Quick reminder, the Rev. Al Sharpton fills in for Ed tonight. Ed will return Monday. Here are some of the stories that seem sadly Underbuzzed today. As always, please add your own in the comments.
- As we reported on Tuesday, Democratic senators pressed Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler to use the CFTC's emergency powers to crack down on oil speculators who have driven up gas prices. The House voted in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion to do just this in 2008. Now, not so much. Neither the House GOP nor Chairman Gensler support this move. Today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced legislation that would give the chairman himself sole power to impose position limits on oil speculators (position limits being caps on how much of the trading market can be gobbled up by Wall Street). As the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req'd), Wall Street is watching its commodity profits absolutely soar off the pain we're feeling at the pump. We'll be tracking the Sanders legislation very closely. (And if anyone doubted gas prices are crippling the economic recovery, doubt no more).
- Firedoglake sums up the overall sentiment that the May economic picture does not look good.
- On the bright side, the auto-industry bailout cost a lot less than expected. And for the price of $14 billion, we still have an auto industry and all its knock-on industries, like parts manufacturing, etc.
- The very-serious-about-austerity House GOP has had its first chance to put our money where it's mouth is -- an actual appropriations bill, the first one. They voted to increase spending. For war stuff.
- That's today's Underbuzzed. Join us for the Rev. Al tonight and come on back Monday for Ed's return.
Get more from Senior Producer Jonathan Larsen (@jtlarsen) on Twitter