Posted on 11/11/2011 9:54:02 AM PST by kcvl
As many as a dozen members of Congress and their aides took part in insider trading based on foreknowledge of market moving information on Capitol Hill, disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff told CNBC in an interview.
Abramoff, who was once one of the wealthiest and most powerful lobbyists in Washington before a corruption scandal sent him to federal prison for more than three years, said that many of those members of Congress bragged to him about their stock trading prowess while dining at the exclusive restaurant he owned on Pennsylvania Avenue.
But Abramoff, whose black trench coat and fedora became one of the most notorious images in recent Washington history after his fall from grace, said he didn't play the stock market himself — he considered it an inherently unfair "casino" in which the house had far more information than the players. Abramoff made most of his fortune representing — and, as it turned out, duping — Native American tribes rich with cash from casino operations.
The former lobbyist said the amounts members of Congress earned trading off their inside knowledge ranged from as little as $2,000 to, as much as "several hundred thousand dollars," that was claimed by one member of Congress.
Abramoff declined to name the members of Congress.
"It was more, 'Look at me, I'm a real great stock trader,'" Abramoff told CNBC of the congressional bragging. "All of a sudden somebody from a background maybe in law, maybe in some other unrelated business area, all of a sudden is picking winners and losers in the market."
Corruption to the core.
Kind like Hillary and her $100,000 cattle futures score, huh?
its OK though, because members of Congress have exempted themselves from insider trading laws
(i am NOT joking about that)
I’ve read it’s a good strategy to invest in what Congressmen invest in since they’re privy to insider info and can act on it without fear of prosecution.
Yeah, It’s high time we as The People DEMAND that Congress get the same retirement package and insurance coverage as the least of us.
Probably alway have had inside info.
Better yet, they have the ability to *adjust* the Rules and Regs effecting the market.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Robert Wenzel
Editor & Publisher
Members of Congress Are Exempt from Insider Trading Laws and Make 9% Per Year Trading on Inside Information
I wasn’t aware of this, but apparently the damn hypocrite members of Congress are exempt from insider trading laws, when they vote on legislation that will impact their portfolio and as a result of knowledge they gain from their Congressional activities. Nice that the bastards have exempted themselves.
Valerie Richardson at the Washington Times reports:
Strict laws ban corporate executives from trading on their insider knowledge, but no restrictions exist for members of Congress. Lawmakers are permitted to keep their holdings and trade shares on the market, as well as vote on legislation that could affect their portfolio values.
Not surprisingly, the data suggest that Congressmen are using
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/05/members-of-congress-are-exempt-from.html
This is huge. This is massively huge. This should be a major campaign issue this year.
Holy God.
Thank you very much for the additional information. I honestly had no idea, and here I thought I was somewhat politically aware.
House members in the know score ‘abnormal’ stock profits, study says
It’s no secret that members of Congress qualify as political insiders, but a new report strongly suggests that they also may be insiders when it comes to trading stocks.
An extensive study released Wednesday in the journal Business and Politics found that the investments of members of the House of Representatives outperformed those of the average investor by 55 basis points per month, or 6 percent annually, suggesting that lawmakers are taking advantage of inside information to fatten their stock portfolios.
“We find strong evidence that members of the House have some type of non-public information which they use for personal gain,” according to four academics who authored the study, “Abnormal Returns From the Common Stock Investments of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives.”
To the frustration of open-government advocates, lawmakers and their staff members largely have immunity from laws barring trading on insider knowledge that have sent many a private corporate chieftain to prison.
The watchdog group OpenSecrets.org said on its blog Wednesday that the findings suggest “that U.S. House members are using their powerful roles for more than just political gain.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/25/house-members-stock-market-success-questioned/
I was dumbfounded when I discovered that they had exempted themselves from insider trading laws. Yes, you’re right, it should be a big issue.
Other people go to jail for years for something Congress has permitted itself to do legally.
Yes it’s true!!
Their using alright! : )
Millions of people in this country would LOVE to make on avg...9% on their money.
Not to forget....Most if not all of these Congresscritters...have a broker. And I'm sure their brokers have "seen the light" and mirror the Congresscritters trades.
This "perk" should end.
No exemption exists for anybody viz. insider trading rules. Those regs were originally constructed so that you either had to have an explicit or implicit position of trust to be subject to the rule. Those you passed info to were also subject.
The SEC enacted rule 10b5-1 in 2000 to simplify the insider trading definition. So the issue is not that Congress has a de facto pass; it's that the SEC must enforce each action on a case by case basis.
I'm no lawyer. Maybe one will show up here on this thread to help us out. But the way I read this is yeah, maybe it's against the law, but the SEC has to step up and enforce it. And we all know that given the revolving door that exists between the SEC and the big trading houses and Congress, ain't nobody's going to be "enforcing" sh*t unless someone gets too greedy at the cookie jar and they have to bust someone just to save face.
Consider the value to a major stock trader of even an hour's advance notice that a particular piece of legislation now looks likely/unlikely to pass, or being told of the contents of a briefing on unfolding world events.
Interesting that two Dims proposed a bill to stop this....but it's keeps getting tabled.
Interesting too...that it's just the Senate, and "SCOTUS"???
Sing, Jack, Sing!
No names? This claim means nothing.
BTTT
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