Sen. Dick Durbin, the second most senior democrat in the Senate, cashed out his stock the day after meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Durbin took the money and invested much of the $115,000 in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
The transfers occurred on Sept. 19th. The prior day he met with Paulson and Bernanke on the banking crisis. Bloomberg reports that “The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plunged 4.7 percent last Sept. 15 after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bank of America Corp.’s government-engineered takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. By the end of October, the index had fallen 22.6 percent.”
I have long advocated a change in the ethics rules to require blind trusts for all members of Congress. Currently, members can make killings on the market by using their access to policy changes and special tips. For prior columns, click here and here.
Durbin, 66, insists that he was only doing what other people were doing: moving his money to safer investments. Moreover, he insists that the thrust of the information that he received from the Administration was released publicly the next day. This may be so. However, as noted in the above columns, senators have performed better than industry experts in the the past and the suspicion is that their success is due in some part to the special information that they received through their positions. More importantly, these trades and investments create an obvious appearance of self-dealing. Why should Senators (who generally have no skills or training in the market) insist on making these investments instead of using an expert in a blind trust? They obviously believe that they can do better — and historically they have. The result is that members routinely invest in areas where they are voting and legislating. If you want to write the laws affecting the markets, you should not be allowed to play the markets.
For the story, click here.
BIL: ‘Kucinich is the man.’
I agree with that totally but had he been elected he would have been treated exactly like Jimmy Carter by both sides of the isle and frozen out of any success whatsoever except possibly some foreign policy initiatives IMO. Kucinich is the ultimate outsider in Washington.
Just to get close to being on topic: And Durbin is the ultimate insider; insider knowledge and insider trading. I’m betting corruption because if he had actually known what he was doing with his investments he would have moved his money earlier to minimize his losses; I did and I don’t know anything about the finer points of our economic system.
If he got his money out in the window between the opening of business and the announcement of the same info being made public the next day then his behavior fits the description AY posted at the start of this thread.
I ended up petitioning and campaigning for Nader. However, Kucinich was my first pick.
I knew that the Big Two were lying scumbags long before most did (how I was able to discern something so obvious, while many others were duped, is beyond me).
Nader
Hi Buddha,
I wrote the following in Nov 07:
http://buelahman.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/kucinichpaul-is-that-the-ticket/
I saw it way back then…
Kucinich is the man. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: had he been elected, Cheney would be wearing prison orange by now.
Kucinich, Paul or Nader.
In that order.
So BuelahMan,since you say that you”warned”us who should we have voted for?
Former MSNBC, the poll you described also means that 55% of the population is moderate to liberal. And the 40% who describe themselves as conservative cover a broad spectrum. The problem for Republicans is that close to half of the 40% constitutes the current hardcore of the party, a marginalized collection of religious fundamentalists, racists, conspiracy theorists and other fringe elements who, like yourself, view the election of a black president as proof positive that the country is no longer “ours.” If the party intends to win any elections again, it will need to get rid of that crew and broaden its appeal to moderates. So far, it doesn’t appear willing to do that, thus allowing intellectual heavyweights like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to define the party. The alternative is to form a new Republican Party, and permit Rush and the kids to play in their own sandbox.
Its Like Bill Maher Said the other day,this is not what the people voted for.
We thought we finally had someone who understood”our pain” but I am really begining to wonder as are a lot of people.
I would say there are plenty of idiots who voted for the guy, but I am not one of them. I saw this long ago and have been warning people ever since.
I warned that he was a shill for Corporations (and he is), That he is certainly far from liberal, and that his brand of change is precisely the same shit we have been dealing with for 30+ years.
It isn’t Obama, it is the ignorant that voted for him.
Liberal vs Conservative
Right vs Left
You people are so damned gullible. Just like Sheep.
Wake up.
A little more depth on this story:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aQyYKbwMItyc#
To Borrow A line from foo.
“I don’t even have any outrage left.”And that dosen’t just apply to this situation either.Its Like Bill Maher Said the other day,this is not what the people voted for.
We thought we finally had someone who understood”our pain” but I am really begining to wonder as are a lot of people.
