I am unfamiliar with detail of the bill, but I recall during the highest oil pricing stint that Cantwell, D. Wash, chaired hearings where Klobucher was a panel member [whether a standing committee/subcommittee or a specially convened thing I do not know]. It was aimed at the contention that speculators were manipulating the futures market and spot market in oil to artificially inflate trading prices. Or causing trending that way in the course of seeking trading profits, w/o ulterior motive, as only an investment choice.
Transparency is the problem. This is from memory, so any reader with a link or contrary facts, please post a comment: Honest John McCain's advisor, Phil Gramm, inserted in the dead of night some 200+ pages called now the "Enron Loophole" into a bill where the result was non-transparency of oil trading and reliance upon the London and one Persian Gulf market - unregulated by any US authorities, became the main way to trade. It was done in the days when Enron existed and was doing its mischief. That impediment to good government [the loophole, not Phil Gramm] still is around, and my understanding is the act the screenshot mentions is aimed to undo that deregulation wrench in the works from McCain's economics brain, Gramm.
In effect, Gramm, from Texas, was acting as a tool of the energy power elite; and wow, I am shocked, he is a McCain insider too. Gee.
Here's the screenshot - and please note, our Norm Coleman was not participating in any reform-oriented hearings where our other Senator [the good one, the newer one] had a seat:
A link from the first webpage gives tally info. It was an almost straight party line vote, with a few GOP House members crossing over in favor of good government and good regulation. The GOP showed its liking for the kinds of "regulation" that make multi-billion dollar bailouts after much loot's been made the special of the day, these days. With the market situation as it is due to subprime mischief, and after the oil price went so high, you'd think they would fear bowing to their special interest sponsors that crassly, but no, they're Republicans after all, it's in the bloodstream to serve Big Oil. Bless them all.
Is this a surprise: Minnesota's GOP Reps - Ramstad, for, Bachmann and Kline, against? All other Minn. Reps, for. Our pair of Crusaders. Our great deregulators. Handouts to the wealthy, perks for the energy power elite, fine; regulations, anti-American. We have Coleman, Bush and McCain - and Cheney - thinking in lockstep with our dynamic duo.
I understand that many have felt since childhood that if you buy a toy you want it to work right anytime you choose to play with it, although I still need to figure out if that relates in any way to things getting done as they are, in DC.
________UPDATE______
Strib reports an AP feed on how the Paulson initial offer to Congress has been "Democrated" up, (in ways I judge to be fairer to "the rest of us"), see here, headline etc., being, "Executive compensation, equity stake for government under discussion in talks on $700B bailout -- Under a draft plan obtained today, bailed-out companies would have to agree to limits on executive pay." By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS , Associated Press, Last update: September 23, 2008 - 5:59 AM