Why does Congress get a free pass on insider trading?

Every time I hear the words occupy Wall Street I chuckle to myself, not that there is anything really funny, just pathetic. Sure there are many problems to be addressed, but they are not on Wall Street or Oakland or Seattle.

I can tell you where to protest without even naming a location. Remember the flap over insider trading, some guy just went to jail for four years and Martha Stewart served a few months for the same thing, it’s not a good thing, it’s illegal, well almost.

Did you know that members of Congress and their staffs are not covered by insider trading laws? They can and do use information they learn about in closed-door meetings, in legislative discussions and other non public venues to enrich themselves.

Not only can they act on this information they can tell others like the person who may be managing their blind trust.

In addition, Congress has for years ignored legislative initiatives to correct this travesty. Hey it’s no secret, I heard about it in detail on NPR and the Wall Street Journal and other publications have raised the issue repeatedly. I guess we need tents and sleeping bags to make a point.

Do you think anyone occupying someplace reads this blog … Or the newspaper?

How does a public servant for decades accumulate multi-millions of dollars?

Related articles

• Congressional insider trading: “Congress is getting rich off Wall Street and Peter Schweizer won’t stop until everyone knows it” (professorbainbridge.com)
• Congressional insider trading (truthonthemarket.com)
• Senators introduce “STOCK Act” to stop “insider trading” in Congress (colonel6.com)
• Insider Trading OK for Congress (postamericana.wordpress.com)
• Rick Perry Suggests Legislators Should Be Jailed for Insider Trading (abcnews.go.com)
• #OccupyWallStreet NewsFlash: The One-Percenter Strikes Again: Pelosi,Boehner,Bachus Deny Insider Trading (imdatingaonepercenter.com)