“I am not convinced that these price increases were necessary or reflected true market conditions,” Senator Jay Rockefeller announced recently, as was quoted in the Washington Post.

This takes place with the background of a recent investigation conducted by the Federal Trade Commission, due to wildy fluctuating swings in crude oil prices. Price fixing and price manipulation is a nationwide problem in the United States, and this is inflicting pain every time overstressed Americans pull into a gas station.

When a man with the last name of Rockefeller inquires about oil price manipulation, there is inherently something incredibly wrong with the system. For those that are not familiar with Senator Jay Rockefeller, he is a very respected Congressman of West Virginia.

It is a paradox when you have a man with the stature of Senator Rockefeller questioning the practices of the oil industry. Rockefeller is a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, and he is the only family Democrat in a Republican dominated world. The Rockefeller family fortune is estimated to be as high as 10 billion U.S. dollars.

Goldman Sachs received a $40,000 fine because of a “violation of a serious nature” but “no evidence of intentional ma­nipu­la­tion of the market” was to be found. This is only show and tell, while the anger continues to mount in America.

The USEIA gives one an idea how much oil is imported, how much oil is exported, and the nature of the oil industry in general.

Here’s what adds to the controversial aspect of the matter. The establishment is always talking about a lack of oil supply. But then you go to CNN Money, or Fortune as some prefer to call it, and you find out that there is a plentiful supply of oil on hand. In fact, there may be record levels of oil available for consumption. With the economy falling apart, less people can afford to travel as much. They’re staying at home to save money.

The whole thing  just doesn’t make any sense. With nearly everybody becoming internet savvy these days, it is getting harder and harder to pull the bluff on the American people. The folks sense that there is something very wrong with the notion of hedge funding on a commodity that is desperately needed. It is such a secretive business that even the so called experts are scratching their heads, unaware of the underhanded deals that take place daily.

What Americans are increasingly aware of is this — when the price of gas goes up, it has an effect on the price of everything else. From heating oil to groceries and everything in between. There’s also a more hidden agenda that comes to mind and is equally as cunning.

The spreading effect of the price increase. A store owner is aware of the topic of rising gas prices and how it will suddenly become an agent for everything else to become uber expensive. It’s not only gas price gouging that takes a grip on the economy, it often trickles down to other necessary commodities.

It’s really hard to differentiate supply and demand from dishonest business practices. It’s difficult to understand how inflation could become a problem when you stop and look at the price of groceries right now. Just what is your definition of inflation?

Through the combination of lobbying and legislative efforts, hedge funders and bankers have placed themselves into being the unwanted middlemen in a virtually invisible empire. It’s not just a question of legality, it’s also a question of morality. How can you justify a few hundred or thousand people getting unbelievably rich at the vast expense of a whole nation?

Despite the grand idea of supply and demand economics, even too-big-to-fail banks like JP Morgan are bidding on contracts holding 30 million barrels of strategic petroleum. It may be this is the reason why gas prices explode at a flip of a wrist.

The statement reverberates — “I am not convinced that these price increases were necessary or reflected true market conditions.”

A more grandiose statement needs to be  echoed — Just what is going to be done to stop the monopolization of crude oil, if anything? Where’s the beef?

8/12/11
WTI Crude Oil: $85.30

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