In a free-market system such as we have, prices are determined by supply and demand, but over the last four months we have seen the price of oil/gas go up, not because the supply of oil is getting low and the demand is going higher, but because a handful of stock manipulators are speculating that the demand will go up in the future.

We saw this happen last year when oil went up to over $145 a barrel, and it may get there again, or higher, if this is allowed to continue.

Clearly this showed the system that should be in place to regulate the price of oil is broken.

Also, to have the price of oil rise at this time in our economic downturn is very dangerous for our economic recovery.

We have already seen how a handful of irresponsible banking and insurance people at AIG and a number of other banks not only brought down our economy but the whole world’s economy, all for the sake of making a fast profit.

Now these oil speculators are threatening to stall and delay our recovery for the sake of another fast profit.

We all know that the price of oil affects everything from the price of the gas we put in our cars to the food we put on the table. For every dollar that a barrel of oil goes up, millions of dollars are taken out of our economy, money that our economy desperately needs if we are going to recover from this economy meltdown.

The price of oil and the future of our economy are too important to be left up to these few irresponsible speculators who are only out for a quick profit for themselves.

Therefore, I am hoping with this letter to start a grassroots letter writing campaign. I’m asking each of you to write your representative in Washington, and/or the President, and tell them that the system that is currently in place to regulate the price of oil obviously doesn’t work, and that we need a system in place that will tie the price of oil to the true price of supply and demand.

Tell them that we the people are tired of a system that allows the greed of a few to bring harm to so many.

The free enterprise system is the best system in the world, but it has to be regulated in a way that does not hinder it but also protects us from irresponsible people.

Please write/email your representative today. That is what we elected them for. You can find an email form for emailing the President at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

Jim Lowe

Peachtree City, Ga.

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