Slaughter’s STOCK Act Passes

[baldguy]

Congratulations to Louise Slaughter, who has championed the STOCK act for years, most of them in the wilderness, until 60 Minutes shed light on the fact that members of Congress were not barred from insider trading, and getting quite rich as a result. It passed the House yesterday, which is a great thing but also a shocking indictment on our entire political system – that it took this long to identify and solve this rank corruption. What follows is a press release from Slaughter:

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, today scored a major victory having language she first authored that would end insider trading in Congress pass by a vote of 417 to 2. While elements of her original bill the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, were not included in the legislation passed today by the House, today’s vote is a testament to Slaughter’s tenacity on an issue that received little attention until three months ago.

Today Slaughter spoke on the House floor saying, “At its heart, the STOCK Act is a statement of how we in Congress view ourselves, and our relationship to those we serve. No matter how powerful our position, nor how hallowed the halls we walk, no one should be above the law. With the passage of the STOCK Act, we can move one step closer to living up to the faith and trust bestowed upon us by the American people- the citizens for whom we serve.”

Video of Slaughter’s floor statement is included here.

Read more: http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2012/02/10/slaughters-stock-act-passes/#ixzz1lzFW2oUD

Love Louise! My Congresswoman!

[The Doctor.]

1. I love my congresscritter.

She rocks.

[a kennedy]

2. Rep Walz from Minnesota was instrumental in getting this baby done also.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Good for her, but of course they made a few *minor* changes on the way out the door.

selling political intelligence from congressional insiders to wall street will continue.

[Octafish]

4. Infuriating!

Our elected representatives get the gold and We the People get the shaft.

[karynnj]

5. I hope that she begins to get whatever credit is due on this bill

I have been disheartened that the Boston Globe has given most of the credit to Scott Brown. Brown and Gillibrand both introduced versions of the Slaughter legislation shortly after 60 Minutes included Slaughter's bill in their expose based on the RW book that used what is a real issue to attack a huge number of Senators and Congressmen with extremely sloppy analysis and cherry picked data.The author includes weasil word comments that he can not prove insider trading - as he in essence accuses people of it.

Brown has been referring to it as "my bill" and even accosted Obama after the SOTU saying "his" bill was on Reid's dexk and demanding Obama "push" Reid to give it a vote. In fact, the bill on Reid's desk was the Homeland Security committee's bill with the lead sponsor as Joe Lieberman and it was written after their was a hearing on Gillibrand's bill, with 25 sponsors, and Brown's with 8 - but both were close variations on Slaughter's bill.

Now, it was a good thing to SPONSOR a companion bill to the already existing House bill, but Gillibrand's and Brown's actions show the classy way to do it and the grandstanding taking credit not due way to do so. It may show political skill, but I would imagine that that type of action should be called at some point. In all the articles I saw, Gillibrand referred to Slaughter.

Where the big differences lie is in provisions added by the amendments.

[stockholmer]

6. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Slams Cantor's Sham Stock Act(3 key parts gone)

http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/entry/crew-slams-cantors-sham-stock-act-and-calls-for-open-conference

CREW strongly supported the Senate approved version of the STOCK Act (S. 2038) passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 96 to 3. S. 2038 goes well beyond merely prohibiting insider trading by, among other things, requiring registration by political intelligence consultants, stripping pension benefits from corrupt members of Congress and closing serious loopholes in the nation’s anti-corruption laws.

The bill Rep. Cantor is bringing to the floor removes several of these provisions. Although the House Judiciary Committee passed nearly identical legislation late last year, the new bill drops the Leahy-Cornyn amendment, which responds to court decisions that have undermined prosecutors’ efforts to target public corruption. It also excludes the Grassley Amendment, which would require political intelligence consultants to register with Congress.

