Policy Makers Not Held to the Same Standards as Martha Stewart:

Insider Traders are Skating, and We're Paying Them for It!

Ah...I fondly remember the days of yore. I was a budding junior broker for Merrill Lynch, and the market was crashing. It was this time when the SEC set their sights on one particular CEO who had avoided a $43,000 +/- loss by selling off ImClone shares of common stock on a tip from her in-the-know Merrill Lynch broker. You may also remember her: Martha Stewart. The irony? We have members of our Congress blatantly participating in insider trading, with much higher stakes, and yet they receive not jail time, but a memo of warning from their Ethics Committee. The SEC doesn't investigate the Congress.

Seriously, people, when are we going to wake up and smell the swaptions? Martha made less than the national average median salary on her trade faux-pas in 2001, and her punishment was a fine of $30,000 and jail time. Her broker was also federally indicted. She had to step away from her position as CEO and Chairwoman of the company SHE started. Let's seriously consider these facts: Martha Stewart built and created her empire; a company created out of her own ingenuity. She wasn't voted into office, but created a massively successful corporation out of hard work and effort. The trade she made was in her personal portfolio and though was based on inside information, which was illegal, it did not devastate or change the lives of Americans on a national level. It didn't move the market. She isn't an institutional investor like a Mellon, Goldman, Merrill, etc. She doesn't write policy, hold political office, vote on what kind of healthcare you need to have for your family, how much you will have to pay for your food, or have the ability to take away your civil rights. She's a decorating and crafts mogul. She cooks...and evidently so do many of the members of our Congress. Books, that is.

Which brings me to the issue at hand. Do you know why members of Congress are voting for or against particular policies? Are you aware of the personal financial gain they are incurring based on those policies, or information far more sensitive than Martha's little phone call from her broker? I have a feeling that certain members of Congress - check the links below for more information - should not only be forced to resign from their positions, but should be federally indicted. I've spent days asking myself, "Why isn't Congress held to the same standards as Martha?" and more importantly, "Why isn't there more heat on forcing them out of office?" It's disturbing to me, and every single person I have spoken to, yet the headlines focus on the Kardashians, or Ashton and Demi whoever they are. Maybe we need to be a bit more concerned about the total lack of integrity that is being blatantly displayed by these so-called PUBLIC SERVANTS. The corruption is so great, and their work product so poor, that they have decidedly bankrupted our country, yet collect six-figure salaries and make millions in profits based on non-public information. They are breaking the law, and making the law at the same time. 60 Minutes covered the topic, as wel as Newsweek, and let's face it: even if you aren't a fan of Sarah Palin, it's hard to disagree with her Wall Street Journal Editorial citing that Congress members are entering into office upper-middle class, and leaving office as millionaires. Hence, the memo.

Let's also not forget that these certain Congress officials, unfortunately voted into office by you and I, are the individuals that only work 120 days out of the year, have become tabloid celebrities yet can't balance our budget, are trying to socialize our medical care (if you ever served in the military, you'd know immediately that it won't be healthy for any of us), and profitting at a time when we are facing history's highest debt to GDP ratio and unemployment rates. I'm certainly not getting rich...are you, Joe Taxpayer?

Check out the article links below and READ! Then, act - write to your Congress Representatives. Let them know that we are sick and tired of their fraud, waste and abuse! Demand action, and demand results.

LINKS TO ENLIGHTEN YOU!

http://www.rollcall.com/news/ethics_committee_offers_insider_trading_guidance-210611-1.html

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/lawmakers-look-to-rein-in-trading/?ref=insidertrading

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204323904577040373463191222.html

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/government-corruption-insider-trading-members-of/2/17/2011/id/32881?page=full

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/11/13/peter-schweizer-s-new-book-blasts-congressional-corruption.html

Read the book Throw Them All Out, by Peter Sweizer.

• Published in Business & Entrepreneurship
• 0 Comments
•