More Republican propaganda.

Word.

It certainly seems that way for sure.

But I read that it is oil speculators who are driving the price of crude up and that if they were stopped from creating a false market, oil would drop to as low as half! And Bush won't touch it because he sees it as "free market" forces!

If you stopped the speculator market manipulation AND drilled for oil here, we would be paying way less than half of what we are paying for gas. But the oil companies like the profits they are reaping in this market and the speculators are making a killing while Bush and Congress sit on their thumbs!!

Want to know where the problem is? Follow the money!!

I read yesterday that McCain wants to offer a $300M prize for anyone that can come up with a battery with respectable long range etc for cars. THAT is the way to get technological development moving forward.

Yes, for they will take us to the promised land of socialized medicine and government dependency.

I always enjoy political cartoons. They demonstrate that a picture can be worth a thousand words. This one says a lot. It is funny but more importantly it is true, at least to a point.

While the Saudi's are sticking it to us to be sure, it is the oil speculators who are raping us. They have carved out a "middle man" position for themselves where they provide no "value added" yet they are taking in untold wealth as they manipulate oil prices, driving them unrealistically high, for their own profit. We are nearing $5 per gallon gas for our cars, cancelling our vacations, while they rob us blind.

This is where we should take action. Demand Bush and Congress take them out of the equasion! They serve no useful purpose except self service. Insist they be stopped!

At the risk of sounding uninformed, what exactly are "oil speculators" and how do they affect the price of oil?

Lisa

I hear what everyone is saying about drilling here but I would hate to see oil derreks everywhere. We must do what we must do, but I hope we find a better way than gasoline to power our cars.

At the risk of sounding uninformed, what exactly are "oil speculators" and how do they affect the price of oil? - Lisa

It is speculators (investors) in the essentially unregulated New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) without Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforced margin requirements, placing bets on the price of crude in a casino-like environment. By manipulating the market, they are able to reap huge profits. That means the current market isn’t based on the sound principles of supply and demand or even OPEC but is being rigged by companies and speculators who are jacking up prices for their own profit.

There is an article at Nader.org that might explain the controversy better:

http://www.nader.org/index.php?/archives/1276-Stop-the-Oil-Speculators.html