If Issa wants to "investigate", here's a goodie for him

[SoCalDem]

34 Lawmakers Changed Their Investments After Receiving Private Briefings About 2008 Economic Crisis

34 Lawmakers Changed Their Investments After Receiving Private Briefings About 2008 Economic Crisis

By Pat Garofalo on Jun 25, 2012 at 9:33 am

Last November, 60 Minutes aired a report showing that House Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) made tens of thousands of dollars trading stock as he was receiving private economic briefings during the height of the 2008 financial crisis. Due to weak insider trading rules, Bachus was cleared of any legal wrongdoing by the Congressional Ethics Committee, but the case still motivated Congress to pass the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which supposedly prevents lawmakers from profiting off information they receive in private briefings with top economic officials.

However, the problem may go far beyond just Bachus. As the Washington Post reported on Monday, 34 lawmakers — including Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) — shuffled their investment portfolios during the financial crisis, after speaking to high-ranking economic officials:

Boehner is one of 34 members of Congress who took steps to recast their financial portfolios during the financial crisis after phone calls or meetings with [Treasury Secretary Hank] Paulson; his successor, Timothy F. Geithner; or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, according to a Washington Post examination of appointment calendars and congressional disclosure forms. The lawmakers, many of whom held leadership positions and committee chairmanships in the House and Senate, changed portions of their portfolios a total of 166 times within two business days of speaking or meeting with the administration officials. The party affiliation of the lawmakers was about evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, 19 to 15.

After speaking with Paulson, Boehner shifted $50,000 to $100,000 out of a risky mutual fund, and spent tens of thousands of dollars more on a less-risky fund. Other lawmakers who were making investment decisions after receiving private information at the time included Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE). The lawmakers contend that their investments are overseen by outside advisers and that the private information had no bearing on their portfolio moves.

snip


MORE DETAILED shenanigans @

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lawmakers-reworked-financial-portfolios-after-talks-with-fed-treasury-officials/2012/06/24/gJQAnQPg0V_story_1.html


and a graph that shows their stock trades aligned with their phone calls & meetings

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/capitol-assets/congressional-financial-transactions-federal-reserve-schedule/

[Indydem]

1. 19 Democrats, 15 Republicans

Throw all of the fuckers out.

[SoCalDem]

2. Unfortunately graft & greed are not party-specific

"Our own" have sold us out on many occasions

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. The is a simple solution to this conduct ...

Leglislation indicating: "Upon being sworn into any elected office, Legislators shall place ALL investment assets held by the individual and/or close relatives, into blind an independent and blind Investment Trust. Further, any person covered by this provision shall identify the administrator of said trust and report any subsequent contact with said trust. Further, any violation of this provision shall constitue a per se violation of Insider Trading rules."

[SoCalDem]

4. Close relative definition

Mother Father son daughter wife cousins brother sister niece nephew grandkids

[1StrongBlackMan]

5. That's the standard definition ...

with the addition of "Step", e.g., step-child, step-parents. But for these purposes, it can be limited to Spouses and minor children (step-child) because people don't normally have control of the finances of relatives beyond that.