Keywords or Terms: Political Intelligence; Political
Insider; Insider Information and Trading; Voter’s Confidence; First-to-Know
Information; Lobby Groups; Congressional Lawmakers; Steve Kroft; Martha Stewart; Raj Rajaratnam;
and, Transparency in Governance
CBS 60 Minute Program recently visited some lawmakers in
congress, attempting to find out why congress is not playing by the same rule
as Americans when it comes to insider trading information and stock trading.
Congressmen probably failed to see the connection between having insider
information regarding impending bills and abuse of the information in
purchasing stocks on the whiff by lawmakers and congressional staff. However,
after a couple of vivid examples alluded to, where lawmakers and congressional
staff had taken advantage of what is referred to as political intelligence to
benefit their wealth or pockets, it became obvious why the stock act must move
ahead, after languishing in congressional committees.
In a time, when congress is lacking in voter’s confidence,
when many bills that could have done good for the people, especially millions
that are unemployed, are hardly budging in congress, it is time for congress to
act on the stock act to burnish its lackadaisical image. Congress cannot
continue to live in a long shadow of deviousness, when and where many
congressmen and their staff have exploited the benefit of being the first to
know, to expand their largesse in the open market for stocks and bonds. CBS 60
minutes sought details about congressional leaders buying of stocks and bonds
just before the passing of the health care and financial reform bills, and
hardly could both leaders questioned in press conferences could give a straight
answer. Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic minority leader
Nancy Pelosi were caught flat-footed when Steve Kroft questioned them about stocks and or bonds tradings that seem to have benefited these lawmakers just before the passing
of some bills; and, the question and answer session looked rather embarrassing, if not completely
disastrous for the leadership role that these leaders play in America’s
Politics.
Neither Pelosi nor Boehner has a plan for a memoir about how
congressional lawmakers had exploited the first-to-know information regarding
the dynamics of bills in conduit that may directly or indirectly jolt the
market on Wall Street. None of them could tell a better story regarding how
many of their followers in congress and their staff had exploited the
first-to-know privilege of lawmaking to better their financial largesse. Hours
of video of such memoirs by Hollywood
would have made the public wonder truly about our Democracy and the integrity
of our lawmakers and their staff. Alas, these lawmakers had taken a two, in articulating the difficult situation they had put themselves by having financially beneficial trading closed with suspiciously too close a time to when a related bill passed in congress.
Martha Stewart, business magnate and founder of Martha
Stewart Living Omnimedia and Raj Rajaratnam, former hedge fund manager and
founder of the Gallup Group, went to jail for insider trading; both today are
felons and practically stripped of the right to vote in many states. Each were
reputable member of the corporate business world before being caught doing
similar things to what some congressmen and their staff are accused of in the
60 Minute expose. Congressional lawmakers still have the opportunity to create and
pass laws that affect the lives of every American. Congressional lawmakers who
swore to protect the country and the constitution, seems to be violating their
oath of office by doing same things that have landed Americans in jail: exploiting
the first-to-know privilege to expand personal wealth!
This is interesting, considering that we live in a world of
24/7 information sharing. When congressional lawmakers took oath to protect the
constitution, their respective obligations include the protection of the
process of making laws. When congressional lawmakers share information
regarding bills working through congress with their staff and family members,
they all stand to recoup millions by exploiting the privilege. For example,
friends and associates who have a blackberry, android and or 4G information
sharing devices, who are necessarily not in proximity of Pennsylvania Avenue, can exploit the same
privilege. Since the public are excluded from this privilege, it is important
that congress look at itself in the mirror and ask the question: Is this really
fair? Is this what our constituent sent us to Washington DC
to do?
Today, the question of integrity is often swept under the rug
like a run-off from American streets and farms. In a world of reality
television, where men and women of lesser aptitude and intelligence, are
portrayed as ideal role model, it is probably acceptable for some lawmakers
with convoluted integrity to justify the action that congressmen and staff are
being accused; but the truth is, what is wrong is wrong, whether it is being done
by a congressional lawmaker or a businessman or women in their corner offices
on Wall Street. The use of insider information or political intelligence as it
is called in Washington DC lobby ally; to better one’s financial
purse is wrong and cast smog on the integrity of our lawmakers.
