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November 16, 2011 at 2:56 am #601266
kootchmanMemberSo the lid is blown off insider trading by congress… Kerry makes 111 pharmacy trades, while urging support of community pharmacy access..Pelosi hubby rakes in millions in trades… all based on insider trading.. just what the SEC is putting people in jail for. Dennis Hastert..just happens to won land where a federal highway gets an earmarks…More scum from scum… Well OCCUPY WALL STREET… ? They all do it…
Do play the video.
November 16, 2011 at 4:05 am #740642
cadburyParticipantFunny you didn’t mention Boehner…but anyways, yes. This is clearly a law that needs to be changed asap!
Doesn’t make Wall Street less guilty for their part in all of this but yes. Hopefully this 60 minutes story will put an end to it and raise awareness…wait…60 minutes?? CBS?? That liberal cesspool?!?! Ran this story! OMG! Next you’re going to tell me there is no war against Christmas.
November 16, 2011 at 4:21 am #740643
kootchmanMemberI couldn’t mention them all… it would be the congressional roll call. I put in Hastert… and Bohner is in da video… CBS understands ratings… 60 minutes if one of the few programs people watch. Wall Street will always do what is has done. No surprises there. At least I KNOW what the interests of Wall Street are… they are predictable. We keep running to the wolves to protect us from the fox. What is it? A bigger grin? Wall Street has an enabler..and they pay a pretty cheap price for it.
November 16, 2011 at 4:35 am #740644
cadburyParticipantJust one more thing…now i don’t condone such programs as Two and a half men and the big bang theory…but CBS last week had 5 of the top ten rated shows on television. Just saying…”60 minutes is one of the few programs people watch” is a wildly inaccurate statement.
November 16, 2011 at 9:40 am #740645
HMC RichParticipantI have stated all along the press is the watchdog of the government. 60 minutes did their job.
Which brings us to another point. Why does congress have their own rules? They do not deserve their pensions, their healthcare, their “inside trading” benefits.
Until these jerks are thrown out and their houses reformed, the American people will continue to get used by our elected officials.
November 16, 2011 at 1:24 pm #740646
redblackParticipantyep. further proof that wall street owns our government. but don’t blame government itself; blame the politicians and money-changers who corrupted it.
michele bachmann might want her country back – whatever the hell that means – but i want my government back.
November 16, 2011 at 2:21 pm #740647
YardvarkMemberGreat to see you joining the Occupation, kootchman. (If that’s what you’re saying.) I absolutely agree.
It’s absurd that Congress is allowed to take bribes and then collude with each other to influence laws that directly benefit them. The bribery needs to stop and the many, obvious conflicts of interest need to be recognized.
I think this is definitely one point that we all agree on!
November 16, 2011 at 2:59 pm #740648
JoBParticipantNovember 16, 2011 at 5:00 pm #740649
kootchmanMemberIt’s been kicking around for awhile. The 28th Amendment.
“Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.” Congress shall make no laws that exempt them from the provisions of federal law.
November 16, 2011 at 7:38 pm #740650
JanSParticipantKman..we may not see eye to eye on lots of things, but I agree with you on this one..
November 16, 2011 at 8:09 pm #740651
DBPMemberWatched the “60 Minutes” link (thanks, Kootch) and I like Brian Baird’s proposed bill. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go nearly far enough. For example, it doesn’t require politicians to put their money into a blind trust. All it says is that politicians have to report their trades more often and that they shouldn’t make a stock trade based on “non-public info.” How exactly are you going to police that one? To prove guilt, you would have to prove the politician KNEW how a proposed law was going to affect the share price of a given stock they profited from. And that’s a lot harder case to make than it sounds. You can’t base it just on hearsay or supposition. You’ve got to have a paper trail, e-mail records, wiretapped conversations, etc.
In fact, insider trading generally is a helluva lot harder to bust on than people think. Consider this real-life example:
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My friend works for a local Boeing subcontractor. A few years ago the company started pushing hard for employees to invest in the company, and this naturally helped push the stock price up. As soon as the price peaked out, though, the VP dumped a ton of his shares, and then Ka-POW! —The stock dropped precipitously on the news of some new law or airline order deal that fell through.
The VP cashed in and the humble employees got screwed. Was this “insider trading”? You bet it was! But how you gonna prove that? The VP filed a timely report on his stock trade, which was all he was required to do by law.
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Think about it: Who’s an “insider” exactly?
