Insider Trading for the Priviledged Few

In this blog on Monday I mentioned the CBS 60 Minute piece that described how our Federal elected officials can use insider information to trade stocks---something us mere mortals are put in jail for. You really need to view this piece, or read the script, but try not to get too upset as you see or read it.  In my opinion, it is disgusting!  Talk about the Elite Class! 

Here is the link to the show:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57323527/congress-trading-stock-on-inside-information/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

 I would love to be a reporter and sitting down face to face with a Senator or Congress Person ask the following question:  Tell me Sir/Madam, why is it that Insider Trading Laws that apply to all Americans do not apply to you?  What reason could there possibly be to have passed such an exemption for our elected lawmakers other than greed?  Could it be that our elected officials think they are all better than most Americans?  Please don't blow smoke with your answer, just tell me the truth.  And why is it that any one new to Congress doesn't question this exemption and try to get support for eliminating it?  Wouldn't you just love hearing anyone of our Senators or Congress people give a truthful answer to this question?

Here's an idea given to me by a friend.  If you can attend a Town Meeting of one of your Federal Elected Officials, ask that question and see what answer you get.  Be polite and calm in the way that you ask it, but make sure he/she doesn't "blow smoke".  If you can't get a reasonable answer--in my opinion the only reasonable answer is that they promise to get it overturned, then politely say, I'm sorry Sir/Madam, in my opinion you have skirted answering this question and I am totally disappointed in your approach to what I consider to be an Abuse of Power.  Then quietly get up and leave.

It will be interesting to see how many people leave with you.

Til Next Time,

Be Well, Stay Safe

Sandy

As I See It

Well, in my initial Blog I indicated that our Senators and Congressional Delegates should participate in Social Security and Medicare.  Some research that I was finally able to get shows that since 1984, they have participated in both programs.

The following comes from: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm  You can read the entire article on that site. For brevity, I am only including the key points here.

You may have read that Members of Congress do not pay into Social Security. Well, that's a myth.

Prior to 1984, neither Members of Congress nor any other federal civil service employee paid Social Security taxes. Of course, they were also not eligible to receive Social Security benefits. Members of Congress and other federal employees were instead covered by a separate pension plan called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act required federal employees first hired after 1983 to participate in Social Security. These amendments also required all Members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress. Because the CSRS was not designed to coordinate with Social Security, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for federal workers. The result was the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986.

As it is for all other federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes.

Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50, but only if they've completed 20 years of service. Members are eligible at any age after completing 25 years of service or after they reach the age of 62. Please also note that Members of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.

The amount of a congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.

According to the Congressional Research Service, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2006. Of this number, 290 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006.

So, that takes care of one item that I believed was a very big problem.  Sorry that I didn't have this info before I wrote my first Blog this morning--but we live and learn. There are certainly any number of other items that we need to get fixed.

I hope many of you saw the 60 Minutes Program Sunday evening where Steve Kroft exposed the fact that Congressional and Senatorial Members apparently are exempt from insider trading.  That show really annoyed me and is one more reason I provide to support my feelings that our Federal elected officials treat themselves as if they are the elite!  I won't repeat what Kroft said, but you can go to the CBS site and I'm sure you can replay that show from November 13 to see what goes on because they are apparently exempt from the Insider Trading Laws that govern normal citizens like you and I.  While I am sure that many citizens take advantage of insider information, I'm also sure that it is very hard to prove.  Of course the kicker here is that our Federal elected officials have apparently given themselves an exemption from this law.  I have tried hard to get information concerning their exemptions from laws they pass, but I am having a very difficult time finding anything---sounds to me like something is rotten in this area.

I'll keep plugging away and have additional info as I can substantiate it.

Thanks for Stopping By,

Take Care and Be Well

Sandy

As I See It

Those of you visiting this site should know that this is my first attempt at blogging.  I proudly served as an Air Force Communications Officer from 1962 to 1965. I had an outstanding career in the Telecommunications Industry and I have finally decided that I can no longer sit back and listen to our politicians spew meaningless catch phrases our way without commenting on what is going on in Our America today! 

I have been a registered Republican all my life but will be changing to Independent as soon as I am able.  I do not recognize today's Republican Party at all and cannot fathom how they can even think of saying the things they are saying. The Democratic Party, in my opinion, is no better.  Both parties have treated themselves as the elite and priviledged and still do not understand that the majority of AMERICANS ARE IN THE CENTER, NOT THE EXTREME RIGHT OR LEFT!!

The one thing I will guarantee readers of this Blog is that: I will always tell the truth as I believe it to be;  my writings will be from an objective, not a political, standpoint;  and I will always disclose to my readers anything that I am aware of in my experience that could potentially color my thinking.

There are a myriad of problems in our political system today and I certainly do not have all the answers.  I am sure of one thing, however, and that is that unless we do something quickly, we may never be able to recover the way most of us believe that our political system should work.  What I mean by that statement is that: OUR GOVERNMENT MUST WORK FOR THE MAJORITY OF ALL AMERICANS!  It should not work only for the people who have provided campaign money to our politicians in order to get them elected. Nor should it work only for the people our politicians feel obligated to because of other financial support, nepotism or some other politically distorted reasons!

Unless we changed some of the basics, we will never make any progress towards fixing our current problems.  Some of the items that I firmly believe must be addressed soon, and that I will comment on in my writings, are as follows:

• Laws passed by our Congress should apply to all Americans INCLUDING all politicians
• Congress should participate in Social Security and Medicare just like "regular Americans"
• Retirement for National Level politicians should be based on number of years served divided by the "normal" working life of most Americans and should start at the "normal" retirement age for all Americans. Any retirement benefits should also start at "normal" retirement age
• Election Laws should be modified to include term limits for all National Level Politicians
• Campaign Finance Reform must be undertaken and implemented quickly so as to take all contribution money from Corporations and wealthy Americans completely out of the picture
• The federal Government MUST have a Balanced budget each and every year
• The Federal Government MUST address our current deficit with a meaningful plan that has "Teeth" in it, not the current plan for the Committee of 12 that is, in my opinion, a sham
• All Americans have got to start paying more attention to candidates for elective office and start voting with their heads----AND I MEAN ALL AMERICANS!! We cannot expect change to happen if we don't all get involved!

These topics will be addressed and eleborated on in my initial blogs. They are by no means the only things I am concerned about, but will serve as a starting point for my writings.  At first glance, some readers may think me to be naive or idealistic. I may be, but at 71 years of age, I believe in my heart that what may seem naive to many people is common sense to me.  The real question is: Will enough Americans get involved to effect the changes that I will talk about in my writings?  If enough people take the time to get involved, our wonderful Democratic System will allow us to do these things and more, and we will get the changes I believe we all want for our Country!

Til Next Time, Be Well

Sandy