Susan Davis: “This underlying bill muzzles the Federal watchdog agency now responsible for regulating agriculture, energy, and…”

“This underlying bill muzzles the Federal watchdog agency now responsible for regulating agriculture, energy, and financial markets while letting speculators run loose. By cutting 44 percent from the President's budget request for the CFTC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that we've been talking about, we're saying it's just okay to have fewer and less qualified regulators to protect us from market abuses, to protect our constituents from market abuses. Haven't we learned any lessons? Speculation on Wall Street has caused massive harm on Main Street. Not sufficiently funding the CFTC will hamper our efforts to recover from the recession and hinder middle class prosperity. Commodity futures and options markets are complicated systems. We know that. They require a complicated skill set to understand. Some of the smartest people are engaged in doing this. But this bill ensures that the playing field is tilted toward those who are in favor of the same risky practices that led to the financial crisis. Without full funding the CFTC will have 159 fewer full-time employees and an inability to procure the technology needed to properly regulate the derivatives market. If the last 5 years has taught us anything, we need more consumer protections, not more market speculation that will drive up gas prices, food prices, and play Russian roulette with our financial system. What is disturbing, Mr.…”