US Congress Indulges in Insider Trading

[ProfD]

https://www.newsweek.com/congress-insider-trading-isnt-scandalits-business-model-opinion-2060038

 

Part of the reason POTUS OJ is being allowed to get away with making his *deals* is because many politicians from both parties are equally crooked.

 

Democrats cannot call out certain foolishness from the current administration because they don't want to pulled on the carpet.

 

For example, Rep. Nancy Pelosi is worth 100s of millions of dollars. That's inconsistent with being a public servant.

 

Both sides, red and blue, enrich themselves at the public's expense. Reminds me of the pimps in the pulpit who profit from the parishioners.

 

Congress has been asked to introduce legislation to eliminate insider trading. Let's see how quickly they push it through.

[Pioneer1]

 

Congress indulges in insider trading????

I thought this was common knowledge.


How can people rub elbows with, have regular meetings with, and go to parties with business owners and corporation executives and NOT use that to their advantage?

You have a good friend who's an executive at Tesla and she just told you that the corporation is going belly up and the bottom is about to fall out any month now.
You'd be a FOOL to simply "ignore" that information and not act on it.

[ProfD]

2 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

 

Congress indulges in insider trading????

I thought this was common knowledge.


How can people rub elbows with, have regular meetings with, and go to parties with business owners and corporation executives and NOT use that to their advantage?

Public servants are strictly forbidden from using their offices to enrich themselves.

 

Playing the stock market would definitely be a violation for public servants who have access to that  information. 

 

2 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

You have a good friend who's an executive at Tesla and she just told you that the corporation is going belly up and the bottom is about to fall out any month now.
You'd be a FOOL to simply "ignore" that information and not act on it.

There's different ways to do it without hanging a neon sign on the door to announce...I'm doing it my d8mn self.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

Public servants are strictly forbidden from using their offices to enrich themselves.

Playing the stock market would definitely be a violation for public servants who have access to that  information. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah.....and "treat your neighbor as yourself" and "if a man slaps you turn the other cheek".

These may SOUND like good phrases, put they aren't practiced by most people in reality INCLUDING most politicians.
....and we shouldn't EXPECT them to.

We should EXPECT people who get into a job....political or otherwise...to not only fulfil the duties of that job but to also ENRICH themselves in it where at all possible.

Politicians aren't priests.
They didn't take a vow of poverty.

Pay them enough to deter the temptation of theft and misuse of public funds, but at the end of the day....allow them to get as rich as they can as long as it's not the expense of their constituents.

[ProfD]

2 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

We should EXPECT people who get into a job....political or otherwise...to not only fulfil the duties of that job but to also ENRICH themselves in it where at all possible.

We should expect them to follow the same rules and laws as applied to the citizens too.

 

2 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Politicians aren't priests.
They didn't take a vow of poverty.

Public service comes with an expectation of fiduciary responsibility.

 

2 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Pay them enough to deter the temptation of theft and misuse of public funds, but at the end of the day....allow them to get as rich as they can as long as it's not the expense of their constituents.

The salaries and benefits of public servants in Congress are very generous compared to the average worker. 

 

Most politicians in Congress are already well-off. If not, they make enough connections while in office to enrich themselves once out of office.

 

The bottom line is that Congress should not be insider trading. The same crime that gets anyone else prison time. Just ask Martha Stewart.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

 

We should expect them to follow the same rules and laws as applied to the citizens too.

 

Lol...I don't.

 

1. Whether they SHOULD follow all of the same rules and laws as private citizens is debatable, in my opinion.

 

2. And even if we agree that they should; with their positions of power and knowledge I don't EXPECT them to follow those rules anyway.

 

 

The salaries and benefits of public servants in Congress are very generous compared to the average worker. 

 

The actual salary of the typical U.S. Congressman is UNDER $200,000 a year.
That's not enough money for someone who is charged with managing entire districts worth billions, overseeing and having meetings with billionaires and multi-billion dollar corporations, and meeting with dignitaries from around the planet.

 

 

Most politicians in Congress are already well-off. If not, they make enough connections while in office to enrich themselves once out of office.

 

I believe the original intention for Congress was for the Representatives to earn their ENTIRE living outside of the government.
They were styled to be otherwise ordinary citizens with jobs/businesses outside of Washington who would convene at the Capital only a few times out of the year to make or manage a bare minimum of laws and oversights before going back to their normal gigs.

