Comment Text:
I want to give you a personal story about why the proposed CFTC rules on speculation are so important and must finally be implemented. Back in the summer of 2008, I owned a small retail business in a town that wasn't near the freeway. My customers came to my shop because I offered them more than retail products (these being vitamins and supplements). I offered them education about them that they could not ordinarily get buying them from a big box store. So, they drove the extra miles to buy them from me...until the sudden spike in gas prices to nearly $5/gallon. When that happened, business fell off sharply for the next two months. My customers, many of whom were elderly, simply didn't have the extra money in their budgets to spend on gasoline and also pay for the supplements. So they learned how to get them off the internet.
Meanwhile, my costs went up, because my suppliers had to raise their prices due to increased production costs (increased materials cost, due to shipping), plus delivery cost to me. Naturally, it was expected that the merchandiser and the consumer would absorb all of these costs. My story is but one example of the far-reaching ramifications of these terrible practices.
Of course, years later, we all know how much this dramatic increase in gasoline, which is as essential to commerce as water is to the human body, so essential to our economy, effects lives and our economy. Many people lost businesses, homes, and relationships as jobs dried up or were destroyed. In my case, I was unable to make rent, and as a last resort, had to borrow money to stay afloat, hoping things would get back to normal, which alas they never did. In the end, I had to close my shop, losing over $30K, and as soon as I was late on one of my payments, the banks swooped in and jacked up the interest rates on ALL my cards, throwing me deeper into debt and destroying my credit. To this day I am still suffering, and all due to greedy gas speculators. And the kicker is, none of them have ever paid a penalty for the damage they did to us.
This is but one story of the huge ripple effect that could have been prevented if our government had succeeded in passing and enforcing sensible CFTC rules that would put a very necessary cap on gas speculation. Those gamblers who have plenty of extra cash to throw around couldn't care less about what happens to our economy, but as we have seen, their instant gratification caused long-term misery for the rest of us. Many, like me, will never fully recover. Please don't let this happen again!
