Government oversight has gotten sloppy, and with a wink and a nod and no one really watching them, at least no one with power to do something, elected federal officials can safely engage in unethical and even criminal conduct that would land lesser mortals like you and me in jail, or at least cost us our jobs.
If you want to see the worst of runaway corruption, take a look at the four years of the Trump administration and how Trump, his family members and political appointees spent a lot of their time cashing in on their positions. Even once they're out of power, they can still cash in. Jared heads to Saudi Arabia to gather big bucks for his new hedge fund, while Trump fundraises many millions from his gullible followers who believe the Big Lie and want to help Trump battle against those who supposedly did him dirt, not realizing that those millions will largely wind up in Donald's pockets.
It's been an open and dirty secret that lobbyists, whose numbers have exploded in recent years, wine and dine and give special perks in order to convince Senators, Congressmen and top agency officials to vote or handle/ignore legislative requirements just the way the employers of the lobbyists want them to.
Ever wonder how a typical member of Congress, who enters federal service without much money, is able to retire not just on their government pension but with millions of dollars in bank accounts here and abroad, a beautiful estate and a cushy life in retirement? For lobbyists, it's a no-brainer: just give a solid stock tip to your pigeon, enabling that person to make some hundreds of thousands of dollars in the market and in the process the lobbyist gets a key vote on a committee considering a regulation that will save their employer tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars going forward. As the saying goes, a penny gets you a pound. Cheap any way you look at it; no wonder K Street is making a killing.
When was the last time an elected, or unelected, government official got busted so badly they went to prison for, let's say, insider trading? It's rare, but it happens. Occasionally individual investors or Wall Street folks do get busted and go to prison, sometimes for years but the occasional celebrity conviction is a smoke screen taking attention away from all the others who are doing the same thing.
It's a rich person's game. Money buys you influence, and influence buys you ever more money. And with politicians working steadily to weaken the IRS and the SEC, there are fewer financial or legal cops on the beat. Hobble the regulatory cops, and white collar crime becomes the easy way to riches. And nothing ever changes.
Forty years ago, only 8 percent of retiring members of Congress went on to lobby their former colleagues. Today, almost half of retiring members of Congress become lobbyists. The reason isn't that retirees 40 years ago had more scruples. It's that there's are more money to be made today from lobbying.
That's right, and it seems the nation is on a big money binge where aggressive people want to have millions (you need that to get a good apartment in a big city) and some go for billions and even that doesn't seem to be enough. It's almost as if it's a craze; everything is more expensive and more and more people are wealthy - except for the large majority of Americans who definitely aren't.
All members of Congress and their senior staff, the President and his Cabinet members and senior advisors, all Supreme Court justices and senior staff, and other senior government officials should have all their investments in a blind trust, managed by a disinterested party, period. They should have no idea where their money is invested to prevent the information from influencing their actions.
Will do. I will send my representatives some letters and weave it in to my on-line and person to person discussions.
May I suggest another strategy? All of us have local government officials - people that we elect like city council members, county supervisors and school board members. Local government meetings begin with a public comment section, but even in large cities, just a handful of citizens show up. And that needs to stop.
People take their local governments for granted. They'll fill out their ballots, cast votes for President Congress, Governor, etc. but won't even bother voting for local government candidates. They leave those sections blank or close their eyes and choose one. Shame, shame, shame. There is so little interest in local government, the typical campaign for city council hovers around $200.00. Big cities, bigger populations, bigger campaign budgets, but still the same pathetic percentage of civic interest, or engagement.
The Republicans are busy filling these local government positions with hand chosen people. People they are coaching and advising. And they are funding their campaigns. Its dirt cheap politics. For a measly $1,000. bucks, they can buy control of a school board, a city council or a board of supervisors. In his district, Kevin McCarthy is famous for showing up for a photo-op with some unknown candidate for local government office. That photo-op is all it takes to get someone elected.
I suggest we start attending at least one local government meeting a month. You don't have to do or say anything. All you have to do is show up and sit there until the meeting is adjourned. I can tell you - no I promise you - that just showing up makes a difference. Building a civic show-up network is the key to activists' success - and citizens' success. continued
Remember all those videos and tv coverage of school board meetings where lots of angry people showed up screaming and hollering about Critical Race Theory? Well, I watched the school board members and everyone of them was squirming. They had no idea what to do or how to run those meetings, so they just sat there while people screamed in their faces. Worse yet, the screaming citizens honestly believed those school board members could do anything they wanted. If that were true, those school board members would be dictators - not representatives.