Do you work at a publicly traded company? Then you’re an insider of that company, because you know more than the average Joe about that company’s plans.
Do you tell your friends about what’s going on at your company? —Presto / Change-o! Now they’re insiders, too.
And I haven’t even mentioned all those folks (and there are many) who control so much stock in a given company that they can affect the share price simply by making a major sale or purchase.
They’re ALL insiders, but there’s just no way in hell you can prove that they were trying to profit from some special knowledge of a stock on any given trade they make.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to regulate insider trading, but we’ve gotta be realistic about the percentages, because really, it’s just too big to even get a handle on. This is why I favor boosting the capital gains tax over trying to nab insider traders. With a higher capital gains tax, cheaters — including those in Congress — will never be able to get away clean.
It’s simple: The more they steal, the more they have to pay back into the kitty. We can take the tax money now when we need it and nab the cheaters later, when we have time.
See how that works?
November 17, 2011 at 11:05 pm #740652
BostonmanMemberThey just simply shouldn’t be allowed to benefit at all. I have a lot of rules I am required to follow from the AICPA. Specifically rules about ownership of public companies where I might be engaged on an audit. All of these rules are to remove any possibility that my knowledge as an accountant could not would be used to benefit me financially.
Plain and simply put they shouldn’t be allowed to make money like this.
November 18, 2011 at 4:41 am #740653
DBPMemberBostonman, everything you’ve said here leads me to believe you’re an honest dude. But if you weren’t such an honest dude, what’s to stop you from cashing in on your knowledge as an accountant? AICPA rules? Ha!
Just sitting here on the toilet, I can think of at least a dozen ways you could cheat without even a remote possibility of getting caught.
What? What!?
Did I just say something?
Why y’all lookin’ at me like that?
November 18, 2011 at 5:56 am #740654
BostonmanMemberWell technically you are right. I could do it but if I get caught I would lose my CPA license with no chance of getting it back. My career would be ruined, I wouldn’t be able to get a job as an accountant pretty much anywhere.
No amount of money is worth that to me.
November 18, 2011 at 7:09 am #740655
metrognomeParticipantIt should be abundantly clear that there is no separation of church and state, if you will, between the government (elected and hired) and corporate America (lobbyists, consultants, CEO’s, etc.) and never has been. It is a revolving door and the insiders become the outsiders and vice versa on a constant basis and they all profit politically or financially or both. Unfortunately, the Supremes seemed to have joined the herd lately, although maybe that’s the way its always been, and they’re just getting more exposure lately. And ‘the media’ (which used to be the ‘free press’) has also joined the game as the ownership limitations have been eroded, in part because they can be such huge revenue producers (unlike the days of Walter Cronkite.)
A recent concept from the White House that hasn’t gotten much ink is to require Executive branch agencies to publish letters from members of Congress in which they request special treatment for a company in their district, pet project, etc. Apparently, these letters have become quite common in response to the earmark ban. Interestingly, this proposal builds on action taken by Bush43, which banned federal agencies from accepting funding requests from members of Congress unless those requests were specifically included in legislative texts.
http://nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/text-of-draft-executive-memo-20111105
Also, a link in a recent article on the home page on the Triangle rezoning issue caught my eye. The link included a letter from the Seattle Planning Commission that had this info on the back page (just incl. a few as a sample):
SEATTLE PLANNING COMMISSION RECORD OF DISCLOSURE & RECUSAL:
– Catherine Benotto disclosed that her firm, Weber Thompson, works on commercial and multifamily projects throughout the city and that she served on the West Seattle Triangle Advisory Board representing the Planning Commission.
– Commissioner Josh Brower disclosed that his firm, Brower Law, represents developers of commercial and multifamily property throughout the city.
– Commissioner Matt Roewe disclosed that his firm, VIA Architecture, provides design and planning services to transit agencies, the city of Seattle and private sector developers in Seattle.
While I routinely had to sign waivers that I didn’t own stock in bus mfgrs, etc., I never saw anything similar in my years working for the gubmint; wonder if we could require all elected officials and bureaucrats to do the same thing.
November 18, 2011 at 3:00 pm #740656
waynsterParticipantWait you mean politicians are corrupt no way…. they take cash from lobbyist and do insider trading no way….. not in this goverment never happens never has….just like kman is bleeding heart liberal(sorry kman)…..and wallstreet is inocent…. war never happens…now if anyone believes all that BS then they have a nice padded room reserved for them at western state……
November 18, 2011 at 11:33 pm #740657
DBPMemberWonder if we could require all elected officials and bureaucrats to [declare all potential conflicts of interest]
—metrognome.
