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“all the world's
banana republics are just staring at the US with sheer and utter amazement as
layer after layer of the unprecedented depravity of American society is
exposed for all to see.” --Tyler Durden,
ZeroHedge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_e...p;v=x95uC_wzUX4
The Christian Science Monitor reports that congress picking stocks with
insider information.
Is Congress picking stocks with insider
information? (video)
Insider trading by members of Congress is legal, according to a '60 Minutes'
program Sunday. But there is legislation that would make it illegal.
By David Grant, DCDecoder / November
14, 2011
"It’s not illegal, but I think it’s highly unethical, I
think it’s highly offensive and
wrong.”
That’s Peter Schweizer, a researcher at the conservative Hoover
Institution at Stanford University, talking about the ability of members of Congress to make trades in the stock market
based on inside information they’ve gleaned from their positions on
Capitol Hill.
Does that sound
unbelievable?
Check out this clip of Schweizer from the "60 Minutes" interview.
The show hits a wide
swath of lawmakers, from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Perhaps the most egregious example: Rep. Spencer Bauchus (R-Ala.). Bauchus, who now chairs the House
Financial Services Committee, was
sitting in meetings with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary
Hank Paulson during the early stirrings of the
financial crisis and then making big
bets that the stock market would tank.
Isn’t this already illegal? Amazingly, no…
MYTH: Even if congressional insider trading is not covered by current
insider trading laws, congressional insider trading is illegal under other
laws.
FACT: In 1958, the House of Representatives adopted the Code of Ethics for
Government Service into its Ethics Rules. Clause 8 of the Code of Ethics
states that “Any person in Government service should…[n]ever
use any information coming to him confidentially in the performance of
governmental duties as a means for making a private profit.” However, this is a House Rule,
enforceable only by the House Ethics Committee on an internal basis, and NOT A LAW UNDER WHICH A MEMBER OR STAFFER CAN BE PROSECUTED. Recent years have proven that House Ethics Rules are rarely, if ever enforced. In those cases where they are enforced, Members receive little more
than a slap on the wrist. In
addition, there is currently no mechanism in
place within the House to track and monitor this. If we want to put an end to this practice, we must develop a new law
that can and will be enforced.
In addition, the Code of Ethics for
Government Service has not been adopted
by the Senate and therefore does not apply to Senators or Senate staffers.
Finally, House Rules do not have any effect on those outside of the House. The Code of Ethics for Government Service has no impact on
“political intelligence” firms who gather information from
Members of Congress or their staffers and share that information with outside
investors. …
…
“The issue is one
of a double standard…. The only group in America that we exempt [from insider trading strictures is] politicians, who are probably the last people about whom we should be saying, ‘Oh, we’ll take their
word for it.’ That’s
what’s so amazing to me.”
Zero Hedge reports on Congressional Insider Trading Gone
Wild.
Congressional Insider Trading Gone Wild
Submitted by Tyler Durden on
11/13/2011 23:23 -0500
Back in May we penned,
" target="_blank";Why
A Hedge Fund Comprised Of Junior Congressional Democrats Should Outperform
The Market By 9%" in which the simple conclusion was that INSIDER TRADING IS NOT ONLY RAMPANT IN CONGRESS, BUT COMPLETELY
UNREGULATED, as IT
IS PERFECTLY LEGAL FOR CONGRESSIONAL STAFFERS TO TRADE AT THEIR LEISURE ON
INSIDE INFORMATION: an exemption which the
beta chasing 2 and 20 crowd on Wall Street would sell their first through
fifth born to be granted, now that their glaring inability to generate alpha
is laid out for all to see. Tonight we were happy to see that 60 Minutes has finally brought this gross and criminal injustice to the
general public, and we expect that Congress will promptly
legislate itself into actually complying with laws meant for the mere mortals
out there. That said, we fully commiserate with the pathological excrement
that makes up House of Representative these days: it is indeed a sad day when
a Congressional member has to rely on honest work to make their millions as
opposed to perfectly legal trading on inside information predicated upon laws
that these very congress men and women legislate. Something tells us all the world's banana republics are just staring at
the US with sheer and utter amazement as layer after layer of the
unprecedented depravity of American society is exposed for all to see. [well said]
From 60 Minutes - the
part where Nancy Pelosi's face melts is 9:20 in. And speaking of Nancy Pelosi
it may be time to revisit: " target="_blank" Moody's
Leaked Again: Told Nancy Pelosi Will "Probably Not" Downgrade US
Weeks Ago; Did Her Multi-Millionaire Investor Husband Know Too?" and " target="_blank";SEC
To Investigate Trades Based On S&P Downgrade Inside Information"...
We wonder just how deep the SEC investigation has penetrated for it to have
generated not even a peep 3 months later.
CNN's Jack Cafferty
reports that congress got 25% richer during
height of recession.
Congress
got 25% richer during height of recession?
FROM
CNN's Jack Cafferty:
While millions of
Americans struggle under a weak economy, members of Congress keep getting richer. A lot richer.
"Roll Call"
reports that members
of Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion in 2010.
That was up about 25 percent from 2008, during the height of the recession.
And these wealth totals likely
underestimate how rich Congress really is. That's because they don't include homes and
other non-income generating property, which could come out to hundreds of
millions in additional dollars.
This wealth is split fairly evenly
between both Democrats and Republicans.
Overall, about 200 members of Congress are millionaires. Once again, this doesn't include the value
of their homes.
There are even a handful
of lawmakers who are worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
…
My reaction: All the other (much worse) government corruption I have been
researched these last few years has desensitized me. I can only muster
moderate outrage to this congressional insider trading.
1) Insider trading is not only rampant in congress, but completely unregulated.
2) It is perfectly legal for congressional staffers to trade at their leisure
on inside information
3) 60 Minutes has finally
brought this gross and criminal injustice to the general public.
4) This story is particularly ironic/amusing because
the US government has been heavily cracking down on insider trading at hedge
funds this year.
Conclusion: It is the media’s reaction to this 60 minute piece
that is really interesting.
The reaction
of mainstream media: SILENCE
The mainstream media is desperately trying to bury the story, as best
shown by the New York Times.
Check out the screenshot below of the New York Times’ website. The only
things the New York Times has published on the subject:
1) A story from before
the "60 minutes" piece aired.
2) One online-only, one-paragraph "readers
comment" piece.
Eric de Carbonnel
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