Anyways, the point is this. When 200 people show up at a local government meeting, local officials gain power and I don't mean power over their communities. I mean local officials gain power with higher ranking officials - like state legislators, state senators and governors. Without us, local officials are powerless. We, are the fuel, that empowers them. We fuel them by showing up at their local government meetings.
Every one of us can kick start a grassroots revolution right in our own backyards, by showing up at one local government meeting a month. At the beginning of public meetings, there is a public comment section. Its usually a three minute time limit.
During public comment, go to the microphone and ask your elected officials their position on barring members of Congress from trading individual stocks? They cannot discuss it, because it is not an agenda item, so ask them to put it on their next agenda, so they can answer your question. Your goal is to force your local officials to take a stand on this issue so that everyone of their neighbors and co-workers knows exactly what they think about conflicts of interest issues with elected officials. Start nailing local officials on these kinds of issues, and they will carry your message up the political ladder.
Note. Public comments cannot limit the number of people who comment. So bring along some friends, some golf buddies, some neighbors and some family members. Each one of them gets up asks the same question then asks for the item to be placed on the agenda.
If you have the time, go to your local city hall, your school district administrative office and board of supervisor office and ask for a copy of the elected officials by-laws. They might charge you for the copies. Then read them. There should be something in there that addresses "conflicts of interest" When you find that by-law, you have the premise on which you have a right to an answer from your local officials.
The whole point is to turn this Congressional conflict of interest issue into a problem for local officials.
I like this Ossoff guy more and more. Time to back him up, by sending some money to Georgia's Stacey Abrams and Congressman Reverend Warnock.
I signed up for our city's on-line advisor. Now I get city council agendas and minutes in my email box. Makes it a whole lot easier to track. It also gives us time to gather information and meet to coordinate our efforts before they meet.
I just got the booster yesterday so I admit I'm still being cautious, and Massachusetts is being hit really hard right now. I probably won't be rushing into the fray immediately, but I will be looking into local opportunities.
Paula - write a dear editor letter for your local newspaper. Your local government may be meeting on-line, if so, do public comment there. If you can't find a way to do it safely, call city hall, or school district offices and ask them how to do it. Remember public input is law.
Congressional lawmakers should not be allowed to trade stocks. Period. Their holdings should be in a blind trust when they enter government. However the consequences of Congressmen owning stock is far more harmful to American lives. Richard Burr and others not only knew of the severity of Covid but HID that knowledge until they were able to financially leverage big bucks for themselves first. They withheld catastrophic information about a pandemic to make money in pharmaceutical stocks. Diane Feinstein has for YEARS made money on the armaments industry. Feinstein's in Congress, keeps our "forever wars" going and her husband is the money guy behind her doing the investing. They're a team, Feinstein keeps the wars going and her husband keeps the money rolling in. Geez, the corruption in Congress is way worse than anyone can imagine. How many Americans have died in these endless wars because Congressman could enrich themselves sacrificing the lives of their citizens. Feinstein is not the only one. With this level of corruption where does it end? Ever? How bad does American life become because of practices like these? The AG hasn't done anything about Mark Meadows, why should Kevin McCarthy not get away with giving "the bird" to the January 6th committee. My point is this, IT'S ALL CORRUPT. Now what?
I don’t understand Feinstein at all. She’s nearly 90 and rich. Why does she need more money? She’s been a plague on California for decades. She needs to go,
She is a classic example of why we need, desperately need, term limits in Congress AND the Supreme Court! I could list all the old folks I want to see out of there.
It is pretty obvious that our Government Leadership does not know what they are doing on just about every level. There should be time limits on how long ANYONE holds any kind of office. It is set up that way for being President. Should be the same rule for every other office held by anyone who is VOTED into a position.
Do you think the problem may be that potential candidate that could run against her in a primary will not do so because people in her district may not support a younger candidate? Our youth must be encouraged and supported to run for political positions to make changes.
I KNOW! TOTALLY AGREE! Californians have kept electing her for years, unbelievable. She's a Congressional kleptocrat. By that I mean, the money she and her husband have amassed and the lives lost in wars she continually supported is shocking....but her constituents don't know or they don't care.
