On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) came right out and accused Wall Street speculators and oil companies of using the unrest in Iraq as a “phony excuse to artificially drive up crude oil and gasoline prices.” From his website:
The price of oil rose on Thursday above $115 a barrel ? a new nine-month high on the New York Mercantile Exchange ? ostensibly because of concerns that sectarian violence in Iraq could cut off the country’s exports. The price of regular gasoline rose to $3.67 a gallon on Thursday, up a nickel in the past month, according to gasbuddy.com. That was despite the fact that today there is more supply and less demand for gasoline than five years ago, when the average price of a gallon of gas was just $2.67 a gallon.
Sen. Sanders is a member of the Senate Energy Committee. As?one of the hardest working members of Congress, he’doesn’t pull any punches.
?I am getting tired of big oil companies telling us that gasoline prices are going up because of the turmoil in Iraq.? The truth is that big oil will never miss an opportunity to increase the price of gas.? Today, it’s Iraq.? Tomorrow, it may be the weather.? On and on it goes.”
It’s very clear what drives up oil and gas prices, and while it should conceivably and logically be the market that drives prices, that’s not always the case, as pointed out by?Sen. Sanders:
?The fact is that high gasoline prices have less to do with supply and demand and more to do with Wall Street speculators driving prices up in the energy futures market.?
Sen. Sanders plans to introduce legislation to force the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — the federal agency that regulates oil and gas markets — to use its emergency authority to put a stop to excessive oil speculation. This isn’t the first time he’s tackled this issue. Similar legislation passed the House in 2008 by a vote of 402-19.?When he says he’s “getting tired of” this issue, he means it. It’s been going on for a long time.
Will House Republicans vote this way again and do the right thing for the American people? I won’t bet on it, personally.
Bernie Sanders is trying to handle it, though:
?Millions of Americans are hurting as a result of excessive speculation on the oil futures market,? Sanders said. ?The time to provide the American people relief at the gas pump is now before this situation gets even worse.?
When your Republican friends complain about gas prices this summer and start to blame Pres. Obama — and you KNOW they will — be sure to point out that so far, left-leaning independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has been fighting for them for a LONG time.
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Tiffany Willis is the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.
