Insider Trading And Legislators Go Together Like Wine And Cheese.

Let's have three cheers for our congress, because they're writing bills that begin to ban insider trading by congress, senior staff and executive branch senior staff. From now on there will be no closing their eyes to what goes on behind those closed investment doors. That's right, no closed eyes. Although there will still be a lot of winking goin on. At least there will be unless the Senate and House tighten up these proposed laws. Of course, we have to ask the question: do they feel that such laws are in their best interests? Let's face it. If they pass strict laws that say they can no longer profit from insider information, will that adversely effect their portfolios? Would it mean that they would then have to break the law in order to profit from that special insider information? Understand, it's not so much that they would find breaking the law to be a practice they would necessarily shy away from, so much as it would be an added inconvenience trying to hide the practice. Far better if they can somehow word any legislation in such a way as to leave the impression that they have forever outlawed the practice, while still allowing for using the practice under certain circumstances. I believe they may have found that wording. It's still too soon to say definitively and it will take a battery of tax attorneys and constitutional scholars to determine if the wording is clouded and cloaked in legal boilerplate in sufficient bulk to cloud and cloak the actual illegality of the legislation. In other words, will anyone notice that the legislation is a sham? Well, if nothing else, they're convincing most people that they've heard the hue and outcry and have acted responsibly toward it. I for one am grateful that our congress still listens to ordinary folks like us. That is I was, until I realized that it wasn't ordinary folks like us they are listening to. No sirree bob. Ya see, the one percenters feel that with this insider information congress and it's bureaucracy is holding an edge that, on occasion, hurts them, the one percenters. They're the ones who raised the outcry that congress heard. Congress feels it's better to receive outright grants from their wealthy benefactors than from any insider trading. Well unless they can get away with both.