some goat glands at last!
And by normal logic you'd expect the D brand to shout about this, because it proves their contention that the inflation was largely caused by speculators.
In other words, this should be a "win-win" for everyone who claims to be concerned about the ordinary American consumer.
Why the silence then? I'm genuinely puzzled. Perhaps both "sides" are deeply indebted to the whole speculator class (not just Soros), and aren't allowed to say anything negative about their owners. Or perhaps it's more complicated than that, but I usually prefer simple conspiracies. ¶ 11:05 AM
This isn't secret; it's reported in lots of online sources. But I've tried in vain to find it mentioned anywhere on TV or radio. Even the 'business channels' haven't carried it -- or at least not often enough that I could catch it while wandering the channels.
So why are these dogs so quiet? By normal logic, you'd expect the R brand to crow about this, as evidence that the Bush administration is working seriously to bring down falsely inflated oil prices. I'm not on the R team any more, but I do heartily cheer the action and congratulate the administration on showing some goat glands at last!
And by normal logic you'd expect the D brand to shout about this, because it proves their contention that the inflation was largely caused by speculators.
In other words, this should be a "win-win" for everyone who claims to be concerned about the ordinary American consumer.
Why the silence then? I'm genuinely puzzled. Perhaps both "sides" are deeply indebted to the whole speculator class (not just Soros), and aren't allowed to say anything negative about their owners. Or perhaps it's more complicated than that, but I usually prefer simple conspiracies. ¶ 11:05 AM
