Or maybe not. Dan Froomkin reports on recent findings by university researchers who found that representatives beat the market by 6 percent while senators beat the market by 10 percent:
What's their secret? The report speculates, but does not conclude, it could have something to do with the ability members of Congress have to trade on non-public information or to vote their own pocketbooks -- or both.
Today, Barack Obama pardoned eight people. They included people convicted of drug offenses and a woman accused of evading bank reporting requirements. Bradley Birkenfeld, an American banker who formerly worked for UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, was not among the eight people pardoned. The information Birkenfeld voluntarily provided to the federal government in 2007 led to the government's "uncovering the biggest tax fraud in U.S. history." Perhaps Birkenfeld (photo here) was intentionally overlooked because pardoning him would remind the public that he is sitting in prison for no good reason, after attempting to report tens of thousands of rich tax cheat to the federal government. Birkenfeld's problem is that he is not a celebrity, or wealthy or a sport star or a politician, like many of the thousands of tax cheats he tried to bring to the attention of an uninterested federal government. Birkenfeld continues to sit in prison in Schuylkill Pennsylvania, while the United States continues to wage its war on whistle-blowers (and see here). Several additional links on whistle-blower abuse here.
Free Press issued this press release today:
WASHINGTON – North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue today refused to veto a bill that will hinder towns’ and municipalities’ ability to build their own broadband networks, ignoring of thousands of phone calls and emails from her constituents and others around the country concerned about communities being stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide. The bill, pushed through the statehouse by Time Warner Cable and CenturyLink, stifles local efforts to bring faster, affordable broadband to areas of the state under served by the incumbent phone and cable companies. Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement: “In refusing to veto the bill, Governor Perdue sided with powerful phone and cable companies and against efforts by local communities to build their own crucial communications infrastructure. Rather than stand up for her constituents, she ignored their voices and thousands of others from across the nation who had urged her to stand up for real broadband competition and choice. “The big cable companies view these municipal upstarts as major threats and are willing to shower local legislatures with campaign contributions to block their way. North Carolina is just the latest example of what phone and cable incumbents are hoping to do across the nation. Though they’re unwilling to invest in their networks or extend them to communities that need them, they won’t allow anyone else to do it. They’re now threatening to introduce similar bills in other states where municipal broadband efforts are poised to provide citizens with cheaper and faster alternatives. “In light of what has happened in North Carolina, we need federal legislation that would protect the rights of communities to build their own municipal networks. Protecting local communities’ ability to build their own networks was a key recommendation of the National Broadband Plan, and such legislation has attracted bipartisan support in the past. Millions of people across the country lack access to broadband Internet because big companies like Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink and AT&T chose not to extend services to where they live. These same companies – and the politicians whose campaigns they fund – should not be able to block local governments from offering the Internet service their constituents need.”
Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama and 43 of his fellow Senators are leading the charge to strip the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) of any meaningful authority. My prediction: The big banks will completely defang or defund the CFPB.
Cenk Ugyur reports on the new proposal for unfettered circumvention of current law. "In 2010 alone, GOP congress members received more than $58,797,874 in contribution from the financial industry. They are not your representatives. They are the representatives of the multinational corporations who buy them." At 2:30 of the video, Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the relatively few members of Congress with any scruples, discusses the need to "take apart" Citizens United, including the need to pass a constitutional amendment pointing out that a corporation is not a person. At 4:00, see the arrogant quote by Republican James Bopp, who believes that money runs everything and that there is no way for the people to fight back. We need to "educate and organize." Sanders argues that there is to fight this corruption using a grass roots movement. How genuine are the philosophical arguments of the politicians who are seeking the free flow of money from big corporations to politicians? See Sanders' discussion at 7:00. Ugyur aims his arrows at Republicans but Sanders, the only Independent representative sitting in the Senate, points out the problem extends to Democrats too.