Analysts: Dem Bill Could Drop Gas to $2

Yesterday Bill O'Reilly's argument (and one I firmly agree with) that a Democratic Bill limiting speculation would be one of the best things to bring down the price of gasoline was presented before Congress by four energy market analysts.

It may amaze Republicans that there is a better idea than more drilling. Since 75% of political donations from Big Oil goes to Republicans, it's a natural suggestion to want to help your financiers. But more drilling would take decades to ease the burden and will do nothing to kick our addiction to oil. The most pragmatic and effective way to deal with high fuel costs is to end speculation.

Take for instance the fact that Big Oil companies are profiting about $10 billion a quarter. That's profiting, not making. After all their bills are paid they profit $10 billion a quarter. That means they could cut their prices in half and still make $5 billion a quarter. If prices were driven by low supply and huge demand, like Republicans are suggesting, then the profits would also be struggling to keep up with the costs. Ending speculation, or worthless paper buying, would balance the demand with the supply bringing prices down.

Of course here's one of Big Oil's excuses to not end speculation:

Neal Ryan, manager at Ryan Oil & Gas Partners, said that if Congress develops regulations to cut back speculative trading, speculation will just find a new home

"Speculation is the root of capitalism," he said. "If the speculation is forced out of the U.S. exchanges, it'll simply show up on other exchanges that are OTC like the ICE, or new exchanges will pop up to allow for the spec trades to continue functioning."

Wrong again. The root of capitalism is not speculation it's greed. Big Oil and people like Neal Ryan are perfect examples of that.