Thank you....I also remember Feinstein's behavior during the Kavanaugh hearings and was disgusted with her. But I have long been furious with her over her greed, amassing money through our wars with her husband being her financial guy.
While employed as a federal employee we received ethics training. The rule of thumb was, if something has even the possible appearance of being a conflict of interest/unethical, DON’T DO IT.
Before anything else, I want to let you know that I shared your last video, "Taking on your tweets," on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit with the following comment: "Robert Reich is the medication that corporate media brained-washed Americans should take every day!" More mean tweets coming your way...
Speaking of sickness, our representatives are ailed with FOMO. They consider themselves important public servants but do not want to miss out on the money either. They should probably be reminded that the United States is a country, not just a shopping mall.
Almost more than anything else, I am ashamed of our legislators who almost never put the country before their partisan or personal interests. Few are there who display the genuine qualities of "leadership".
I know many principled legislators. The problem is with a relative minority who give most lawmakers a bad name. That's why it's so important to get this law enacted. Even the appearance of impropriety hurts all of them.
Interesting that you mention index funds, as my understanding is that generally speaking (I assume there are exceptions; always seem to be exceptions) index funds support a broad swath of businesses in the US economy & allowing investment in index funds by the country's representatives in Congress would thus support the broader economy if I am understanding correctly -- thus also aligning with the purpose of those that hold seats in Congress.
Will keep a eye out for when Ossoff brings this bill to the floor & do what I can to support/cajole/pressure others on the floor (& in states other than those in my neck of woods who do support this type of legislation) to support the passing of this particular bill.
Trading in individual stocks by members of Congress actually feels & sounds to me like said Congress members are "ripping off" the general populace in addition to not upholding their oath of office -- should be illegal & those that break such a badly needed rule should suffer heavy penalties, including loss of office.
As you said, It should be a no-brainer. It's so obvious that I can't help being suspicious of anyone who doesn't support it. Even the venerated Nancy Pelosi. We ask it of our President - for obvious reasons - and for the same reasons we should ask it of anyone who serves in higher office. There is no ground for debate.
There should be one code of ethics for all federal positions which would include Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, etc. That code of ethics should not only cover stock tradings but also business dealings where the federal employee or family members (elected, appointed, etc) must recuse themselves from any decision making, rule making, etc. that may impact their business/financial interest. This would preclude someone like Joe Manchin from having any say on environmental rules related to the fossil fuel industry. I could go on and on on the lack of trust people have regarding governmental decision makers due to a lack of enforcement of a strong code of ethics.
You know, Robert, this is just ONE example of why the general public does not trust it's own government. Why Should They??? There is so much corruption surrounding the whole governing system that people doen't even know who to trust, much less support or vote for. The rest of the world is showing signs of mistrust toward our government. I think it is safe to say that a lot of people (especially Independent Voters} are very leary about expecting much REAL support from their government both now and in the future. It might be better in the future to NOT remind the public of these kinds of "Crimes Against Justice". There is really nothing that the general population of our country can do to get our governing appointed agents to respect our existing Constitution of Laws. We don't seem to have a very good screening system of who should be allowed to run for the office of anything in our government system. And if all of that is not enough, I would like to know if there are any limitations on who can run for all of the jobs that people vote on throughout the entire USA. Any kind of background checks that should exist? Our Government is in BIG trouble on so many levels, and nobody knows how to deal with all of these issues. My personal outlook on all of this is that the existing government appointed people are going to have to do the job for the entire nation. The general public's only strength left is our VOTE. Even that is under assault from the criminal elected subject's that currently seem to have the power to obstruct voting rights. Everything is up to our current Government elected officials. Not a very promising picture considering who we have left that can be trusted.
When we point our fingers at the government, we are pointing more at ourselves. Changes can be made., The problem is that the public have become apathetic, and have tolerated some of the things that are occurring in D.C. You say that there is so much corruption surrounding the whole governing system. I do not see it that way, there are thing that our elected officials are doing that should not be allowed, however we the people continue electing these same people and we do not demand that changes be made. Our government as a whole is not as corrupt as you think. As to candidates, you as a voter have to perform your due diligence and determine what the candidate's position is on issues that you deeply care for. If a candidate is a felon, he/she can't run for a public elected position.
