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He's a writer, not a congressman. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge or Stock Act was passed less than 5 months after this 60 Minutes piece aired.
"Congress: Trading stock on inside information? November 13, 2011 4:02 PM Steve Kroft reports that members of Congress can legally trade stock based on non-public information from Capitol Hill... Peter Schweizer is a fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford University. A year ago he began working on a book about soft corruption in Washington with a team of eight student researchers, who reviewed financial disclosure records. It became a jumping off point for our own story, and we have independently verified the material we've used." http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57323527/congress-exempt-from-insider-trading-laws
Well, it's thoroughly depressing. As someone who has been a Democrat my whole adult life, to see Republicans outdoing Democrats on the issue of doing battle with entrenched financial power really turns my stomach.
What an f-ing disaster this administration has been. First throwing the unemployed under the bus to wage battle against deficits. Then letting fraudsters go scott free.
Update: I just realized I completely forgot to credit the person who first suggested casino regulation-- Warren Mosler (though he may have been kidding). :o)
The Republicans are paying very close attention to the Occupy movement and are currently working out how to simultaneously attack Obama from the left and right (Luntz has already spoken publicly about this).
Even a Democrat who'd never dream of crossing over is still worth half a vote to them if they just stay home. So the GOP pollsters will be curious to know which reverse dog whistle would depress Dan more, Romney's support of indexing the minimum wage or him saying, ”The 1 percents doing fine, I want to help the 99 percent. I want to help middle Americans get jobs that pay good wages”... That sort of thing.
Perhaps it has to go beyond individual companies, and also to sector ETFs that can be effected by Congress macro policies.
Remember GOPer Eric Cantor had the ultra short UST ETF symbol TBT in his porfolio and was advocating for NOT raising the "debt ceiling" which many thought could cause a default due to "unwillingness to pay".
This is a comment from Beo from a while back:
"[Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.)], the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, bought up to $15,000 in shares of ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury ETF last December [2009], according to his 2009 financial disclosure statement. The exchange-traded fund takes a short position in long-dated government bonds. In effect, it is a bet against U.S. government bonds — and perhaps on inflation in the future... The fund is down 31 percent this year [as of June 2010]. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/06/18/eric-cantors-investment/?mod=e2tw
I would go further than that. I would say that anybody that holds public office for any length of time, be required to take a "vow of poverty," and become a "ward of the state" - Maybe I should add a "vow of chastity" as well ;-)
beowulf: "No, the real benefit of MMR to financial types is it shows how they buy off public antipathy essentially for free. If we had universal Medicare and a negative income tax system that quietly redistributed economic gains as the economy grows more productive, Wall Street would be left alone to do whatever it wants without anyone else caring (the castle is not safe if the cottage is unhappy)."
For the life of me, I can't figure out why they haven't figured one that out. Seems like a no brainer. Can't be because they don't get the fiat system. If they wanted to do it, they would just get the political restraints removed. Fear of inflation, distrust of politicians with an unlimited purse?
And why business in general is resistant to single payer, since it would make them more competitive externally. That makes no sense.
"For the life of me, I can't figure out why they haven't figured one that out. Seems like a no brainer."
Tom, I look at it as the true "no brainer" is the path which they find themselves on ... they are caught up in something that is literally denying them the use of certain parts of the brains contained in their own human bodies (neocortex apparently, complete shutdown).
And I think you are correct in your foresight that "inflation" will be their next concern (if they get past the "govt as household" falsehood > "inflation" is next).
I would point out that the word here: "inflation" is another metaphor we happen upon again in this. A metaphor describing a dreaded weakening or dilution of the abstract concept that has become to them, a tangible object of obsession ie so-called "money".
Matt, inflation is always the fear in the case of a non-convertible floating rate "fiat" currency as opposed to "sound money." Ron Paul's argument perfectly logical from that point of view. Without a real teether, the fear is that the politicians who "control the purse strings" constitutionally, will spend beyond the ability to supply. It just means that old arguments will be resurrected, once the insolvency one is dispatched.
This has ben the traditional objection to social spending. "spending ourselves into the poorhouse" and "going broke due to unfunded obligations" are relatively new ones.
The financial sector apparently figures that credit money doesn't have this inflation problem since credit money creation through loans > deposits is controlled by the credit extension process involving credit assessment that limits loans — except when it doesn't.
"So I say they all have to go into a blind trust with perhaps a selection of investment objective."
? We're already trusting the metaphorically deaf, dumb, blind AND ignorant.
Can't get much more blind than that. Well, maybe if we require hens being guarded by foxes to be blinded by the ignorance? FICKLE-CLOWN theory says the foxes will soon get so fat that all the hens will escape.
Werks feather me! Tar too. Does Amtrak still work?
14 comments:
Schweizer is a Republican.
Pardon me while I wipe the egg of my face.
Fixed. Thanks for pointing that out Dan,
Apologies to Mr. Schweizer for the confusion.
He's a writer, not a congressman. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge or Stock Act was passed less than 5 months after this 60 Minutes piece aired.
"Congress: Trading stock on inside information?