 

 

 

 

The bottom line is that Congress should not be insider trading. The same crime that gets anyone else prison time. Just ask Martha Stewart.

 

Or perhaps another way to look at it is NOBODY should be going to prison for insider trading whether they're politicians or private citizens.

It's not a violent crime.
It's almost victimless...so why are people's freedoms being stripped of them and their records being ruined for it????

[ProfD]

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

The actual salary of the typical U.S. Congressman is UNDER $200,000 a year.

That's not enough money for someone who is charged with managing entire districts worth billions, overseeing and having meetings with billionaires and multi-billion dollar corporations, and meeting with dignitaries from around the planet.

Congress people do not manage anything in their districts. They sit on Capitol Hill representing their constituents and working on legislation. 

 

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Or perhaps another way to look at it is NOBODY should be going to prison for insider trading whether they're politicians or private citizens.

Those laws won't be changing any time soon. 

5 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

It's not a violent crime.
It's almost victimless...so why are people's freedoms being stripped of them and their records being ruined for it????

There's no shortage of victim-less crimes but laws are written and enforced to maintain order and keep people in check.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

I'm not saying that it shouldn't be illegal; I'm saying the punishment doesn't fit the crime...in my opinion.

Even if they got MILLIONS of dollars through deceptive and dishonest means, if nobody personally got killed or harmed by it and in the case of stocks...people may have lost out on some SHARES but generally speaking no individual's financial life was ruined -then why are people being locked up in prison for years over something NON-violent???

The same with writing a bad check.
I agree it should be illegal, but do people deserve to be locked up for it?
Not in my opinion.

[ProfD]

14 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

I'm not saying that it shouldn't be illegal; I'm saying the punishment doesn't fit the crime...in my opinion.

Are you suggesting the punishment for insider trading should be similar to loitering or jaywalking?

 

14 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Even if they got MILLIONS of dollars through deceptive and dishonest means, if nobody personally got killed or harmed by it...

There are legal ways of getting millions of dollars through deceptive and dishonest means...religion comes to mind.

 

14 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

and in the case of stocks...people may have lost out on some SHARES but generally speaking no individual's financial life was ruined -then why are people being locked up in prison for years over something NON-violent???

The same with writing a bad check.
I agree it should be illegal, but do people deserve to be locked up for it?
Not in my opinion.

Folks are imprisoned as a deterrent to committing crimes. 

 

Otherwise, there would be even more criminals if folks knew there was no punishment for non-violent crimes.

[Pioneer1]

 

ProfD

 

Are you suggesting the punishment for insider trading should be similar to loitering or jaywalking?

No, but consider these 2 crimes and there respective penalties:
 

INSIDER TRADING

Quote

 

If you are convicted in a criminal insider trading prosecution, you are subject to a maximum of $5 million in fines as an individual (up to $25 million for a business entity), up to 20 years imprisonment, or both fine and imprisonment.
 

Consequences of Insider Trading Charges | Wallin & Klarich Law

 

 

 

 

FELONIOUS ASSAULT

Quote

Assault with a deadly weapon is sometimes called a felonious assault. Assault with a deadly weapon under MCL 750.81d is punishable by up to four years in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both, and then up to five years of probation.
Is Aggravated Assault a Felony? Aggravated Assault Michigan | Michigan Criminal Lawyers

 

Do you think it's "justice" that a person can theoretically get more time in prison for dishonest stock market activity than if they actually assault someone with a deadly weapon???
 

 

 

 

Folks are imprisoned as a deterrent to committing crimes. 

Just like there are other ways to make millions without lying, there are other ways to deter crime without enacting draconian laws....that STILL don't deter them anyway but simply force people to be more clever in breaking them.

[ProfD]

4 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Do you think it's "justice" that a person can theoretically get more time in prison for dishonest stock market activity than if they actually assault someone with a deadly weapon???

Just like there are other ways to make millions without lying, there are other ways to deter crime without enacting draconian laws....that STILL don't deter them anyway but simply force people to be more clever in breaking them.

Right. There's no shortage of imbalance in our laws and criminal justice system.

 

Anything that has to do with money will be punished more harshly than harming or taking a life.

 

Injured and unalived people and prisoners generate more money for the economy. It's a 2-for-1 deal.

 

In other words, the system lets us know where it places value and what it protects in the way laws are enforced.