It won’t pass.
People love to target Pelosi for her and her husband’s trading, but she’s far from the only one.
Still good press though right?
Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
11–20 of 38 posts
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#12You should be aware that she also worked for politics a long time unpaid ( 20 years) because of her husband, who was earning enough.
Some suggestions of "she would only backoff because of ..." don't take that into account.
She's not rich because of stock trading. He/she was already plenty of rich/successful before anything happened that people now accuse her of.
Like: they already had plenty of successful investments before Pelozi even went into politics.
That's a really important variable to take into consideration.
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#13The only reason she would back this is if: a) there are giant loopholes b) it doesn't ban her husband from buying individual stocks c) she knows there is no way this passes
It appears she doesn't back/support it. From another article: "I just don't buy into it, but if members want to do that I'm OK with that," Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference.
Source? Because the Axios article says she changed her tune on supporting a ban. If the quote is from a year ago maybe it’s no longer accurate.
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#14I know the argument against term limits is that it puts power into shodow structures of the government, but man oh man regardless of what side you are on I think that everyone has been in power too long.
Time will inevitably put these long serving boomers in the grave. I have a hard time thinking the next generation, growing up in a more multicultural, tougher (economically), progressive time will share the same values.
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#15So, we have to hope that those in power will effectively regulate themselves? Like Apple and Microsoft and Google and FaceBook, etc can effectively regulate themselves? The point is there is simply no accountability for those in power because there is no sacrifice needed in order to gain that power. Gaining political power is 100% a financial move these days, and has nothing to do with passing legislation that is "by the People, of the People and for the People".
The only solution to any of this is if attaining political office comes with some sort of life-altering consequence. You get a seat in Congress? You have to live as a hermit and abandon all your wealth for good. Political action becomes the ultimate sacrifice, like Italo Calvino positied: http://www.ruanyifeng.com/calvino/2008/12/beheading_the_head...
(This was really just a comment to post this story)
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#16So, we have to hope that those in power will effectively regulate themselves? Like Apple and Microsoft and Google and FaceBook, etc can effectively regulate themselves? The point is there is simply no accountability for those in power because there is no sacrifice needed in order to gain that power. Gaining political power is 100% a financial move these days, and has nothing to do with passing legislation that is "by…
I could swear I remember this exact thing happening a few years ago. They silently repealed it a few years after the dust settled. I can't find any reference to it though.
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#17Wonder what loop hole they'll leave. Prob doesn't matter to her, she's already got her millions.
There is a point in the article her husband is a heavy trader. When I read that, my first thought was unless they ban spouses from trading as well, it seems like that's what will happen since the majority are married.
If not the husband, then the kids. If not the kids, then the cousins. If not the family, then the lawyers. etc etc etc.
> publish the trades of politicians and Fed officials online every evening
Just like banning trading, this will be circumvented by family/business proxies doing the trades. Including potential family proxies, in the public accounting, would probably be the most effective move to motivate ethical behavior. At least put some risk in the form of the relationship to the business partners, given the vast amounts of money flowing.
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#18I'm sure we all get the sense that there's probably going to be a big fat loophole somewhere. I think what might have been wiser is better transparency from politicians and their families. Either having a real-time trading dashboard that announces all of their trades in real-time, or set a requirement for them to pre-announce trades at least 1 day before. "If Apple's price is below $X tomorrow, then I intend to buy X…
they should also make it like US expats have to deal with their foreign bank accounts. don't declare an FBAR appropriately, the US government fines you half the max value of the account (and make it no cap on penalty, unlike FBAR). Don't declare stock trades appropriately, not just that trade is penalized, the entire account or even one's entire portfolio (to avoid having many many different accounts) is penalized.
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#19I know the argument against term limits is that it puts power into shodow structures of the government, but man oh man regardless of what side you are on I think that everyone has been in power too long.
Time will inevitably put these long serving boomers in the grave. I have a hard time thinking the next generation, growing up in a more multicultural, tougher (economically), progressive time will share the same values.
>I have a hard time thinking the next generation, growing up in a more multicultural, tougher (economically), progressive time will share the same values.
I think you're forgetting these were the free love dope smoking hippies. People's values change as they get older.
Re: Pelosi buckles, pushes stock-trading ban
#20I'm sure we all get the sense that there's probably going to be a big fat loophole somewhere. I think what might have been wiser is better transparency from politicians and their families. Either having a real-time trading dashboard that announces all of their trades in real-time, or set a requirement for them to pre-announce trades at least 1 day before. "If Apple's price is below $X tomorrow, then I intend to buy X…
No doubt, the bigger problem is they shouldn't be able make information trades because they don't have any special information.
At this point, none of them should be able to own individual stocks. I would even ban them from owning sector ETFs. Broad index funds/bond funds, etc..a selection that looks like many of the average person's 401k choices.
Being in power is not supposed to be your best career option and the best way you can possibly make money. That is practically the opposite meaning of civic virtue.
Of course, I know this is all fantasy land stuff. I think systemically we have just hit that time decay before expiration that things start going down faster and faster.