INSIDE JOB [full lenth film]

Inside Job, Narrated by Matt Damon (Full Length HD) from jwrock on Vimeo.

Senate Bill to Ban Congressional Insider Trading Is Useful, But Timid

Statement of Craig Holman, Government Affairs Lobbyist, Public Citizen

One step forward was the name of the game today in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today followed the footsteps of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in both substance and procedure by forcing the Senate to approve a watered-down bill banning congressional insider trading without any chance for amendments to strengthen the measure. It is a victory of sorts – the legislation clearly applies the laws against insider trading to Congress for the first time, and provides a system of near real-time disclosure on stock trading by Congress to help enforce the law.

But it is also a missed opportunity for more sweeping ethics reforms.

Prompted by the leadership of Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Senate more than a month ago approved by a 96-3 vote a strong “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge” (STOCK) Act that would have banned congressional insider trading, required political intelligence operatives who prowl the halls of Congress for information to use in stock trading to disclose their clients and activities, and provided the means to enforce ethics laws in the courts.

Wall Street rallied to block the political-intel provision and found a friend in Cantor, a leading beneficiary of its campaign largesse. In a brazen parliamentary maneuver, Cantor pulled the strong STOCK Act, stripped it of the political intelligence and anti-corruption enforcement provisions and brought his substitute measure to the floor under rules prohibiting any amendments. The watered-down House bill was sent back to Reid, who today did much the same thing in the Senate chamber.

Make no mistake: the legislation is a big step forward. But Congress had a chance to do something grander.

Reps. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) already have introduced separate legislation to enact the political intelligence and anti-corruption enforcement provisions, and similar legislation is expected to be introduced in the Senate with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) joining Grassley and Leahy. Public Citizen dearly looks forward to helping these members press in the near future for what should have been law today.

Thousands Call Upon Congress to Include 'Political Intelligence' Provision in STOCK Act

Public Citizen Delivers Petition Signed by 46,000 People to Reid, Boehner

WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than 46,000 people called on Congress in a petition delivered today to reinstate the transparency requirement for political intelligence activities in the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" (STOCK) Act, and to send a strong STOCK Act to President Barack Obama for his signature. Public Citizen delivered the petition today to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Political intelligence is a lucrative and shadowy industry, with some 2,000 lobbyists and Wall Street operatives raking in anywhere up to $400 million in business annually. The political intelligence provision of the STOCK Act would not ban mining public information from congressional sources for investment purposes, but its disclosure requirements would facilitate enforcement against illegal trading on non-public information.

"When Wall Street learned of this provision, it mounted a full-scale lobbying campaign to strip it from the bill," said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen. "House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, long indebted to Wall Street for campaign cash, did exactly that."

The Senate on Feb. 2 approved a comprehensive STOCK Act, complete with the critical political intelligence transparency provision. The House was on track to do the same, until Cantor intervened and substituted a watered-down version. Cantor introduced his substitute measure under rules that prohibited amendments, forcing the House to accept his weakened bill or none at all. The different Senate and House versions now must be reconciled.

"President Obama is waiting to sign a strong STOCK Act, complete with a disclosure requirement for the political intelligence industry," said Lisa Gilbert, deputy director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division. "The public expects and deserves no less."

The petition is available at: http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9494. Pictures of the petition delivery are available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/publiccitizen/sets/72157629104184116/.

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Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.

60 minutes: Congress and Inside Trading

This is not a GOP vs DNC problem. They BOTH do it. And it SHOULD be ILLEGAL.

THIS is why it makes equal sense to Occupy both DC and Wall Street.



h/t @NaomiWolf

Inside Job -or- "Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to Jail."