Nutty Sen. Bob Casey on oil prices

Do any of these Democrats understand that speculation smooths prices over time? That speculators make money by causing price differences to get smaller over time? This article also shows how dangerous the stupid Dodd-Frank bill is. From The Hill newspaper:

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey (Pa.) is pressing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to help ease rising gasoline prices.
In a letter sent to CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler on Sunday, Casey called on the agency to implement a rule that would limit speculation in the oil market and is two years in the making.
“Consumers shouldn’t be forced to pay higher prices at the pump because of speculative bets on Wall Street,” Casey said.
“Nearly two years ago Congress gave the CFTC the tools to crackdown on speculation in the oil market, and with sky high prices at the pump it’s time they used it.”
The Dodd-Frank law gives the CFTC the authority to limit the ability of speculators on Wall Street to inflate the price of oil by putting in place position limits. . . .

UPDATE: Other Democrats get on board.

A letter Monday to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 23 senators and 45 House members underscores how gas prices have soared to the top of the political agenda on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. . . .
“It is one of your primary duties — indeed, perhaps your most important — to ensure that the prices Americans pay for gasoline and heating oil are fair, and that the markets in which prices are discovered operate free from fraud, abuse and manipulation,” states the letter from lawmakers including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). . . .