Should our elected officials be able to use inside information to pad their own pockets? Members of Congress and their aides have regular access to powerful political intelligence, and many have made well-timed stock market trades in the very industries they regulate. Is the practice legal and do you approve of it?
Watch this 60 Minute video before you vote.
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Multi-national, monetaristic capitalism has proven itself to be inhumane. It is broken. It does not work except for the central and sovereign bankers. It's day is over. It must be replaced with a more humane, God-centered form of economics. Let us return to systems of barter, local exchanges, and local enterprise until these greedy, power-addicted demagogues have passed out of our lives forever.
All information is ultimately inside a business enterprise. How we get it is up to us, but inside information directly accessed by corporate or government agencies and individuals should not be allowed to skew the market or profit anyone. However, I do not know how to regulate it without jeapardizing freedom of information, or personal liberty.
The United States congress is a criminal enterprise, public service is nothing but a cover and sham. But who can you blame, the herd of sheep continue to elect these clowns time and again. Changing the systems through ballot boxes is nothing but pipe dream.
Wow. The corruption just keeps getting bigger!
Democracy is dead. We are fooling ourselves to think otherwise.
@Joel
> How about this coming year, we write in “none of you thieves and liars”. If 50 million Americans actually made their collective disgusted voices heard, something would get done, but since you all never do what’s best for the coun try as a whole, this too will not happen.
>
All it takes is someone to mobilize the people to do this. Why not you?
If not you, then not me, and not him, and not her, and not a 50 million others. No one.
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The advertising catchphrase is "The Gravy Taste Dogs Can't Wait to Finish." Once on it you are addicted to it, and, I have to say this, " It is 'Something' every member of Congress or the Senate and other influentials can really sink their teeth into and never let go."
I hope that, In the United States of America we are all united in thinking, "We need bigger kennels."
I already had an opinion and voted before viewing the video. After the video, I say empower the people to, "Remove them all."
I would like to add to Steve Starr comment about the Dem. and Rep., I would say they are two wings on a Vampire Bat.
This is just another example of why we are doomed to have a crisis. I am not sure who has the will or the political clout to end this and many other perks of our political leaders. But until we do we will not have a governing body that is truly working in the interest of the country and its people.
Just ask Obama's mother in law what stock to pick,surely she would know after all she runs wall street,but you are not supposed to know that.
She wasn't sent to jail for insider trading. She was sent to jail for lying to an FBI agent.
I am always fascinated at the reaction to anything politicians do. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have been screwing over the public for decades but yet, you all keep voting them in. Wheneve a 3rd or 4th party candidate comes along, he never gets a chance to get elected. 95% of every election goes to either the left or the right (in combination). When a person who is actually centrist comes along, the public vilifies him as being too right or too far left, depending on their own stubborn selfishness. So to summerize, the voters keep sending wealthy lawyers back to congress every couple of years and when they act like the slime they are, yuo are all surprised. How about this coming year, we write in "none of you thieves and liars". If 50 million Americans actually made their collective disgusted voices heard, something would get done, but since you all never do what's best for the coun try as a whole, this too will not happen. Unfortunately, we have gone from being a nation of Americans to a collection of special interest groups: Rich, poor, middle class, Native-Americans, African-Americans, Italian-Americans, City dwellers, suburbanites, rural folks, religious, atheists,and a thousand more. The fix would be easier if we all dumped our individual demands and stopped the selfishness, greed, and arrogance we have acquired, and once more got back to the cooperation,compromise, and true concern for our children and grandchildren that our parents and grandparents had. If the past generations acted like we do, this country would have never become the powerhouse it once was.
Oh wait a second. I thought that just letting the free market work is what we should be doing. I thought less regulation and less oversight was what we needed. Are not these congressman just exercising their free right to trade in a free market? It's capitalism baby.
Seriously, the only motive of a congressman should be is this good for my district and is this good for America. Whenever you introduce the greed variable: i.e. Is this good for my own personal trading account, you cease being a representative by and for the people.
And we're only talking 1 level deep here, let's say we go 2 or 3 levels deep. Any financial firm can give as much as they want to a candidate via buying stock that congressman holds and pushing it up in value and then the congressman selling. It's a virtually untraceable way to funnel endless amounts of money to a congressman.
Just remember, if you believe in capitalism and the free market to where you deny healthcare coverage or charge a family of 4 over $1,000 a month in healthcare, and you think there's nothing morally wrong with that, what's a little inside trading in the halls of congress?
They are corrupt people-Nancy Pelosi was lying through her plastic surgery...
Major action has been taken against all the top Wall Street firms resulting in over $2 trillion dollars in fines handed out since Obama took office. President Obama's track record for fining/penalizing top Wall Street firms is a hell of a lot better than what the republicans did during their 8 years in office.
The US government is one huge Mafia organization; the only difference being they operate under the cover of the laws they pass to enrich themselves. By what obscene standard are they permitted to trade on insider information? It is bad enough tat the stock markets are rigged by the Fed who dole out interest fee loans to the investment houses so they can shore up the markets to give the false impression that everything is under control and okay. Adding this perk to an already corrupt Congress is another reason to "throw the bums out". All of them. Democrats and Republicans. Absent that force them to take a oath, a riff on Grover Norquist no tax pledge that would force candidates for office to pledge they would not trade in stocks of companies that have a stake in legislation which comes under their committee purviews.
This was one of the greatest exposes 60 minutes has ever done. Politicians should be ashamed of themselves. How many actually do this? These guys are the scum of the nation. Keep the pressure on and don't let this story die. We need to have accountability and this is a perfect way to kick the low-life's out of office.
When will the citizens of this country stand up against these corrupt government people.
I know that we have our favorite political parties but watching 60 minutes the last two
weeks we should know that they are all corrupt. Democrats and Republicans alike. We elect
them and they go to Washington to represent themselves. They have no shame they are like pigs at a trough.
Even our supreme court is corrupt and people condone it. What will it take to get people to
open their eyes and take action? They do not represent us they represent themselves.
As insider trading is against the law why are they not prosecuted??. If found guilty, they should pay appropriate penalty i.e prison ( same as Martha Stewart ). Also how can convicted felons hold political office??. We all know that most politicians are liars and thieves, but insider trading goes to far
We sent Martha Stewart to jail for that same activity. How is it was have two classes of citizens?
Peace be on you,
The last time I read articles on our founding fathers desire to establish a land based on "the laws of Nature and of Nature's G-d" they were establishing a "REPUBLIC" so that all men within it would be held to the same standard.
It's stated that they did not desire for our elected representatives to be pros in it or to be treated differently by the laws of the land. Because ther knew that "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely",they desired for them to be provable,sincere, Creator fearing people, and they lay that responsibility on the hands of their local citizens who would know them for who and what they are.
Is this the picture that we see and experience today? Why, or why not? How will it change if it needs to be changed?
Seems Congress effectively keeps it's members outside the laws of the land and provides each member with elite status on all perks and expense they can get the treasury to pay for. Does not set a good example. I compare our Elected to the same people who live on the many welfare programs which has to be paid from the Treasury, programs that so good that people on welfare have no inclination on getting out and fending for themselves. Also, the Administration is bypassing the Congress on issues that Congress should have sole responsibility for addressing by using Executive orders to put them in to effect. This needs to STOP!
The largest contributor to the "Change we can believe in" president was Goldman Sachs. Funny thing, not one major prosecution of any of the top executives on Wall Street. The Republicans and Democrats are like two wings on one bird.