House Passes, Waters Down STOCK Act
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Thursday to ban insider trading by members of Congress and to impose new ethics requirements on lawmakers and federal agency officials.
(Let's pause a moment to note that Congress had to pass a law that bans them from doing something illegal. Crickey.)
Now the bad news:
Democrats said that House Republican leaders had weakened the Senate-passed bill by stripping out a provision that would, for the first time, regulate firms that collect “political intelligence” for hedge funds, mutual funds and other investors. Under the Senate bill, such firms would have to register and report their activities, as lobbyists do.
Nothing like giving the hedge funds a little kickback in a bill that's supposed to create a firewall from members of Congress and Wall Street.
Please give a warning first.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Bank Began Making Max Dollar Donations To Eric Cantor One Month After His Wife Joined A Major Client’s Board
In April of 2010, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) appointed Diana Cantor — the wife of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) — to the Virginia Retirement System’s board. She became chair of the board two months later. One month after Ms. Cantor joined this board, the Bank of New York Mellon started making the maximum allowable contribution to Rep. Cantor’s PAC. The Virginia Retirement System is a $4.5 million per year client of Bank of New York Mellon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-...
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
probably because i've lived for so long. legal corruption. heinous.
And Republicans and Democrats are both happy that the bill was watered down before passing. It is a game and they are both on the same team.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Yup.
Bill or not, they could refrain from doing it of their own volition because it is illegal, dishonourable, dishonest and grossly unfair. Not to much too expect from they that represent their hard-working, upstanding constituents.
(OK, that was your laugh for the day.)
far left loon >.<
Our government needs to be rebooted...They are supposed to be there for the country's well being, not lining their own pockets,, and being career politicians...Term limits would be a good start, and life long appointments to the supreme court should be stopped and replaced with 4 year terms as well...most of these people congress and senators are lawyers....they know how to bend everything in their favor and to hell with everyone else...
At a 10% approval rating I think a total reboot is called for...
"reboot"
is that a new way to say revolution?
Philip Morris
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
...insider trading for elected officials is legal is because there is a regulalion that allows it in the first place.
regulations are the problem.
(way too many if you ask me)
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
Those 'regulations' that allow political elites to commit crimes are a bitch. That's the kind of regulation we can do without.
The other regulations, the ones that prevent monopolies, slave labor, criminal or negligent activities, those i can handle.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
prevent slave labor and criminal activity.
laws do.
regulations enable monopolies!
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
Regulations are laws. There is no difference. You are completely naive if you think corporations need government to gain monopolies. All they need is money.
Not to mentions regulations/laws are the only reason corporations exist in this country.
kickbacks should benefit from insider trading? Why would shares be available in the first place when all the traders knew what to pick and drop - they'd do so themselves.
Eric Cantor's wife has a pretty interesting story if anyone is interested. She was involved in a bank scandal involving the states retirement program supposedly.
Any investigative journalist who is competent should bring up the link to this hypocrisy anytime Eric Cantor is mentioned in a discussion.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Let me know when you find one.
Members of Congress should either be required to sell their stock when they enter office, or at the very least, put their money in a blind trust, so they can't engage in insider trading.
Yes. Make it so.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Requre congresscritters to disclose their holdings and eliminate the regulations that make elected officials exempt from insider trading since insider trading is actually illegal for most folks. who are not covered by "that regulation"
...whichever one of the millions of regulatons "that one" is.
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
just not congress because as natural born crooks they know how to get away with it.
not criticizing you, but that's what tricky dicky II did when he became veep, then shoveled money to Halliburton.
it is breath-taking, unbelievable, all those descriptive words. this is what you get under capitalism, as sure as the sun rises in the east (depending on your point of view i guess).
this is why i am not a democrat or republican, both parties are pimping the same snake oil, only the donkey fools people into believing the system can somehow be made more humane without a "reboot" as another poster puts it. this is sickening. we need
1- limits on commodity speculation
2- guaranteed employment
3- to abolish derivatives
4- basic industries treated as public utilities 9banking, energy, health care, etc)
5- revocation of corp. person-hood
for starters. this is the problem with the liberal, forgive me, "progressive" model, by engaging the opponent on their own terms, by leaving the capitalist system unmolested, the liberal model gives tacit approval to the same. i'm getting too old for this, too worn out. dreams die hard.
Agreed. So it is us, we the 99%, that must do the re-booting, otherwise it will never happen. In order for us to succeed, we must chose our government, our representation, wisely while we enforce the re-booting. This period while we re-boot is a very dangerous time - perfect opportunity for neo-fascists to take control and dash all hope of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In addition, it won't be easy. With a corporate media that likes the status quo just as much as the two parties, and an invisible government committed to maintaining that status quo, it will take an enormous majority of the people to move all that inertia. However, history shows that a large enough majority of the people involved in a movement does get things done.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
How fortunate our members of congress are that they can live the life of Mafia racketeers while none of it is illegal.
If it is illegal, they just pass a bill making it legal.
The legislative branch of American government consists of nothing but lowlife gangsters.
And there not a damn thing anybody can, or will, do about it.
When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in excess body fat & carrying a misspelled sign.
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who wrote the proposed disclosure requirement for political intelligence firms, said it was “astonishing and extremely disappointing that the House would fulfill Wall Street’s wishes by killing this provision.”
wall street's wishes? mr. cantor, care to answer a member of your party's charge that you and your house flunkies are doing wall st a favor?
they still can't profit from illegal trades. It'll be in there somewhere, along the lines of while they can't do it directly their staff still can (or something like that).
when is someone finally going to kick
cantor in his peanut balls for being a f#cking
wall street whore?
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
...you know...the pervert with the ball gag who was kept in the storage trunk in "Pulp Fiction."
Someone check IMDB. I think I'm onto something here.
"Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying..."-------Roger Waters, "Comfortably Numb"
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