WOW! Legal bribery and corruption in the US congress.

person

60 minutes reported tonight that its legal for congressmen to accept initial stock offerings and use non public information to trade stocks.

(CBS News) Washington, D.C. is a town that runs on inside information - but should our elected officials be able to use that information to pad their own pockets? As Steve Kroft reports, members of Congress and their aides have regular access to powerful political intelligence, and many have made well-timed stock market trades in the very industries they regulate. For now, the practice is perfectly legal, but some say it's time for the law to change.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57323527/congress-trading-stock-on-inside-information/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

You can watch the 15 minute report at this link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7388130n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

DaltheJigsaw

Wow! Thanks for sharing! Crazy!

compassionate_warrior

Good old 60 Minutes! Reporting from the front lines of corruption so we can stay informed. I'm glad they're still going strong.

federica

What surprises me is that this surprises you.....

There always has been, and always will be, all manner of means fair or foul, in which they will circumvent the law as Joe Public knows it...

person

I guess what surprises me is not that there is corruption but that its perfectly legal, it isn't a circumvention of the law at all.

federica

Well, if we tried it, it would be. One Law for them, one for us.

we recently had a spate of prosecutions in the UK when many politicians, from all the Political parties, seriously abused their expenses budgets. They fought tooth and nail to insist that they had every legitimate right to claim for a garden fountain or brass ornament, because it counted as a 'legitimate' expense.

Two MPs have actually gone to prison for cheating the UK taxpayer out of more than £500,000...... Bizarre and ridiculous claims on their expense accounts.

Maybe if the US senate had that kind of a threat hanging over them.....

patbb

What surprises me is that this surprises you...

haha

well said. same here.

the whole system is corrupted beyond reason in the united states.
the lobby thing is absurd and the fact that politicians need to raise enormous amount of money from corps in order to compete against the other guy leaves me speechless.
(If you want to do anything that goes against corp benefits, they'll just support the other guy and leave you penny less for your campaign.)

There is no hope for united states, all parties play this same game.

Kwantum_Kev

Personally, no matter how many times I hear about how inherent corruption is, it still amazes me. It amazes me to think that some people can put their heads on their pillows at night and sleep soundly, knowing they are misusing power they have been granted.

Perhaps, if I was a less compassionate, or more ego-oriented person, it wouldn't surprise me because I could relate to how unconnected they must be, and how much ignorance they are living in to think that they can do something to someone else without it effecting them.

Should it surprise me, considering that it's been going on for thousands of years? Maybe not. But for me, the surprise is a sign to myself that though it seems to be pervasive and epidemic, and has for some time, it is not the right way of being, not is it conducive to relieving the suffering of all beings.


Kwan Kev

I_AM_THAT

Greed will always be a major cause for pain and suffering... There are many things that we are not aware of with all governments.

zombiegirl

@Kwantum_Kev very well said. i feel the same. i think it's natural to try and understand and empathize with people, even criminals, but it is so hard to do with the extremely greed filled individuals. i'm frequently called a gullible person because i always try to see the best in people and try not to be jaded. perhaps things like this shouldn't surprise me anymore... but it still does.

on a small scale, if someone drops money or overpays me at my job... i always tell them despite the fact that others frequently call me stupid for it. i don't care. it's the right thing to do. the people that call me dumb for honesty are probably the same people that given the opportunity and position, would do just the same as these politicians. some people just get away with as much as allowed.

person

Update Feb, 9 congress passed a watered down version of a bill that would make it illegal (just as it is for everyone else) for members of congress and their staff to benefit from insider trading.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/stock-act-passes-insider-trading-congress-_n_1265423.html

The Daily Show did a good bit on it:

Part 1: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-15-2012/stockblockers

Part 2: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-15-2012/stockblockers---political-intelligence

And then Jon interviewed one of the authors of the bill:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-15-2012/louise-slaughter

Dakini

Wow--miracles do happen!

person

Wow--miracles do happen!

Maybe not. The bill really is a watered down one and there appear to be loopholes, so we'll see.

Dakini

*aargh* The dreaded "L" word: loopholes! The way I see it, either do it or don't, but don't do some half-hearted, enough-loopholes-for-a-sieve meaningless job of it, y'know? (grr)