harveyc

There are some very good points in that report, but it seems to be very blatant in its bias. Typical with government politics, amendments get tagged onto unrelated bills. I'm a farmer and a beneficiary of government farm programs, but it's ridiculous the level of increased funding that got stuck into the Farm Bill on this election year, obviously to buy votes. I believe McCain was prudent in opposing it as was Bush in vetoing it. It did become law, however, as Congress overrode the veto. I had not heard that the bill included anything to close the "Enron loophole" until now. However, since the bill has become law, when are we going to see the relief?

Speculation certainly can drive up prices. Speculation can also drive prices down. Speculation basically makes markets more volatile. How about speculation in the housing market and how that has cost many people their savings as the bubble burst? Why isn't there some complaining about that? Because we can only blame greedy consumers and not some big corporations? Should we regulate housing prices to avoid runaway housing prices?

There is a very legitimate need for what is often called "speculation". Hedging is sometimes referred to as speculation but it protects a producer and buyer and consumer at the same time, allowing someone to fix their product price at some future date. This reduces risk and usually reduces prices, but what is happening now is speculators not even involved in the industry (I forget the brokerage house mentioned in the video) taking huge positions in oil contracts. For them, it's the same as trading stocks and betting on a further rise. The more they buy the more they help drive up the price of their contracts they already own.

Anyway, the Farm Bill was a poor bill and should not have been passed. Reversing the Enron loophole is another matter. Trailer are part of the evil of politics.

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