Saturday, May 09, 2015

Another indication that GOP control of Congress doesn't matter.

Another in the series of disappointments became known today with the notice that Congress, specifically the House AFAIK, has told a Court investigating insider trading by Congress and Congressional staffers... that Congress cannot be investigated for this sort of thing because "...of the nature of their work."

See, the GOP isn't supposed to be like that.  But then, the entirety of the GOP and all of GOP staff should be enjoying the same health care we all have as well, and Congress shouldn't be busy exempting itself from most of the very laws they pass.

 

Congress Tells Court That Congress Can’t Be Investigated for Insider Trading


Featured photo - Congress Tells Court That Congress Can’t Be Investigated for Insider Trading
(This post is from our new blog: Unofficial Sources.)

In a little-noticed brief filed last summer, lawyers for the House of Representatives claimed that an SEC investigation of congressional insider trading should be blocked on principle, because lawmakers and their staff are constitutionally protected from such inquiries given the nature of their work.

The legal team led by Kerry W. Kircher, who was appointed House General Counsel by Speaker John Boehner in 2011, claimed that the insider trading probe violated the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branch.

In 2012, members of Congress patted themselves on the back for passing the STOCK Act, a bill meant to curb insider trading for lawmakers and their staff. “We all know that Washington is broken and today members of both parties took a big step forward to fix it,” said Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, upon passage of the law.

But as the Securities and Exchange Commission made news with the first major investigation of political insider trading, Congress moved to block the inquiry.

The SEC investigation focused on how Brian Sutter, then a staffer for the House Ways and Means Committee, allegedly passed along information about an upcoming Medicare decision to a lobbyist, who then shared the tip with other firms. Leading hedge funds used the insider tip to trade on health insurance stocks that were affected by the soon-to-be announced Medicare decision.
More:

Yeah.  GOP.

It used to mean something.  Now, it's becoming more and more of a caricature.  

The state senate, GOP controlled, throws us under the bus for $15 Billion and a huge gas tax increase... without allowing us to have a vote on it... by shilling the lie that it's the "only way" to keep Inslee from implementing something he can't implement: a huge, arbitrary increase in the gas tax or whatever he wants to call it.

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


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