The Tea Party Way, Governing By Extortion

[bobabode]

Unintended or intended consequences?

"NEW YORK -- The federal government shutdown has left the futures markets largely unregulated, raising concerns over fraud and manipulation with a hobbled watchdog, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission official said.
Only 28 employees of the agency’s about 700-person workforce are still on the job, CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton said.
Only two or three of those employees are left watching the futures markets as Congress and President Obama remain deadlocked in a battle over spending, the healthcare overhaul and the debt ceiling, the commissioner said.
The CFTC regulates the markets for contracts involving everything from oil, corn, metals and interest rate swaps.
Chilton said the agency typically has 50 employees with “eyeballs on a screen” when markets are open. Now it’s less than five, he said."

http://www.latimes.com/business/mone...,3351171.story