I do not point my fingers at the Government. I just have expectations of what they are responsible for while in office, and if they fail, I don't vote for that person or those persons ever again.
There are some who give me hope in Congress. Off the top of my head I must say Jamie Raskin. Outside of Congress, Robert Reich....there are others in Congress. Maybe that would be a good exercise, how many of us can name those we have faith in?
My two hopefuls for being Governing Saviors are: Bernie Sanders and Robert Reich. The other hopefuls are the elected people who agree with my choices of solid leadership.
yes, to me the midterms are critical to our democracy. we've got to overwhelm them with numbers. and then defend the vote counts. my rheumatiz says there's a storm a comin'
It makes me livid. For heaven’s sake, didn’t Martha Stewart do time for this? If the Democrats won’t do the right thing, what party do we have left? None.
Government oversight has gotten sloppy, and with a wink and a nod and no one really watching them, at least no one with power to do something, elected federal officials can safely engage in unethical and even criminal conduct that would land lesser mortals like you and me in jail, or at least cost us our jobs.
If you want to see the worst of runaway corruption, take a look at the four years of the Trump administration and how Trump, his family members and political appointees spent a lot of their time cashing in on their positions. Even once they're out of power, they can still cash in. Jared heads to Saudi Arabia to gather big bucks for his new hedge fund, while Trump fundraises many millions from his gullible followers who believe the Big Lie and want to help Trump battle against those who supposedly did him dirt, not realizing that those millions will largely wind up in Donald's pockets.
It's been an open and dirty secret that lobbyists, whose numbers have exploded in recent years, wine and dine and give special perks in order to convince Senators, Congressmen and top agency officials to vote or handle/ignore legislative requirements just the way the employers of the lobbyists want them to.
Ever wonder how a typical member of Congress, who enters federal service without much money, is able to retire not just on their government pension but with millions of dollars in bank accounts here and abroad, a beautiful estate and a cushy life in retirement? For lobbyists, it's a no-brainer: just give a solid stock tip to your pigeon, enabling that person to make some hundreds of thousands of dollars in the market and in the process the lobbyist gets a key vote on a committee considering a regulation that will save their employer tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars going forward. As the saying goes, a penny gets you a pound. Cheap any way you look at it; no wonder K Street is making a killing.
When was the last time an elected, or unelected, government official got busted so badly they went to prison for, let's say, insider trading? It's rare, but it happens. Occasionally individual investors or Wall Street folks do get busted and go to prison, sometimes for years but the occasional celebrity conviction is a smoke screen taking attention away from all the others who are doing the same thing.
It's a rich person's game. Money buys you influence, and influence buys you ever more money. And with politicians working steadily to weaken the IRS and the SEC, there are fewer financial or legal cops on the beat. Hobble the regulatory cops, and white collar crime becomes the easy way to riches. And nothing ever changes.
Forty years ago, only 8 percent of retiring members of Congress went on to lobby their former colleagues. Today, almost half of retiring members of Congress become lobbyists. The reason isn't that retirees 40 years ago had more scruples. It's that there's are more money to be made today from lobbying.
That's right, and it seems the nation is on a big money binge where aggressive people want to have millions (you need that to get a good apartment in a big city) and some go for billions and even that doesn't seem to be enough. It's almost as if it's a craze; everything is more expensive and more and more people are wealthy - except for the large majority of Americans who definitely aren't.
Leave it to George Carlin to lay it all out.
All members of Congress and their senior staff, the President and his Cabinet members and senior advisors, all Supreme Court justices and senior staff, and other senior government officials should have all their investments in a blind trust, managed by a disinterested party, period. They should have no idea where their money is invested to prevent the information from influencing their actions.
Will do. I will send my representatives some letters and weave it in to my on-line and person to person discussions.
May I suggest another strategy? All of us have local government officials - people that we elect like city council members, county supervisors and school board members. Local government meetings begin with a public comment section, but even in large cities, just a handful of citizens show up. And that needs to stop.
People take their local governments for granted. They'll fill out their ballots, cast votes for President Congress, Governor, etc. but won't even bother voting for local government candidates. They leave those sections blank or close their eyes and choose one. Shame, shame, shame. There is so little interest in local government, the typical campaign for city council hovers around $200.00. Big cities, bigger populations, bigger campaign budgets, but still the same pathetic percentage of civic interest, or engagement.
