I've started a petition on Whitehouse.gov to limit commodities futures trading to only the producers and users of said commodity. The intent is to get financial institutions such as investment banks and hedge funds, among others, out of the business of speculating on the prices of things like food crops and gasoline, to the detriment of consumers.
Speculation in oil has been estimated to cost consumers up to $.80 per gallon of gasoline.
Anyone who eats food is likely paying a tribute to Goldman Sachs and other huge financial institutions.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has the authority to regulate commodity trading. This does not need an act of Congress to limit the influence the big banks have in the daily lives of everyone who eats.
If this petition gets 100.000 signatures by June 3, the White House is supposed to respond. Please help spread the word. Go to http://wh.gov/... to sign.