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Elliott, but what he is referring to is back in 2008 the white house did a similar thing and they hit the line hard and said we will investigate these oil bets, and whether the market speculators or the oil traders are colluding to draw the prices higher, but all that happened is one dutch firm came under investigation and it didn't affect the oil or gas prices whatsoever, and we saw the gas go up to $4.11 on average per gallon and the white house did it three years ago, but it did not change what we pay and that is what we care about. the big question is that there's no real power unless they...

Setting prices, smart consumers go out and find the lower price, and, at the end of the day i don't think a lot of people think they'll find a lot, what's more, other agencies in the federal government are supposed to look out for this problem like the ftc, which can charge people who violate the law, a million dollars a day. so, it will be interesting to see what the panel comes up with. >> and the president talked about market nip plamanipulatio speculating. >> we're talking about traders, people who are being blamed for the rising gas prices and let's think about it for a second. you said, ...

We're approaching election season and gas prices are becoming a major political issue, what you're paying at the pump is on washington's mind. gas prices are about a dollar a gallon higher now than they were a year ago. as you can see, most of the increase if you take a look at this, happened in just the last three months. we're getting close to 2008's all-time high of $4.11 a gallon. president obama is talking tough and promising action. he's ordered the justice department to set up a task force. >> that includes the role of traders and speculaulatospecula going to make sure that nobody's

In this country right now. >> many people think speculators are to blame because we have a glut of oil, there's decreased demand for gas, yet the prices are still high and getting higher. >> sure. the price we pay at the pump has to do with the price of oil which is traded globally, right? it's not just how much oil we have domestically in this country. it's how much saudi arabia has. opec has actually cut back a little bit on how much they're producing. it's how much russia is producing. it's a global number. so oil prices, you look at them. about $112 a barrel right now. that's 24% below whe...

Necessarily this long weekend. mike taibbi joining us live and from chicago. thank you. joining me now, democratic congressman joe courtney of connecticut. congressman, thanks for joining us here. you have seen the prices. your state seeing an average of $4.11. no doubt that your constituents are not happy. president obama taking aim at speculators. you want stricter rules around oil price speculation. what would you like to put in place that might help keep these high prices that we see here on screen lower? >> sure. well, richard, last year when we passed the dodd/frank bill, one of the ke...