The Republicans are busy filling these local government positions with hand chosen people. People they are coaching and advising. And they are funding their campaigns. Its dirt cheap politics. For a measly $1,000. bucks, they can buy control of a school board, a city council or a board of supervisors. In his district, Kevin McCarthy is famous for showing up for a photo-op with some unknown candidate for local government office. That photo-op is all it takes to get someone elected.
I suggest we start attending at least one local government meeting a month. You don't have to do or say anything. All you have to do is show up and sit there until the meeting is adjourned. I can tell you - no I promise you - that just showing up makes a difference. Building a civic show-up network is the key to activists' success - and citizens' success. continued
Remember all those videos and tv coverage of school board meetings where lots of angry people showed up screaming and hollering about Critical Race Theory? Well, I watched the school board members and everyone of them was squirming. They had no idea what to do or how to run those meetings, so they just sat there while people screamed in their faces. Worse yet, the screaming citizens honestly believed those school board members could do anything they wanted. If that were true, those school board members would be dictators - not representatives.
Anyways, the point is this. When 200 people show up at a local government meeting, local officials gain power and I don't mean power over their communities. I mean local officials gain power with higher ranking officials - like state legislators, state senators and governors. Without us, local officials are powerless. We, are the fuel, that empowers them. We fuel them by showing up at their local government meetings.
Every one of us can kick start a grassroots revolution right in our own backyards, by showing up at one local government meeting a month. At the beginning of public meetings, there is a public comment section. Its usually a three minute time limit.
During public comment, go to the microphone and ask your elected officials their position on barring members of Congress from trading individual stocks? They cannot discuss it, because it is not an agenda item, so ask them to put it on their next agenda, so they can answer your question. Your goal is to force your local officials to take a stand on this issue so that everyone of their neighbors and co-workers knows exactly what they think about conflicts of interest issues with elected officials. Start nailing local officials on these kinds of issues, and they will carry your message up the political ladder.
Note. Public comments cannot limit the number of people who comment. So bring along some friends, some golf buddies, some neighbors and some family members. Each one of them gets up asks the same question then asks for the item to be placed on the agenda.
If you have the time, go to your local city hall, your school district administrative office and board of supervisor office and ask for a copy of the elected officials by-laws. They might charge you for the copies. Then read them. There should be something in there that addresses "conflicts of interest" When you find that by-law, you have the premise on which you have a right to an answer from your local officials.
The whole point is to turn this Congressional conflict of interest issue into a problem for local officials.
I like this Ossoff guy more and more. Time to back him up, by sending some money to Georgia's Stacey Abrams and Congressman Reverend Warnock.
yes, Yes, YES!!! Thanks for posting this, raffey.
Excellent idea, Raffey! Going Grassroots is a sure way of getting this on everyone's agenda.
I signed up for our city's on-line advisor. Now I get city council agendas and minutes in my email box. Makes it a whole lot easier to track. It also gives us time to gather information and meet to coordinate our efforts before they meet.
But is it safe for us older people to do this with omicron raging?
I just got the booster yesterday so I admit I'm still being cautious, and Massachusetts is being hit really hard right now. I probably won't be rushing into the fray immediately, but I will be looking into local opportunities.
Paula - write a dear editor letter for your local newspaper. Your local government may be meeting on-line, if so, do public comment there. If you can't find a way to do it safely, call city hall, or school district offices and ask them how to do it. Remember public input is law.
👍👍
Very wise advice, in my view. Thank you.
It is also personally rewarding, because it makes you feel like a real citizen.
Love this, raffey -- right on!
Amen, my friend! Thank you for pointing out that REPUBLICANS are using DEMOCRACY to defeat DEMOCRATS!
Only at the local level. But at the state and national level, Republicans are stealing power from Democracy itself.
