Congressional staff playing the stock market

[reefraff]

Very interesting. A person working for the Wall Street Journal or New York Times financial pages who use "inside" information gained through their employment to make stock trades will be fined and or jailed for violating the insider trading laws. Members of Congressional staffs with information pertaining to pending Congressional funding for specific projects are immune from the same laws.
So if a reporter interviews a CEO who tells him that he's heard they have the low big for a huge government project and uses that information as the basis of buying stock in that company he broke the law and is subject to prosecution.
If a member of a Congressman's or Senator's staff who KNOWS they have the lowest bid does the same thing that's ok, they are immune from the law.
Is this a great country or what?

 

[monsinour]

Keep in mind, these are people who vote to give themselves pay raises. Has one of those votes ever gone down? I doubt it.
Not only are they exempt from that, but lets not get into how much $ they take from lobbists for said projects.

 

[stdreb27]

You want to really get your toes curling, look at how rich some of these congressmen were before they went into congress, then now after a few years in...

 

[fishtaco]

Those where all Democratic Congressmen though right?
Fishtaco

 

[stdreb27]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishtaco http:///forum/thread/381111/congressional-staff-playing-the-stock-market#post_3318479
Those where all Democratic Congressmen though right?
Fishtaco
not really, but it was a democrat who had a freezer full of cash then made rescue workers stop what they were doing and driving him to his house so he could check on his freezer.... And he's still in congress..

 

[reefraff]

Quote:
Originally Posted by stdreb27 http:///forum/thread/381111/congressional-staff-playing-the-stock-market#post_3318489
not really, but it was a democrat who had a freezer full of cash then made rescue workers stop what they were doing and driving him to his house so he could check on his freezer.... And he's still in congress..
No, they tossed that guy out last election but did re elect the guy after the pathetic Katrina incident and after he was shown on tape taking the bribe. Doesn't match people in Florida electing Alcee Hastings to congress. He had previously been a judge and was impeached for taking bribes. I just don't get what people are thinking when they vote for people like that.

 

[fishtaco]

Quote:
Originally Posted by stdreb27 http:///forum/thread/381111/congressional-staff-playing-the-stock-market#post_3318489
not really, but it was a democrat who had a freezer full of cash then made rescue workers stop what they were doing and driving him to his house so he could check on his freezer.... And he's still in congress..
Geez, that reminds me I need to pull another stack of hundreds out of my freezer, you know because that is normal and represents average Americans. Probably the saddest case for me of a person in Congress going bad was Duke Cunningham after his outstanding service record.
Fishtaco

 

[reefraff]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishtaco http:///forum/thread/381111/congressional-staff-playing-the-stock-market#post_3318506
Geez, that reminds me I need to pull another stack of hundreds out of my freezer, you know because that is normal and represents average Americans. Probably the saddest case for me of a person in Congress going bad was Duke Cunningham after his outstanding service record.
Fishtaco
Cunningham was proof DC can corrupt anyone. Not the kind of person you'd expect to go bad.