Posted on 05/08/2015 10:33:45 AM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
In a little-noticed brief filed last summer, lawyers for the House of Representatives claimed that an SEC investigation of congressional insider trading should be blocked on principle, because lawmakers and their staff are constitutionally protected from such inquiries given the nature of their work.
The legal team led by Kerry W. Kircher, who was appointed House General Counsel by Speaker John Boehner in 2011, claimed that the insider trading probe violated the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branch.
In 2012, members of Congress patted themselves on the back for passing the STOCK Act, a bill meant to curb insider trading for lawmakers and their staff. “We all know that Washington is broken and today members of both parties took a big step forward to fix it,” said Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, upon passage of the law.
But as the Securities and Exchange Commission made news with the first major investigation of political insider trading, Congress moved to block the inquiry. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at firstlook.org ...
Fox, henhouse and all that.
last summer, when Nancy Pelosi was in charge........................there’ fixed it.....................
This is just damn pure corruption. Our rulers are above the law, and they are waving it in our faces.
It’s not only the members of congress....but their staffs that exploit this.
Insider trading - plus nepotism, fraud, theft, graft, generalized corruption, election-fixing... congress can’t be investigated for any of that; it’s in the constitution.
I wonder how much longer it will be before the American experiment implodes.
[It’s not only the members of congress....but their staffs that exploit this.]
And the friends, family and brokers of the staff.
Well, Okay if they say so.
Indeed. In fact, the insider trading was legislated against a couple of years back, but the staffers raised such hell (according to reports) that it was quietly slipped into other legislation and enacted again.
Scoundrels.
They’re right. If the Court can arraign (and imprison)congressional members, then the federal government will lose the independence of one of its branches.
The executive and the judges (appointed by the executive) will put an end to opposition.
The only safe recourse to congressional corruption is for the people to throw the rascals out.
If they don’t, then they get the kind of government they deserve.
Corrupt bastards protecting their license to steal.
Must be nice to be an oligarch.
They should be investigated, violators arrested and imprisoned for LONG terms.
surely this must be a parody no??
Of course the courts can’t do anything about it. When a long train of abuses and usurpations...
Congress regularly exempts themselves from laws they write for the rest of us. The first time I noticed this on my own was during a debate on the American’s With Disabilities law. A Congressman protested, “Do you have any idea what it would cost to upgrade our buildings and offices?” The answer was, “We’ll exempt ourselves.”
Given the nature of their work they should be even more culpable when they do it. Their arguments make no sense.
“Insider trading - plus nepotism, fraud, theft, graft, generalized corruption, election-fixing... congress can’t be investigated for any of that; it’s in the constitution.”
Remember when Pelosi was handed a block of VISA stock 2 months before the IPO.
Her comment? “ Thanks a lot, Visa”
Shades of another rewrite of a scene from The Gradual Decline of Western Civilization aka The Graduate
DustMeOff Hoffmeoister and the Pool scene
Trust me Kid.. The future is in.. Big Gubamint!
Find a teat or two and squeeze all ya can out of it.
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