“The majority leader is cynically counting on the fact that no member of Congress can afford to vote against legislation that purportedly combats congressional misconduct, toothless as it may be,” said Ms. Sloan. “Rep. Cantor isn’t serious about targeting congressional corruption; he just wants ammunition for campaign ads. Members serious about addressing corruption should not play into Rep. Cantor’s hands. Despite this chicanery, the House should pass the bill and send it to conference where the stripped provisions can be restored before final passage.”

snip

---------------------------------------------------

GOP, lobbyists partner to weaken STOCK Act

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10353885-gop-lobbyists-partner-to-weaken-stock-act


Last week, by a vote of 96 to 3, the Senate approved legislation to prohibit lawmakers from engaging in insider trading. It wasn't http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/senate-votes-to-ban-its-members-from-insider-trading-kind-of.php?ref=fpnewsfeed as strong a bill as it could have been, but the bill, known as the STOCK Act, wasn't a bad effort. There is, however, another chamber in Congress. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/us/politics/ban-on-insider-trading-by-congress-faces-gop-revisions-in-house.html?_r=1&ref=politics


Lobbyists were in a tizzy on Tuesday over provisions of a Senate-passed ethics bill that tighten regulation of lobbying and require secretive "political intelligence" firms to register in the same way as lobbyists. House Republicans and their floor leader, Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, said they would amend the bill, going to the House floor this week, to strengthen it. But Representative Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat of New York, said, "I think 'strengthening' here is a euphemism for 'weakening.' "

To a certain extent, this isn't new. http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/18/gop-lobby-block/ When Congress worked on a jobs bill in 2010, Boehner and congressional Republicans huddled with corporate lobbyists. http://www.rollcall.com/news/43322-1.html When work on Wall Street reform got underway, Boehner and congressional Republicans huddled with industry lobbyists. http://www.rollcall.com/news/41311-1.html When Congress worked on health care reform, Boehner and congressional Republicans huddled with insurance lobbyists. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003141619&cpage=1 When an energy/climate bill started advancing, Republicans huddled with energy lobbyists. http://www.rollcall.com/news/35595-1.html


It's not exactly a surprise, then, that GOP leaders would coordinate with lobbyists on insider trading. What is surprising, at least a little, is that even Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has accused his Republican counterparts in the House http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/banking-financial-institutions/209421-grassley-house-gop-doing-wall-streets-bidding-on-stock-act "of doing the bidding of Wall Street by removing a provision ... that would have required political intelligence firms to register in a similar fashion to lobbyists."


snip

[2banon]

7. And so it goes.. just another dog and pony show for a smoke and mirrors operation

nothing new with these slimy creatures on the hill.

very important information, by the way.. thanks for posting this revealing subterfuge..hope the cheer leaders read it.

[stockholmer]

8. my heart goes out to all of you who have to live with this daily barrage of doublespeak/doublethink

from all sides on so many fucking fronts. It is so much worse than when I lived in NYC for a few years. After a little over a year on this board, I have come to look on with wonder how so many keep up the good fight for decades on end. The cognitive dissonance produced is mind-strippingly harsh. Americans who care about right and wrong, and not just keeping red team/blue team points are some hardcore righteous fighters.

I salute you.

cheers from Sweden

[DonCoquixote]

9. Thanks

The truth is, the media propaganda was probably not as string when you lived in NYC, plus, before Murdoch, NYC was a lot more resistant. We do try here, which is why we are in places like DU rather than Cable. Granted, I am very much Blue Team, namely because while I have seen Blue Team mess up, I have seen Red Team when they win (as a Tampa resident)

[stockholmer]

10. Tampa? well you will soon have a fun little show there (Repuglet National Convention)

[DonCoquixote]

12. do not remind me

as I have posted and will post, Tampa has the makings of a truly black day in American history. This is where cranks call on Talk Radio or post on message boards about how they can shoot lieftists and the police will look the other way, and how they look forward to OWS getting killed. If Kent State happened here, these creeps would join the killing, and all testify in court, that everything was kosher.

[Scruffy1]

11. I consider this very misleading.

It is and always has been illegal for congresspeople or anyone else to engage in insider trading. Look up the current SEC investigation of Spencer Bachus. What the issue here is using knowledge of pending legislation to make a profit. I consider it mostly election year window dressing and it is smart politics. However, there are so many ways of finacially rewarding politicians legally that this will make no difference in my opinion. Campaign contributions, real estate deal, book deals, speaker fees and on and on.