Enjoy being deleted soon, troll-bait. You’re not even trying any more, are you?
Jerk in Chief (Obama) blocks access to White House visitor lists… Developing…
What the F is this all about? Talk about CORRUPTION!
Jerk in Chief:
Obama: Respect Iran’s Voters
President says he’s ‘deeply troubled’ by violence in Iran but adds choosing Iran’s leaders ‘is up to Iranians’
Well so much for the Iranians expecting Hope & Change out of Obama….
getplaning:
ram it where the sun doesn’t shine liberal.
Well, Former MSNBC, that’s one way to look at it. But the right shouldn’t get too excited about the advantage reported today.
These results have been pretty steady for a couple of decades now. Conservatives now outnumber moderates and liberals, but we’re still dealing with modest fluctuations. For that matter, the traditional model of throwing everyone into one of these three categories doesn’t reflect the diverse ideological landscape.
There’s also the practical effect to consider. Self-described liberals have trailed badly for a very long time, but it hasn’t translated into Republican victories at the ballot box. Democrats still easily outnumber Republicans, despite the ideological breakdown.
What’s more, it’s one thing for Americans to describe themselves as “conservative” in a general sense, but it’s more important to consider these same Americans’ attitudes on more specific matters. Right now, for example, the number of conservatives is nearly double the number of liberals. But that doesn’t change the fact that most Americans support universal health care, disagree with Republican foreign policy, believe global warming is real and in need of a response, don’t want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, etc. So don’t expect a big conservative takeover any time soon.
Sorry kids, it’s not insider trading. Lots of people, myself included, closed all their positions when the market topped in mid 2007. Every advisory service that was worth a damn was issuing warnings to cash out by November. Anyone who was still invested in securities by March 2008 wasn’t paying attention or had a really lame fiduciary.
As posted above, “Illegal insider trading refers generally to buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, while in possession of material, nonpublic information about the security. Insider trading violations may also include “tipping” such information, securities trading by the person “tipped,” and securities trading by those who misappropriate such information.” If someone tells you the stock market is about to crash, selling all your stock on that advice does not meet the definition of “insider trading”.
Now, if Durbin sold his Lehman Bros. stock on Friday on the tip from Paulson that Lehman was going to be bankrupt on Monday, THAT would be insider trading. But I don’t think he or Paulson could be that stupid.
As Michelle Obama was strutting around the White House dressed like a slutty airline stewardess……….kids knocked up….
June 15, 2009
“Conservatives” Are Single-Largest Ideological Group
by Lydia Saad
PRINCETON, NJ — Thus far in 2009, 41% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This represents an increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2003. The 20% calling themselves liberal is in line with findings throughout this decade.
The curious firing of Gerald Walpin gets … curiouser
June 15, 2009
Senator Charles Grassley has demanded records from the Obama administration over the dismissal of the Inspector General for Americorps and raises the possibility that Barack Obama broke a law he co-sponsored in the Senate that protects the independence of the IGs.
The firing comes as the Obama administration cut a sweetheart deal with a major Obama backer that allows him to receive federal funding as mayor of Sacramento, and fails to repay taxpayers for the money Kevin Johnson admittedly took illegally
The curious firing of Gerald Walpin gets … curiouser
June 15, 2009
Senator Charles Grassley has demanded records from the Obama administration over the dismissal of the Inspector General for Americorps and raises the possibility that Barack Obama broke a law he co-sponsored in the Senate that protects the independence of the IGs.
The firing comes as the Obama administration cut a sweetheart deal with a major Obama backer that allows him to receive federal funding as mayor of Sacramento, and fails to repay taxpayers for the money Kevin Johnson admittedly took illegally
The curious firing of Gerald Walpin gets … curiouser
June 15, 2009
Senator Charles Grassley has demanded records from the Obama administration over the dismissal of the Inspector General for Americorps and raises the possibility that Barack Obama broke a law he co-sponsored in the Senate that protects the independence of the IGs.
The firing comes as the Obama administration cut a sweetheart deal with a major Obama backer that allows him to receive federal funding as mayor of Sacramento, and fails to repay taxpayers for the money Kevin Johnson admittedly took illegally