The Washington Independent » brian baird

Vet to Congressman: Pelosi Should Find the Swastika on ‘the Sleeve of Her Own Arm’

David Weigel — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Via HotAir, which pitches it as a “marine go[ing] nuclear on Democrat over Obamacare,” here’s a video making the rounds on the right: David Hedrick, a “member of the silent majority,” accusing the Democrats of being Nazis at a town hall held by Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.).

I’ll remind you, a little history lesson. The Nazis were the National Socialist Party. They were leftists. They took over the finance, they took over the car industry, they took over health care in that country. If Nancy Pelosi wants to find a swastika, maybe the first place she should look is the sleeve of her own arm.

While conservative bloggers like John McCormack have been claiming that Lyndon LaRouche cultists are the only people making Nazi references at town halls, here’s a proud conservative making that argument, uploading it to YouTube, and getting 250,000 views so far. Ironically, the Pelosi comment that made Hedrick so angry was her suggestion that… town hall protesters were comparing the Democrats to Nazis. (It’s also worth noting how important the government’s temporary takeover of General Motors has been in conservative mythos.) Video after the jump.

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More Scrutiny Coming on Government Insider Trading

Mike Lillis — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:45:19 +0000

Yesterday, we ran a piece pointing out that there’s really nothing stopping lawmakers, congressional staffers and other government employees from using the non-public information they gather from their daily duties to guide investments and reap enormous profits. Although a House bill — the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act — takes steps to end the practice, support on Capitol Hill has been less than enthusiastic. Indeed, only four of 435 House members have endorsed the proposal, leaving even public-interest advocates to write off its chances of going anywhere.

Today, however, Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kans.), who heads the House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, announced that his panel will take a closer look at just how prevalent government insider trading really is. The hearing, entitled “Preventing Unfair Trading by Government Officials,” is scheduled for July 13.

Expect attendance to be spare.

A Congress of Inside Traders?

Mike Lillis — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:16:11 +0000

You might think that members of Congress and their staffs would be prohibited from using their privileged access to nonpublic information to cash in on Wall Street. But you’d be wrong.

Congressional insider trading is not, in fact, illegal. In a letter to lawmakers today, several watchdogs groups offer explanation:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not have the authority to hold employees of Congress or the Executive Branch liable for using non-public information gained from official proceedings for insider trading. Under current law, ‘insider trading’ is defined as the buying or selling of securities or commodities based on non-public information in violation of confidentiality — either to the issuing company or the source of information. Most federal officials and employees do not owe a duty of confidentiality to the federal government and thus are not liable for insider trading.

The letter — signed by Public Citizen, Democracy 21, Common Cause, U.S. PIRG and the League of Women Voters — was drafted in support of legislation to prohibit congressional and White House insider trading. Introduced in January by Democratic Reps. Brian Baird (Wash.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.) and Tim Walz (Minn.), the bill would prevent policymakers from profiting from their access to nonpublic information. At the time of the unveiling, Baird pointed to a 2004 Georgia State University study indicating that investments made by members of Congress return 25 percent more than those made by other Americans.

The watchdog groups point out another reason they say Congress should consider the bill quickly: The hundreds of billions of dollars in bailout cash coming out of Washington will provide wonderful investment opportunities for policymakers who know where the money is going before the public does. From the letter:

With the federal government assuming a far greater role over the financial services industry, the opportunity and temptation for federal employees to cash in on their insider knowledge of legislation, rules and even business trends that can have a dramatic and immediate effect on the stock market will become all the more dangerous. Members of Congress and federal employees should be required to live by effective restrictions on insider trading.

The bill, aptly, is called the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act.”