November 13, 2011 4:02 PM
Steve Kroft reports that members of Congress can legally trade stock based on non-public information from Capitol Hill... Peter Schweizer is a fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford University. A year ago he began working on a book about soft corruption in Washington with a team of eight student researchers, who reviewed financial disclosure records. It became a jumping off point for our own story, and we have independently verified the material we've used."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57323527/congress-exempt-from-insider-trading-laws
Well, it's thoroughly depressing. As someone who has been a Democrat my whole adult life, to see Republicans outdoing Democrats on the issue of doing battle with entrenched financial power really turns my stomach.
What an f-ing disaster this administration has been. First throwing the unemployed under the bus to wage battle against deficits. Then letting fraudsters go scott free.
Update: I just realized I completely forgot to credit the person who first suggested casino regulation-- Warren Mosler (though he may have been kidding). :o)
"Well, it's thoroughly depressing..."
The Republicans are paying very close attention to the Occupy movement and are currently working out how to simultaneously attack Obama from the left and right (Luntz has already spoken publicly about this).
Even a Democrat who'd never dream of crossing over is still worth half a vote to them if they just stay home.
So the GOP pollsters will be curious to know which reverse dog whistle would depress Dan more, Romney's support of indexing the minimum wage or him saying, ”The 1 percents doing fine, I want to help the 99 percent. I want to help middle Americans get jobs that pay good wages”... That sort of thing.
beowulf. "He's a writer, not a congressman."
Some days are bad hair days and some days bad head days. :)
Thanks for the correction. Fixed.
Perhaps not so fast...
Perhaps it has to go beyond individual companies, and also to sector ETFs that can be effected by Congress macro policies.
Remember GOPer Eric Cantor had the ultra short UST ETF symbol TBT in his porfolio and was advocating for NOT raising the "debt ceiling" which many thought could cause a default due to "unwillingness to pay".
This is a comment from Beo from a while back:
"[Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.)], the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, bought up to $15,000 in shares of ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury ETF last December [2009], according to his 2009 financial disclosure statement. The exchange-traded fund takes a short position in long-dated government bonds. In effect, it is a bet against U.S. government bonds — and perhaps on inflation in the future... The fund is down 31 percent this year [as of June 2010].
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/06/18/eric-cantors-investment/?mod=e2tw
Here is the original post:
http://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.com/2011/02/house-majority-leader-eric-cantor-in.html
So I say they all have to go into a blind trust with perhaps a selection of investment objective.
Resp,
Matt,
I would go further than that. I would say that anybody that holds public office for any length of time, be required to take a "vow of poverty," and become a "ward of the state" - Maybe I should add a "vow of chastity" as well ;-)
beowulf: "No, the real benefit of MMR to financial types is it shows how they buy off public antipathy essentially for free. If we had universal Medicare and a negative income tax system that quietly redistributed economic gains as the economy grows more productive, Wall Street would be left alone to do whatever it wants without anyone else caring (the castle is not safe if the cottage is unhappy)."
For the life of me, I can't figure out why they haven't figured one that out. Seems like a no brainer. Can't be because they don't get the fiat system. If they wanted to do it, they would just get the political restraints removed. Fear of inflation, distrust of politicians with an unlimited purse?
And why business in general is resistant to single payer, since it would make them more competitive externally. That makes no sense.
"For the life of me, I can't figure out why they haven't figured one that out. Seems like a no brainer."
Tom, I look at it as the true "no brainer" is the path which they find themselves on ... they are caught up in something that is literally denying them the use of certain parts of the brains contained in their own human bodies (neocortex apparently, complete shutdown).
And I think you are correct in your foresight that "inflation" will be their next concern (if they get past the "govt as household" falsehood > "inflation" is next).
I would point out that the word here: "inflation" is another metaphor we happen upon again in this. A metaphor describing a dreaded weakening or dilution of the abstract concept that has become to them, a tangible object of obsession ie so-called "money".
They are in a very dark place...
resp,
Matt, inflation is always the fear in the case of a non-convertible floating rate "fiat" currency as opposed to "sound money." Ron Paul's argument perfectly logical from that point of view. Without a real teether, the fear is that the politicians who "control the purse strings" constitutionally, will spend beyond the ability to supply. It just means that old arguments will be resurrected, once the insolvency one is dispatched.
This has ben the traditional objection to social spending. "spending ourselves into the poorhouse" and "going broke due to unfunded obligations" are relatively new ones.
The financial sector apparently figures that credit money doesn't have this inflation problem since credit money creation through loans > deposits is controlled by the credit extension process involving credit assessment that limits loans — except when it doesn't.
@ Matt Franko
"So I say they all have to go into a blind trust with perhaps a selection of investment objective."
? We're already trusting the metaphorically deaf, dumb, blind AND ignorant.
Can't get much more blind than that. Well, maybe if we require hens being guarded by foxes to be blinded by the ignorance? FICKLE-CLOWN theory says the foxes will soon get so fat that all the hens will escape.
Werks feather me! Tar too. Does Amtrak still work?
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