Some People Gamble with Dice, Others on Wall Street

I keep getting wonderful email to share with my readers. I know that speculation in commodities is a dangerous thing. My Grandfather had a prosperous meat market in Seattle that he lost gambling on the commodities market. So I'm publishing this email from:

Greetings,

Did you know that you could do something about rising food and gas prices?

Wall Street lobbyists are betting you won’t speak up.

The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill tasked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with creating rules to curb excessive gambling in markets like food and gas, but Wall Street speculators are trying to get in the way.

In 2008, food and gas prices hit record highs and those prices are creeping up again. Excessive gambling played a role in those price spikes, and now the CFTC is at work on ‘position limits’ that will put a lid on the amount of gambling.

Now it’s your turn! The CFTC needs to hear from you.

Please take five minutes to urge the CFTC to apply strong rules to limit excessive gambling. The gamblers have already submitted their regulatory comments.

The CFTC has a new system for comments so please follow these instructions to leave a comment:

Click here for “Proposed Rule 76 FR 4752 // 17 CFR Parts 1, 150 and 151 Position Limits for Derivatives” with a closing date of March 28, 2011.
Fill in your name and information - in the required field that asks for “Organization” please write your own name.
Please copy and paste the SAMPLE TEXT below:

(Introduce yourself: ie I am Ann Smith, I drive 30 minutes to and from work every day, and our family feels the effects of every increase in the price of gas)

I urge you to curb excessive gambling in commodities markets like food and oil.

While many factors contribute to today’s highly volatile commodity prices, it is clear that excessive speculation is partially responsible, as shown in dozens of studies by respected institutions such as Princeton, MIT, Petersen Institute, University of London, Yale, the United Nations and the U.S. Senate.

Speculation thus imposes financial hardships on families around the country. Sudden rises in gas and food prices force us to make difficult decisions and sacrifices. Especially right now, with so many families struggling, and unemployment barely beginning to decrease, we cannot allow speculators to unduly affect our food and gas prices.

Please put in place effective position limits rules, and do not allow them to be undermined by exemptions or exceptions, or allow Wall Street gamblers to escape them.

Thank you for your consideration.

OR feel free to edit it and add your perspective on the impacts of food and oil speculation:

A. We cannot afford a repeat of the 2008 food and gas price bubbles, so the CFTC should put in place strong position limits to control excessive gambling.

B. The CFTC should not allow exemptions or exceptions that undermine the rule, and should not give any exemptions to banks, hedge funds or other financial players.

4. Click “Submit.”

Thanks for all of your hard work!

Americans for Financial Reform

Sent by Americans for Financial Reform
1629 K Street NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 - (202) 466-3311

America Magazine Benedict XVI weighs in on "Redistribution"

Paul Ryan should perhaps look at the writings of Benedict and other recent popes on redistribution. they are most definitely teaching redistribution to help the poor, as this America article attests. America Magazine Benedict XVI weighs in on "Redistribution" : 'via Blog this'

Seeking the Romance of Life

A recent trip back to California, where I spent the middle half of my life (the part between the Seattle bookends) and other smaller events have made me reflective of past events and places. My brothers and I stopped in Santa Cruz, briefly, where I had lived for years, and stopped by a nightclub I had spent time in, the Catalyst, and asked the bartender the current status of local things. I found out Club Zayante in the Santa Cruz Mountain had closed. When I got home I researched the Club, which was once of the hottest nightclubs in Central California to learn what happened. I found out the club had closed for financial reasons then burned down. But what I learned about the owner, Tom Louagie intrigued me. He had come out from the east coast on a romantic quest, to find the Cannery Row he had read in Steinbeck. He had the idea of moving there and living a literary dream from the past. He didn't know that that Cannery Row had died...

Swing States Swinging Against Meat Axe Budget Cuts and Anti-Labor Laws

Polls are showing wide swings of voters away from recently elected Republicans who are charing ahead with budget cuts and dismemberment of collective bargaining for public employee unions. These polls are holding also for many of the recently elected Republican Congress people and in many states where the politics has been less volatile than the Upper Mid-West States. In Wisconsin, polls suggest that if there was a do over of the gubernatorial race in which Scott Walker decisively beat Tom Barret, Barrett would easily win by 52%. Walker's support in union households has dropped from 40% to 33% and Tom Barrett's union household support has jumped from 54% to 64%. Barrett's support among Republicans has risen to 10%. In Michigan the new Governor created what people are calling financial martical law, where he can declare a financial emergency in a local government, take it over, and void union contracts. ...

Roomin' House Blues

Search This Blog