ban insider trading among lawmakers and federal workers

Written on December 10, 2011 by V2A

Pelosi Made Biggest Killing Off Insider Trade

 

Nancy Pelosi and her husband doubled their stock investment on a highly sought after Visa IPO in a matter of only weeks, according to Peter Schweizer.“She and her husband were given access to low price, pre-IPO shares of stock — 5,000 shares that they were able to buy for $44 apiece and then they were able to see that value go up by 50 percent in one day, and then more than double in value within a couple of weeks,” he says, adding that the deal took place during Pelosi’s reign as Speaker.
As Congress weighs a measure that would ban insider trading among lawmakers and federal workers, the conservative author whose book touched off a national maelstrom on the topic, insists that the practice rises to the level of corruption. “There’s no question about it. We are supposed to be a country governed by laws, not by men,” charges conservative author Peter Schweizer in an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV.
A research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Schweizer chronicles alleged abuses by members of both the House and the Senate in his new book, “Throw Them All Out,” which was heavily featured on “60 Minutes” with reporter Steve Kroft going after leaders of the two parties in the House on camera. Both Speaker John Boehner and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi denied they had done anything wrong. But officials have been considering various measures to stop the practice, including the STOCK Act, which has attracted wide support.
“There’s no laws that are broken. They’re free to take these sweetheart, so-called friends and family [Initial Public Offering” IPO stock,” explains Schweizer. “One of the reforms I propose is that we need to ban them because they are doled out to friends in terms of people looking for favors.” Schweizer says there should be a “zero tolerance policy” for any lawmaker who benefits financially from knowledge acquired through their House or Senate jobs, similar to trading rules that have existed for years with respect to corporate executives.