The long answer is “No.” Oh, you could always ask, but it’d be a nightmare trying to police something like that.
Progressively raising the capital gains tax is really the simplest and fairest way to address this. Contrary to the assertions of some conservatives here, it’s not that scary. We don’t want to penalize people like Bostonman for making a little profit on his nest-egg investments. But when a Denny Hastert or a Nancy Pelosi cleans up on a one-day IPO trade, that profit should be reported and taxed accordingly. Like at 90%.
Follow the money, people. Follow it, and tax it.
November 19, 2011 at 3:39 pm #740658
redblackParticipantour congress has become a little too big for their breeches, so to speak.
how about we ban them from buying or selling stock altogether while they’re in the capitol?
how about we base their health care benefits and pensions on their tenure?
howzabout we tie their salary raises to the consumer price index?
what about if they’re not in the capitol doing their constituents’ business, they’re not on the clock? make ’em punch in and out.
don’t get me started on lobbyists. we should all be occupying K street in DC.
November 23, 2011 at 10:46 pm #740659
kootchmanMemberYea redblack.. you posted this
“yep. further proof that wall street owns our government. but don’t blame government itself; blame the politicians and money-changers who corrupted it.”
There are TWO essential partners to a bribe. Congress actively SOLICITS the bribes.
November 23, 2011 at 11:29 pm #740660
JanSParticipantthank you for saying Congress and not differentiating between parties..it’s time they all got their s*%t together…
November 23, 2011 at 11:36 pm #740661
JanSParticipantredblack said “what about if they’re not in the capitol doing their constituents’ business, they’re not on the clock? make ’em punch in and out.”
I just recently heard that Congresspersons will be actually on the job, in session for a whole 138 days next year. I will try to find a source for that. But here’s an eye opener about this year. I’d like to see how it breaks down as pay per hour actually “working”…
November 28, 2011 at 7:16 am #740662
hellonwheels206MemberI hope everyone is going to pay attention to Congress right after Christmas and make sure they don’t vote themselves a raise in 2011. As I understand it, they are automatically raised every January….that aboslutely needs to be stopped immediately.
What is it going to take to get Washington under control and don’t any of you dare respond to me with a “get rid of Obama” statement. I am tired of the stupidity and laziness on the part of the voting public. They need to read, and think for themselves and not let windbags like Newt G. and Fox News tell them what ” the facts are”!
Congress is a disaster….the attitude in this country is a disaster. How can anyone seriously consider listening to someone who says that the sole purpose of their party is to get rid of the sitting President….from the day he took office?
I am sure I remember any critisim of that overgrown Frat Boy we had to endure was always met with a scolding that we were unpatriotic.
????? But on a humorous side…..anyone in for an endorphin boost??? Watch Dave Richert’s new campaign add! It is hilarious….they have it staged like he is addressing …Congress, someone?? whatever…figure it out for yourself.
And my last comment……remember when …well,if you are old enough…the publisher withdrew publishing more of RobertMacNarmara’s mea culpa…well, let’s boycott the man rewriting history…let’s hear it for DICK…TORTURE…CHENEY! I actually watched the Fox interview on Saturday….with Sean, the Genius,Hannity…….it was so pathetic it really kind of made me sick.
November 28, 2011 at 2:41 pm #740663
JoBParticipantNovember 28, 2011 at 6:42 pm #740664
kootchmanMemberGet rid of Obama. Oh pray tell, give us YOUR list of enlightened, non-partisan sources of voter education sources. I can’t wait for the 2012 sound bites…juxtaposed. This should be good, a retrospective on the campaign pledges of 2007, the actual results, and of course the excuses… How many #1 priorities has he had now? Let’s see, Immigration Reform, Jobs (that was a good one) open and transparant government, 8% unemployment, 2/12/ “New” private sector jobs, no earmark legislation signed, … AND… of course… BUSH DID IT! solo or with his WSB chorus…add high water marks for corporate.congressional cronyism… and profligate spending that would make Bush blush. 16.5 Trillion, 8, billion of deficit spending per day, .. he’s da man!
November 28, 2011 at 7:33 pm #740665
dobroParticipantEven in this digital era, one can recognize the sound of a broken record.
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