Of Loopholes And Truth Holes

So Obama has come out with a proposal to curb speculation in the energy markets. Speculators - those who would gamble on the price of oil for the benefit of their pocket books and the detriment of everyone else. A reason why gas prices are what they are.

Futures are sold electronically to evade regulation. That allows commodity traders play their game, at our expense, with no public oversight. This is a simplistic explanation of the "Enron Loophole", written by Enron lobbyists back in 2000. Passage through Congress was spearheaded by then Senator Phil Gramm.

Senator McCain's campaign has accused Obama of "mimicking" McCain's lead. McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds says, "John McCain has supported bipartisan efforts to close this loophole and will work to address abuses in oil speculation."

Hmmm.  How can you trust McCain's sincerity about closing this loophole when his chief economic advisor is the same Phil Gramm and while he was busy pushing it through Congress his wife sat on Enron's board of directors?

Talk about an oil slick!