60 Minutes - Congress Trading On Inside Information

60 Minutes Video - Nov. 14, 2011

• Read the story at CBS

I caught this segment a few Sundays ago.  It's nothing new to Bail readers, as we've done a few stories on this, but the clip did generate some action on Capitol Hill as reported today by the NYT.  Also, there is an Indiana University Law professor who claims that (contrary to popular belief and 60 Minutes) members of Congress are not exempt from insider trading laws.

Comments

[DailyBail]

All This Botched SWAT Team Raid Achieved Was a Man’s Death

http://gawker.com/5862858/all-this-botched-swat-team-raid-achieved-was-a-mans-death

[ETM]

Something I got from the comments on that link DB:

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/11/26/us-senate-to-vote-on-bill-that-will-allow-the-military-to-arrest-americans-on-american-soil-and-hold-them-indefinitely/

Between this and the Internet censorship bill I'd say we've stopped "slowly backsliding" and have truly fallen off a precipice.

All so a few thousand people (who may be "citizens" but for all intents are people without a country and loyal only to themselves) can have a bigger slice of the pie.

[DailyBail]

In the 1970s, only a small percentage – about 3% – of retiring members of Congress went on to become lobbyists. But by 2009, more than 30% did, as the profession grew incredibly lucrative. Wall Street is very generous when it comes to buying influence – former chairs of Congressional committees and subcommittees are paid upwards of $2 million a year to influence legislation in their former committees.

http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2011/11/28/congress-insider-trading-lobbyists/

[S. Gompers]

Try getting the good old boys club to do something about it.

[ETM]

DB, you can see the problem in an oblique way just by visiting DC and looking around at home prices. It is the only place in the country where home prices continue to rise! Where you used to be able to buy a 1000 square foot townhome (that's a smallish 2 bedroom) for 200k - 300k (affordable with two decent salaries, say doctors, engineers, scientists, professors, etc), you can now buy the same home for 3/4 of a million. Want a garage or an extra bedroom? You're well over a million now. Last month I randomly walked into an open house in Georgetown for a truly miserable, circa 1980s one-bedroom "condo" that they had the gall to ask 650k for! I wouldn't give them 50! There is a ton of poisonous money floating around that town and you can feel it just walking around.

[ChristianTruth]

Ah goo not exempt: What's the chance Pelosi goes down in flames next week?

[Texas Dar]

Ah goo not exempt: What's the chance Pelosi goes down in flames next week?

That would be a prayer answered, for sure...............

[SageBrush]

Looks like the Sold Out Bankster Senate is going to make sure the CFPB is put on hold till they can figure out how to gut it completely.

How do these corrupt morally bankrupt money mongers get reelected for term after term?

http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/08/news/economy/consumer_bureau_confirmation/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

[john]

Why Is Eric Cantor Blocking the Congressional Insider Trading Act?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45612773?__source=google%7Ceditorspicks%7C&par=google

[John]

From my previous entry....

Why Is Eric Cantor Blocking the Congressional Insider Trading Act?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45612773?__source=google%7Ceditorspicks%7C&par=google


UPDATE:

Rep. Eric Cantor Blocked Foreclosure Crisis Fix While Owning A Financial Stake In Mortgage Businesses

http://www.republicreport.org/2012/cantor-mortgage-crisis-profit/

[snip]

–- Cantor invested in several mortgage banks, and owned a portion of a Cantor-family run mortgage company. According to Cantor’s 2009 personal finance disclosure, Cantor owned up to a $500,000 share of a mortgage company called TrustMor run by his brother.

–- While Cantor blocked a fix to the foreclosure crisis, his wife Diane Cantor served as the managing director of a bank with a high foreclosure rate. Diane Cantor at the time worked as a managing director to New York Private Bank & Trust, a major mortgage bank and TARP recipient. SNL Financial later reported that Cantor’s bank was among the top three banks in the mortgage business “with the the greatest percentage of family loans in the foreclosure process.”

[John]

DELETED: See How Eric Cantor Fulfilled Wall Street’s Wish And Gutted The Stock Act

http://www.republicreport.org/2012/stock-act-cantor/

[snip]

Last week, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) attached a strong transparency amendment to the Stock Act that requires political intelligence firms to register as lobbying firms. The political intelligence industry consists of lobbyists and other K Street consultants who mine Congress for inside information to then sell to Wall Street speculators. Grassley’s modest amendment simply required these firms to register as any other lobbying interest — but Wall Street prefers secrecy. As the New York Times reported, the big banks and hedge funds mobilized quickly over the last few days to strip this provision. And, it turns out that House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), who managed the Stock Act’s vote today, actually removed Grassley’s amendment only 24 hours before the vote. See a screen shot of the deletion below:

[John]

Here is an update from 60 Minutes that aired at the very end of the program last night:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7398557n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

Note: While they take credit for congress looking into the matter, the programs producers should have been paying attention to what I have mentioned in my last 2 comments (above) prior to this post.

[John]

UPDATE:

Congress members face new curbs on insider trading

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/22/us-usa-congress-insidertrading-idUSBRE82L0WZ20120322

[snip]

The Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to send President Barack Obama legislation imposing new curbs on insider trading by members of Congress, even though the measure was weaker than a version it passed in February.

Note: How telling... "even though the measure was WEAKER than a version it passed in February".

[Sagebrush]

"even though the measure was WEAKER than a version it passed in February".

John, I think they pretty much Gutted it before they voted to send it to Obankster.

[John]

I know.