From: Business Insider
'60 Minutes' Blows The Lid Off Congressional Insider Trading
Zeke Miller | Nov. 14, 2011, 7:52 AM
Members of Congress can legally make trades on non-public information they obtain during their official duties, CBS News' '60 Minutes' reported on Sunday night.
Branded 'honest graft,' lawmakers can use market-moving information that they learn in congressional committees to trade on the stock market — actions that likely would carry stiff jail and civil penalties if they did not hold public office.
Kroft also raises questions about the trading patterns of Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — and the real estate purchases of other senators and representatives.
Pelosi fires back at report on 'insider trading'
CBS raises questions of conflict of interest among Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress
msnbc.com and NBC News
updated 41 minutes ago
A report on CBS' "60 minutes" on Sunday said Pelosi was among several lawmakers — including Republicans such as House Speaker John Boehner — who had profited from transactions that raised the possibility of conflicts of interest.
Washington, D.C. is a town that runs on inside information - but should our elected officials be able to use that information to pad their own pockets? As Steve Kroft reports, members of Congress and their aides have regular access to powerful political intelligence, and many have made well-timed stock market trades in the very industries they regulate. For now, the practice is perfectly legal, but some say it's time for the law to change.....snip~
If you guys would like to see how our Aristocracy does buisness.....I would recommend you watch the video. Legislation was writtten only 6 Congressmen backed it. When they held a hearing on it. No one Showed. Not one politican. It still comes up but is always buried. This was from this weekend. Looks like Our Lawmakers have been busted outright. Problem is it's not illegal. Yet!
Also benefits for the Pols even after they leave office. Including those that only last one or two terms. Yet when approached it doesnt matter which side of the aisle they are on. It's all about them and making that money. Never ever feeling that such is a conflict of interest.