Page 3 - Position Limits News Today

>> all right. the cftc. can the president put pressure on the cftc? the nominee is there but they can put in position limits. senator, what about that? >> certainly the congress can. the fact of the matter is, this agency is stuck in a regulatory swamp. they were supposed to have acted on this quite sometime ago and what we have said as united states senators, 17 of us, weve got to get this done by may 23rd. thats a memorial day weekend. certainly people are going to be driving a lot. were going...

Because even adjusted for inflation, theyre doing even better than they were in 2005 when they didnt say -- when they said they didnt need them. >> so how impactful, and i guess how inappropriate is oil speculation in the world right now? >> well, certainly oil speculation is a significant factor. i dont think its everything, but as we saw, for example, just a few days ago, we saw oil prices moveç 8%. the speculators seemed to get cold foot. there were no changes in worldwide supply and demand...

Unfortunately, our republicans have fought rampant speculation in the markets. they opposed the wall street reform bill. they have been fighting efforts to allow the regulator to establish position limits to prevent manipulation of the oil markets. one thing we can do now and quickly to pop the bubble is release some of the oil. you get a good price for the american taxpayer. >> i disagree. the strategic reserve has oil in it for about 66 days. its there for specific emergencies and this isnt it...

Lobbying. do these republicans care about the policy whether the gas prices go up, go down, the drilling makes a difference, doesnt make a difference or is it simply they are bought by the oil companies and thats why they do their bidding. >> theres evidence that theres undue influence that come with contributions from the oil industry. were not doing things that make sense to the american people. the other big factor is market speculation. part of the financial reform was to limit position limi...

Something about it with the cftc and putting in position limits and the fact of the matter is right now politically we are seeing the republicans going out and theyre going to beat the living tar out of the president politically on the campaign trail blaming him and its always a campaign trail. i mean it started weeks ago. going to be blaming him. what should the white house do? what is the strategy here? >> i think you started well last week he started talking about an investigation but as youv...

Something about it with the cftc and putting in position limits and the fact of the matter is right now politically we are seeing the republicans going out and theyre going to beat the living tar out of the president politically on the campaign trail blaming him and its always a campaign trail. i mean it started weeks ago. going to be blaming him. what should the white house do? what is the strategy here? >> i think you started well last week he started talking about an investigation but as youv...

Markets that might affect gas prices. that includes the role of traders and speculators. were going to make sure that nobody is taking advantage of american consumers. >> attorney general eric holder said that we will be vigilant in monitoring the oil and gas markets for any wrongdoing so that consumers can be confident that they are not paying higher prices as a result of illegal activity. lets bring in the commissioner on the consumer futures trading commission, bart chilton and former north d...

And the result is higher prices through speculation that somebody drives up at the gas pump, pays 60 or 8 o bucks for a gas tank full of gas or a trucker pays $1,000 or $12,000 all because of rampant excess speculation. we dont need to investigate it anymore. lets just stop it. >> so, senator, is the white house just doing a political tap dance on this? what do you think? >> ive seen a lot of tap dancing over the years. the president cares about this and all im saying is that the american people...

Were going to make sure that nobody is taking advantage of american consumers. >> attorney general eric holder said that we will be vigilant in monitoring the oil and gas markets for any wrongdoing so that consumers can be confident that they are not paying higher prices as a result of illegal activity. lets bring in the commissioner on the consumer futures trading commission, bart chilton and former north dakota senator byron dorgan. thanks for your time tonight. mr. chilton, what is your role ...

Wall street banks we had to rescue from their gambling problems over sub prime mortgages in the fall of 2008. >> now that is a heck of a sound bite you just gave us there. i mean if the american people cant grab that and the severity of this i dont know what its going to take. now do you think that gas prices would fall as soon as position limits are put into place? >> i think gas prices would fall if position limits were put into place but frankly the president has the power of the bully pulpit...