Insider Trading: Illegal For You, But Not For Congress!

I just read this article about an insider trader getting 11 years.
Insider trader sentenced to 11 years in US

Raj Rajaratnam, a self-made hedge-fund tycoon convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the biggest Wall Street trading scandal in a generation, has been ordered to serve 11 years in prison, one of the longest sentences on record in an insider-trading case.
US District Judge Richard J Holwell announced the sentence in Manhattan on Thursday after concluding that Rajaratnam made well over $50m in profits from his illegal trades.
Rajaratnam's profits had been placed at between $70m and $75m by case prosecuters who had sought a prison sentence of at least 19-and-a-half years.

"His crimes and the scope of his crimes reflect a virus in our business culture that needs to be eradicated," Holwell said.

Holwell also ordered the Galleon Group founder to pay a $10m fine for his crimes.
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That's Justice.

But!
Government officials are above the law and that is where the inequality starts.
Forbes: Insider Trading Rules That Don't Apply To Congress

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Except that one thing you can do as a member is study pending legislation and regulatory changes, call up your broker and instruct him to trade on that nonpublic information. Do this as often as you want; you will suffer no penalty. There is no limit to how much money you can earn on insider trading in the House or Senate. Lawmakers and their staffers are specifically exempted.

As you might expect, those who work in the hallowed halls are not shy about availing themselves of the opportunity. A Wall Street Journal analysis published more than six months ago that has thus far provoked no particular sense of shame on Capitol Hill found that at least 72 Congressional aides in both parties had recently traded shares of companies that their bosses helped regulate.
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Last week a study of some 16,000 stock transactions carried out by House members was published in the journal Business and Politics. This detailed analysis showed that the investment portfolios of House members beat the market by about six points a year. (Democrats did especially well, outperforming by some nine points a year, while Republicans topped the average investor by only two percent annually.) Senators apparently do even better: “their portfolios show some of the highest excess returns ever recorded over a long period of time, significantly outperforming even hedge fund managers,” noted the journal, citing a previously published study.
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"..All men are equal in the eyes of the law"... Yeah, right??
How many speeches have you heard that one?

This, in my opinion makes a mockery of the law of the land and maybe the constitution itself.

Surely Justice is the corner stone of any society.

Motivated by the potential profits to be derived from insider trading, how many of your liberties, laws and/or freedoms have citizens lost because ethics and morality have been pushed aside to spin a quick profit?
Perhaps the only bi-partisanship we see is when both left and right happen to have the same stocks in their portfolios, and to hell with all the people.
"..We gotta pass this sucker into law. But we have to stall it for two weeks because John's broker is on holiday in the Hamptons."

Maybe this can be added to the growing list of complaints by citizens and OWS?

reply to post by CitizenNum287119327


There's a great video floating around on this... I'll see, if I can track it down again.

if you really want to see an eye opener find out how many congressman invested in all those green corporations

theres not a poor congressman they may start off less well off but by the end of their decades of "public service" and their pay and "benefits" they are living better than most of all those evil greedy corporatists and bankers.

wall street aint got nothing on united states congressman and most people love them for it.

Originally posted by neo96
if you really want to see an eye opener find out how many congressman invested in all those green corporations

theres not a poor congressman they may start off less well off but by the end of their decades of "public service" and their pay and "benefits" they are living better than most of all those evil greedy corporatists and bankers.

wall street aint got nothing on united states congressman and most people love them for it.

Do you have any clue what BNY Mellon has on their books?

Frankly, I think this is in part what the protests on Wall Street are about. These are just More examples of greed and corruption. It's NOT that the people want to share in it as much as its more that they are disgusted by it, Whether its from Wall Street, Corporations, or Congress! Quit Screwing the People! Play fair, let all be equal before the law, and quit creating new laws that "legalize" corrupt and criminal behavior for those in the know, those with the right sized bank accounts, and those shielded by office or secrecy laws. Quit telling us what wonderful Christians you are, which seems to be a requirement to be elected to office, while out of the other side of your mouth telling your broker to buy or sell a stock you have inside information about.
We want genuine Representation from our Representatives, in a moral, ethical, open, and honest fashion! And yes, some regulations tie our hands when they shouldn't, but its the lax regulations that have been screwing us lately! Why the HELL are banks borrowing money from other banks, investing in their own profit making schemes, and losing money while going to the government for handouts! Banks have been making RECORD profits for many years! The problem is that PROFITS aren't going back into the banks, or corporations either for that matter! The profit goes into the hands of the CEO's! What happened to Research and Development? Infrastructure? Health care for the workers in a safe workplace? Is that really not important?
The idea is to be conservative enough while making money through loans to credit worthy people and ideas and not run up giant debts! Remember "It's a Wonderful Life"? A bank should take in money placed into savings or other accounts. Loan out certain percentages of that money at an interest rate set to make enough profit to run the bank while also paying interest on the savings accounts to encourage saving money. Doing enough business makes the bank grow. All these damn fees they charge now, the really crappy interest on savings (below inflation? What good is that?), and then losing our money in bad ventures on the side? Toss Them In Jail and RE- REGULATE the banks! I hope the new Volcker rule helps, but either way, we HAVE to regulate where greed can get out of control! We have laws for reasons. Human nature has its dark sides too. Good people must be protected from the bad. Our environment needs to be healthy. Our children deserve a future. Regulations and laws are Necessary. If "honest politician" is an oxymoron....it's our responsibility at the voting booth to change that!