Fairness in Government
Members of congress must be extremely happy as of the writing of this article. The reason for all this bliss is the fact they are exempt from insider trading regulations and with the recent huge swings in stock values and their knowledge of insider trading they have to be making a bundle. It amazed me how they could have the gall to exempt themselves from laws which apply to the rest of us and at the same time most people never heard of this happening. How can we as a nation expect honesty in congress when they demonstrate to us that they are above the law? On the surface we see a House of Representatives which restricts gifts to $50 or less and no more than $100 per year from the same entity, but says nothing about stock tips from powerful people and companies based on non-public insider information. The truth is with this knowledge they don’t need to get a salary, they can make a fortune just by knowing what is going to happen to a company ahead of the rest of us.
I remember a story from a few years ago when a cab driver was arrested for insider trading. Apparently he had heard two passengers talking about an upcoming event with their company, so he purchased stock in it. A few days later when the stock went sky high he was arrested. Somehow the authorities traced his purchase to the fact he had given these guys a ride in his cab. The poor slob was tried and thrown into jail while congressmen were raking in fortunes on the very same information. There is no limit how much senators and representatives can make using insider trading. Forbes stated that when an investigation had taken place 72 congressional aides had made money by purchasing stock in companies their bosses helped regulate. It seems not only the congressmen and congresswomen are taking advantage of insider trading, but so are the people who work for them, but you don’t see any headlines about this do you?
Guess what one congressman said about this when asked about trades made by his aides? He actually said the trades were made by the aide’s husband and the husband had no knowledge of anything. How can even the stupidest person on the planet ever believe a statement like this? This just shows you the utter contempt for our intelligence by the people we elect. No wonder why this country is in so much trouble. If anyone has ever been around politicians and worked with them, eventually they would have probably heard them say the people of this country are stupid. This is the secret opinion many of them have of us. I have heard it said a few times and also seen how these people try and blame others for their mistakes when they get caught doing something they shouldn’t do.
Why should the congress get better benefits than the rest of us? They should have the same medical insurance as any other government workers and be subject to the same laws as the rest of us. Congressmen usually don’t talk about the insider trading exemption and if you go to some of the pages of U.S. Congressmen they claim they are subject to the same laws as all American, conveniently forgetting about the insider trading law. They made a big deal out of Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution which they claim is the only exception, because it has to do with not being arrested while attending a session of congress except for Treason, Felony or Breach of the Peace. They say this is the only exception.
I don’t know how others feel, but I think I can see from recent events that most of us are tired of our lawmakers looking out for their own interests and those of the powerful companies and the ultra-rich at the expense of the American people. I have heard people on the street saying again and again, “what has happened to this country?” The answer is simple, corruption has taken over. Money is god and if we have nothing to offer our interests will be ignored or even eroded. There is so much happening in the world and we hear nothing about it. I read an article which stated Fox television appears in Russia. I didn’t know this and I have no way of proving it, but let me tell you what the story stated. It said a U.S. general was being interviewed about the Ukraine and he said we have to start sending Russians back to Russia in body bags. Wow can you imagine this appearing on Russian television? Talk about inciting a riot and stirring up hate for Americans.
This goes right along with the military industrial complex’s thirst for more wars so they can build more overpriced and under performing weapons. Here is the address to the article, http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/03/fox-news-expert-says-must-start-killing-russians-disagree.html. You can copy the address and paste it into your browser’s address area. Sorry About Facts doesn’t use live links. You can Google this and find plenty of more links to other sites talking about this. Russia was said to have launched a probe on General Scales after he said this on the Fox segment.
I am tired of all this war, incompetence and corruption. I am sure there are many others out there who feel the same way. That is why some of us are grasping at straws and supporting people for president we never would have before like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. They wouldn’t have had a chance years ago, but today who knows. It is more than just electing new officials, we have to change the system which causes the corruption in the first place. New laws have to be created. Lobbyists have to go and the tax laws have to be changed with a flat tax put in place where everyone pays the same percentage of their income. A crime for me and you should also be a crime for our legislators. People in government have to go to jail when they commit crimes just like the average citizen has to. We have to clean up this mess.
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