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Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

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Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#81

Post by atlasunshrugged »

ip26 wrote: post #66
Tenoke wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what is worth, if they get even less compensation and more limitations it might become even less lucrative for capable individuals which I'm honestly not sure if it won't make things even worse as it leads to both less misaligned incentives but also worse quality talent. You can't get anywhere near a top-notch CEO for their salaries, why would you expect to get a top-notch Congressman?

I think you're mixing up your branches. Congressmen are legislators, not executives. How much does a board member cost? :)

Couple hundred thousand a year for the right board! Edit to add a link

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/wealth-management/0404...

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#82

Post by [deleted] »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #76
ISL wrote: post #28

Members of Congress make ~$174k/yr. [1] It will be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that we should pay better (and demand better) for a job with that much responsibility. Otherwise, a congressperson will be forever tempted to align their incentives with service to causes other than their electorate. I'm fairly certain we should be paying our elected officials at least as much as our football coaches. [1] https://w…

Yes, I 100% agree. I've mainly been in tech throughout my career with a few times working in gov here and abroad but have above average familiarity with how the current system works in Congress. Unfortunately, there is no constituency that is ready to vote for higher congressional salaries now. However, while there salaries are one thing, I think the caps they get on # of workers, square feet of office space, and tot…

[deleted]

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#83

Post by prewett »

IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #71
ISL wrote: post #28

Members of Congress make ~$174k/yr. [1] It will be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that we should pay better (and demand better) for a job with that much responsibility. Otherwise, a congressperson will be forever tempted to align their incentives with service to causes other than their electorate. I'm fairly certain we should be paying our elected officials at least as much as our football coaches. [1] https://w…

No. Hell no. Elected office is a sacrifice and a duty. It is not a way to make a living. Thats how you end up with dinosaurs working those halls for 68 years. I have a better idea. 1)Fix salary at 2x poverty wage. 2) make house members 1:50,000 representation to their county (yes that means the house would explode to 8000 elected officials) 3) tax any earnings above their pre-office historical income avg, at say 98%.…

That's a great way to get corruption. Relying on independently wealthy people to sacrificially serve their country is not a reliable way of getting good quality talent.

My father spent some time in Bolivia some decades ago, and people in government were paid practically nothing. So there were a lot of bribes expected. And government officials got a fantastic exchange rate on Bolivios -> USD, which after you go through the cycle a few times, ended up with the government transferring the rate subsidy to the official.

China also doesn't pay its government officials much, and similarly, there is lots of corruption, which Xi Jinping spent several years cracking down on.

At the very least, it will be independently wealthy people (aka "elites") running the country, which brings its own set of problems.

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#84

Post by csee »

ryan_lane wrote: post #69
iamleppert wrote: post #30

How is it acceptable for them to engage in these activities while on the job? It should be illegal based upon their job duties. During office hours, and while at the office, like everyone else, they should be required to carry out their job duties and not engage in personal or outside activities. Trading stocks and the like has nothing to do with their job and should not be done while at your job. If a congress perso…

The problem isn't that they're doing something other than their job, it's that they have insider information, and they're using that insider information to buy and sell stocks.

Their insider trading a very small problem compared to the problem of the perverted incentive to steer legislation in a direction that helps their portfolio.

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#85

Post by sodality2 »

jakelazaroff wrote: post #36
ISL wrote: post #28

Members of Congress make ~$174k/yr. [1] It will be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that we should pay better (and demand better) for a job with that much responsibility. Otherwise, a congressperson will be forever tempted to align their incentives with service to causes other than their electorate. I'm fairly certain we should be paying our elected officials at least as much as our football coaches. [1] https://w…

Let's say we increased that salary by 10x. Why would they not simply continue their lucrative conflict of interest side gig on top of the lucrative salary they make? The potential gains from trading on insider information are greater if you have more money to invest!

There's more at risk to be lost

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#86

Post by vineyardmike »

hourislate wrote: post #47
ISL wrote: post #28

Members of Congress make ~$174k/yr. [1] It will be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that we should pay better (and demand better) for a job with that much responsibility. Otherwise, a congressperson will be forever tempted to align their incentives with service to causes other than their electorate. I'm fairly certain we should be paying our elected officials at least as much as our football coaches. [1] https://w…

I don't know if you realize this but most of the folks who get elected to Congress are already very wealthy and those that are not become wealthy very quickly. And this might come as a surprise to you but the Democrats in Gov are far more wealthier than the Republicans...Go figure the party that says they represent the small guy...lol...

Based on data from disclosures, it seems that the democrats invest way smarter than republicans. I wonder who has more income when entering congress, vs who ends up making more per term. Are democrats actually wealthier, or do they just better use their inside knowledge.

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#87

Post by simonebrunozzi »

IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #71
ISL wrote: post #28

Members of Congress make ~$174k/yr. [1] It will be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that we should pay better (and demand better) for a job with that much responsibility. Otherwise, a congressperson will be forever tempted to align their incentives with service to causes other than their electorate. I'm fairly certain we should be paying our elected officials at least as much as our football coaches. [1] https://w…

No. Hell no. Elected office is a sacrifice and a duty. It is not a way to make a living. Thats how you end up with dinosaurs working those halls for 68 years. I have a better idea. 1)Fix salary at 2x poverty wage. 2) make house members 1:50,000 representation to their county (yes that means the house would explode to 8000 elected officials) 3) tax any earnings above their pre-office historical income avg, at say 98%.…

Go ahead, be first. I'll wait.

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#88

Post by paxys »

ISL wrote: post #28

Members of Congress make ~$174k/yr. [1] It will be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that we should pay better (and demand better) for a job with that much responsibility. Otherwise, a congressperson will be forever tempted to align their incentives with service to causes other than their electorate. I'm fairly certain we should be paying our elected officials at least as much as our football coaches. [1] https://w…

How much is fair compensation for a Congressperson? $250K? $500K? $1M? Why not even more? They certainly have a lot more power and responsibility than a CEO or sports coach who is paid many times that.

The problem is that there isn't a free market which any politician's salary can be determined by. Someone can't decide they don't like the salary in the US Senate and apply to the Canadian Parliament instead.

Plus, these salaries aren't that much out of line compared to other Federal government employees. The benefits are what really keeps them in the job.

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#89

Post by vineyardmike »

csee wrote: post #84
ryan_lane wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem isn't that they're doing something other than their job, it's that they have insider information, and they're using that insider information to buy and sell stocks.

Their insider trading a very small problem compared to the problem of the perverted incentive to steer legislation in a direction that helps their portfolio.

based on what metric? Do we know have evidence of them voting for their own portfolio vs trading their info? Based on data i've seen, it seems more likely that they're insider trading. (Except for republicans trying to support fossil fuel legislation...)

Re: Congress Needs to Stop Day Trading, Says Sen. Mark Warner

#90

Post by newbie789 »

redanddead wrote: post #70
revscat wrote: post #22

We will see a black hole evaporate via Hawking radiation before a bill such as this becomes law. The United States Senate is the body representing the capitalists/landed gentry/aristocracy/etc., and from my amateur reading of US history it always has been. The House is only slightly better. There may be politically powerful voices which speak out on issues such as these, but only briefly. Tomorrow will be a new crisi…

Why not leverage the power of technology?

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