Obama Pushes Increased Market Oversight as Answer to Gas Prices
But the White House's plan for more regulation is likely a nonstarter with Republicans.
| Posted Tuesday, April 17, 2012, at 10:39 AM
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
President Obama on Tuesday will formally unveil a $52 million plan that would look to address rising oil prices by "cracking down" on oil market manipulation with the help of stronger federal oversight and higher penalties.
The plan comes as the White House is under increasing political pressure to take action to combat the rising cost of gas, a topic that Republicans have sought to make a key pillar of their election year strategy.
Unsurprisingly, the president's plan is unlikely to win over conservatives because it calls for more increased government spending and regulation, two things that the GOP has argued are contributing to the high prices.
Democrats, meanwhile, blame the high oil prices at least in part on illegal manipulation of the market by energy speculators, which Obama's plan targets.
The proposal calls for: a six-fold increase in surveillance and enforcement staff for oil futures market trading at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; technology upgrades to strengthen monitoring abilities; an increase in civil and criminal penalties for market manipulation from $1 to $10 million; giving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission the authority to raise margin requirements in oil futures markets; and expanding access to CFTC data.
You can read the full White House release on the proposal here.