While the benefit of using insider information to benefit
one’s wealth may not be seen as wrong by some lawmakers who attempt to scorn at
the suspicion from the press and public, since no one can truly link this
possibility directly with the subsequent action of the lawmakers in buying
stocks and bonds, it is still imperative that lawmakers play by the rule and or
stay above board. It is important that lawmakers are not found to be abusing
power by using political intelligence or insider information to amass wealth at the
expense of the public they have sworn to protect. The duties of congressional
lawmakers call for the utmost integrity in men and women. To fail to appreciate
this reality, to scorn at an effort to expose this illegality among
congressional lawmakers and their staff, constitute disservice to the process
of lawmaking. Further, it is shameful when the public has to call on our
lawmakers to play by the same rule that the public are called to play by or
uphold. That is why Steve Kroft’s investigative reporting on CBS 60 Minutes
last Sunday deserves the highest journalism award in the country. CBS 60 Minute
and Steve Kroft deserve the 2011 Peabody
award for integrity reporting by getting the wheels turning in congress over
the Stock Act.
To maintain that there is no insider trading information
being used by congressional lawmakers and that all these are insinuations and
unproven, is to fail to appreciate the concerns in the CBS 60 minute expose. No
one is attempting to impinge on the integrity of our congressional lawmakers;
however, the actions taken by some lawmakers just before a bill is passed into
law regarding stocks’ and bonds’ purchases as exposed on the program are too
close for comfort and probably, disconcerting. The fact that an outside body
had to delve into lawmakers action regarding a bill that has been allowed to
languish in congress and to draw imperatives regarding why the bill is allowed
to die or be dying in congress, says a million about congressional lawmaking. Figuratively,
can the public imagine how many bills that could have done the people and our
democracy good that have been allowed to die in committees because our
lawmakers are somehow benefiting from the death, or perceive the bill as
inconsequential for the time being?
Fast forward today, there is the jobs’ bill that President
Obama has been hammering that congress passes so that unemployed Americans can
get jobs; is it possible that some congressional lawmakers are failing to pass
this bill, because they are benefiting from not doing so? Can congressional
lawmakers be cheating on the unemployed, the same way a few of them have
cheated on their spouses, apologize in press conferences, reconciled and
hopefully repented? There is no association of guilt here, however, what many
unemployed are saying is that congress and those lawmakers who have chosen not
to support the jobs’ bill, are cheating on the unemployed. They are using the privilege
of their office to deny what is rightly essential to better the lives of
millions of Americans.
Back to the Stock Act and the inquisition by many that: Is
it possible that congressional lawmakers have been underhandedly using
political intelligence to better their financial bottom-line? Have our
lawmakers been using the first-to-know privilege to buy lands in anticipation
that a federal road will pass through it so they can make a windfall? Have our
lawmakers been buying stocks and bonds a night before the passing of a relevant
bill and off-loading them about two weeks later with some handsome returns? We
all hope these are not true. Having first had information regarding what a bill
can do to trading on Wall Street can hypothetically benefit those who have that
information in the course of their duties or work. Acting on this information
to unduly benefit the lawmakers is unfair and unacceptable to the public,
period!
Seeing first hand how “good people” have been sent to
gallows for using insider information to better their financial returns is alarming. Asking that congressmen do not succumb to the same temptation is in order for transparent governance. The public finds it unfortunate
that many lawmakers, some of them who have once scorned at the Stock Act, are
now falling over each other to co-sponsor the bill. A bill that only had nine
sponsors a couple of year ago, now has over one hundred and thirty-eight
co-sponsors barely a week after the CBS 60 Minute expose on the use of
political intelligence to amass wealth among congressional lawmakers and their
staff. If there were things to expect from our lawmakers, isn’t it the
integrity to act even before we call them to do so on a bill that impacts the
welfare of everyone? Where there is a bill that addresses the issues of
fairness, should it take 60 Minutes to call our congressional lawmakers to do
the right thing?
Many of us are loss for words at this time. What we now
expect are as follows:
- That the Stock Act is passed before the end of this year and penalty made retroactive, if possible;
- Congress passes a law that congressional ethics board inculcate into its books criminal penalty for using political intelligence to financially benefit lawmakers;
- Congress makes the bane of lawmaking a sifting system that highlight the potential pitfalls for exploitation of parliamentary process for private benefit or gains by lawmakers; and, insist that associated actions by lawmakers on financial and trading issues be left in a trust; and,
- The earthy, open-ended process in parliamentary committee deliberations be scrutinized and evaluated constantly for conflict of interest by committee members or congressional lawmakers.
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