Congressional lawmakers should not be allowed to trade stocks. Period. Their holdings should be in a blind trust when they enter government. However the consequences of Congressmen owning stock is far more harmful to American lives. Richard Burr and others not only knew of the severity of Covid but HID that knowledge until they were able to financially leverage big bucks for themselves first. They withheld catastrophic information about a pandemic to make money in pharmaceutical stocks. Diane Feinstein has for YEARS made money on the armaments industry. Feinstein's in Congress, keeps our "forever wars" going and her husband is the money guy behind her doing the investing. They're a team, Feinstein keeps the wars going and her husband keeps the money rolling in. Geez, the corruption in Congress is way worse than anyone can imagine. How many Americans have died in these endless wars because Congressman could enrich themselves sacrificing the lives of their citizens. Feinstein is not the only one. With this level of corruption where does it end? Ever? How bad does American life become because of practices like these? The AG hasn't done anything about Mark Meadows, why should Kevin McCarthy not get away with giving "the bird" to the January 6th committee. My point is this, IT'S ALL CORRUPT. Now what?
Don't forget what Eisenhower said in his farewell speech, "beware of the military-industrial complex".
We have forgot. his warning, and Now the police are now more militaristic!!!
I don’t understand Feinstein at all. She’s nearly 90 and rich. Why does she need more money? She’s been a plague on California for decades. She needs to go,
She is a classic example of why we need, desperately need, term limits in Congress AND the Supreme Court! I could list all the old folks I want to see out of there.
Let me add she totally dropped the ball on the way she handled the information regarding Kavanaugh's accuser! I used to love her, but its time to go!
Also, I don’t know if this is true but I’ve heard she’s got Alzheimer’s.
I heard that also
It is pretty obvious that our Government Leadership does not know what they are doing on just about every level. There should be time limits on how long ANYONE holds any kind of office. It is set up that way for being President. Should be the same rule for every other office held by anyone who is VOTED into a position.
Do you think the problem may be that potential candidate that could run against her in a primary will not do so because people in her district may not support a younger candidate? Our youth must be encouraged and supported to run for political positions to make changes.
No. I think it’s because she has name recognition.
Yes, Feinstein needs to go.
I KNOW! TOTALLY AGREE! Californians have kept electing her for years, unbelievable. She's a Congressional kleptocrat. By that I mean, the money she and her husband have amassed and the lives lost in wars she continually supported is shocking....but her constituents don't know or they don't care.
I voted for Kevin DeLeon the last time she ran. So frustrating.
Good for you! At least you tried to get her out.
Amen. thank you for reading my mind...and saying it so eloquently.
Thank you....I also remember Feinstein's behavior during the Kavanaugh hearings and was disgusted with her. But I have long been furious with her over her greed, amassing money through our wars with her husband being her financial guy.
Well said. Can I copy and paste?
Thank you. Of course, copy and paste all you like.
While employed as a federal employee we received ethics training. The rule of thumb was, if something has even the possible appearance of being a conflict of interest/unethical, DON’T DO IT.
So simple!
Yet, apparently, so difficult.
As I recall, the last guy's Ethics Czar abandoned ship early on. It was a hopeless position.
There’s an oxymoron for you.
Mark Borgman ; No doubt.
Dear Sir,
Before anything else, I want to let you know that I shared your last video, "Taking on your tweets," on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit with the following comment: "Robert Reich is the medication that corporate media brained-washed Americans should take every day!" More mean tweets coming your way...
Speaking of sickness, our representatives are ailed with FOMO. They consider themselves important public servants but do not want to miss out on the money either. They should probably be reminded that the United States is a country, not just a shopping mall.
And yet, a "shopping mall" is precisely what most of the world views us as.... sadly.
Is there a petition out to send to our representatives to pass this act? if so, please post and I will sign.
https://secure.ngpvan.com/ivecXOHAZkKkv-noZM5ipA2
Almost more than anything else, I am ashamed of our legislators who almost never put the country before their partisan or personal interests. Few are there who display the genuine qualities of "leadership".
I know many principled legislators. The problem is with a relative minority who give most lawmakers a bad name. That's why it's so important to get this law enacted. Even the appearance of impropriety hurts all of them.
This is a no brainer for anyone with integrity.
Totally agree & power to Ossoff!
Interesting that you mention index funds, as my understanding is that generally speaking (I assume there are exceptions; always seem to be exceptions) index funds support a broad swath of businesses in the US economy & allowing investment in index funds by the country's representatives in Congress would thus support the broader economy if I am understanding correctly -- thus also aligning with the purpose of those that hold seats in Congress.
Will keep a eye out for when Ossoff brings this bill to the floor & do what I can to support/cajole/pressure others on the floor (& in states other than those in my neck of woods who do support this type of legislation) to support the passing of this particular bill.
Trading in individual stocks by members of Congress actually feels & sounds to me like said Congress members are "ripping off" the general populace in addition to not upholding their oath of office -- should be illegal & those that break such a badly needed rule should suffer heavy penalties, including loss of office.
As you said, It should be a no-brainer. It's so obvious that I can't help being suspicious of anyone who doesn't support it. Even the venerated Nancy Pelosi. We ask it of our President - for obvious reasons - and for the same reasons we should ask it of anyone who serves in higher office. There is no ground for debate.
P. S. When do you ever sleep?
I was asking myself the same question.
There should be one code of ethics for all federal positions which would include Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, etc. That code of ethics should not only cover stock tradings but also business dealings where the federal employee or family members (elected, appointed, etc) must recuse themselves from any decision making, rule making, etc. that may impact their business/financial interest. This would preclude someone like Joe Manchin from having any say on environmental rules related to the fossil fuel industry. I could go on and on on the lack of trust people have regarding governmental decision makers due to a lack of enforcement of a strong code of ethics.
You know, Robert, this is just ONE example of why the general public does not trust it's own government. Why Should They??? There is so much corruption surrounding the whole governing system that people doen't even know who to trust, much less support or vote for. The rest of the world is showing signs of mistrust toward our government. I think it is safe to say that a lot of people (especially Independent Voters} are very leary about expecting much REAL support from their government both now and in the future. It might be better in the future to NOT remind the public of these kinds of "Crimes Against Justice". There is really nothing that the general population of our country can do to get our governing appointed agents to respect our existing Constitution of Laws. We don't seem to have a very good screening system of who should be allowed to run for the office of anything in our government system. And if all of that is not enough, I would like to know if there are any limitations on who can run for all of the jobs that people vote on throughout the entire USA. Any kind of background checks that should exist? Our Government is in BIG trouble on so many levels, and nobody knows how to deal with all of these issues. My personal outlook on all of this is that the existing government appointed people are going to have to do the job for the entire nation. The general public's only strength left is our VOTE. Even that is under assault from the criminal elected subject's that currently seem to have the power to obstruct voting rights. Everything is up to our current Government elected officials. Not a very promising picture considering who we have left that can be trusted.
When we point our fingers at the government, we are pointing more at ourselves. Changes can be made., The problem is that the public have become apathetic, and have tolerated some of the things that are occurring in D.C. You say that there is so much corruption surrounding the whole governing system. I do not see it that way, there are thing that our elected officials are doing that should not be allowed, however we the people continue electing these same people and we do not demand that changes be made. Our government as a whole is not as corrupt as you think. As to candidates, you as a voter have to perform your due diligence and determine what the candidate's position is on issues that you deeply care for. If a candidate is a felon, he/she can't run for a public elected position.
I do not point my fingers at the Government. I just have expectations of what they are responsible for while in office, and if they fail, I don't vote for that person or those persons ever again.
There are some who give me hope in Congress. Off the top of my head I must say Jamie Raskin. Outside of Congress, Robert Reich....there are others in Congress. Maybe that would be a good exercise, how many of us can name those we have faith in?
My two hopefuls for being Governing Saviors are: Bernie Sanders and Robert Reich. The other hopefuls are the elected people who agree with my choices of solid leadership.
Bernie Sanders for sure...AOC, Katie Porter....some good people...I know there are more, just not enough.
yes, to me the midterms are critical to our democracy. we've got to overwhelm them with numbers. and then defend the vote counts. my rheumatiz says there's a storm a comin'
It makes me livid. For heaven’s sake, didn’t Martha Stewart do time for this? If the Democrats won’t do the right thing, what party do we have left? None.
Yes, Martha Stewart did time for the same crime! Does this whole subject sound fair minded to you?
please to forgive #1 son he is slow and does not understand 'fair minded'
Being "Fair Minded" can cover a multitude of subjects. It is really a very 'Slippery' way of discrediting any subject issue.
Our Representatives should be in office to serve the people. PERIOD. There should be no opportunities for self enrichment.
BOTH HOUSES = PASS A BASIC LAW _ PROHIBITING THIS BEHAVIOR + JUST STOP = NO MORE !!