Tag: Congress

Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge

cannassuerLeave a comment

Since I was about nine years old, my dad made sure to put a pretty large emphasis on the importance of investing. Now, about eight years later, my portfolio has gone really well. In 2013 I invested in Apple and in 2017 I invested in Nvidia. Both were very good calls but it’s Nvidia and Apple, it’s not like I was making some crazy call option or short given that I have been invested in some of their and the economy’s biggest growth periods. I’m no day trader. However, after taking business math and becoming somewhat adept at reading charts, and having a surface-level understanding of trading and all its complications, I have learned a lot of really sad realities of trading in America. Such as the fact that 89% of all stock equity is owned by the top 10% of investors. However, after going down the lovely rabbit hole of Investopedia, Yahoo Finance, and my favorite Finance Podcast: The Trillionaire Mindest I’ve learned about the sad reality of Insider Trading, especially in politics.

Even though the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge(STOCK) act has been in place for almost ten years, that has not stopped anyone. For example, the speaker of the house who many people likely know to be Nancy Pelosi. What you probably didn’t know, is that she is a massive Inside Trader. What I know for sure is that Nancy and her Husband have not stopped trading on congressional knowledge. Many people don’t see anything wrong with a Congress member trading individual stocks as literally, every other person is not allowed to. As of early this year, 59 Congress members were identified by Insider and other organizations as actively violating the STOCK act. FIFTY-NINE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. That’s over half the Senate or over ten percent of total Congress members. That may seem like a small number but that’s only people who are obviously violating it. That doesn’t count any potentially savvy investors or anyone who may be in the yellow zone of violating the STOCK act. In a time where economic policy directly affects some companies that make more money than some countries, it’s pretty integral that these people are unbiased in their policymaking. This just isn’t the case, these people are continually beating the market because they are trading on congressional knowledge because I know for a fact that 60 different people are on the level of Warren Buffet. And that raises the age-old question: how the hell do these people even mildly care about you when they can make hundreds of millions of dollars off of the economic policy THAT THEY MAKE. Imagine being allowed to trade on stocks that your actions directly affect, before anyone else can, and the only reprimand is a two hundred dollar fine. OUT OF ALL THE GOD DAMN MONEY, THESE STUPID POLITICIANS MAKE(over $100,000 a year and millions in investments) ALL THEY GET IS A $200 FINE. That’s not even a drop in the bucket, it’s a drop in a lake. But by all means, your lovely politicians care.

Photo Credit: Nasdaq.com

ImBeachment

americanapolloLeave a comment

So The Donald is in Trouble.

Big Big Trouble.

A senior Republican senator said in a CNN interview recently that there are 35 members of the GOP who would vote to remove the president if they were to remain anonymous.

Unfortunately, that’s not how things work.

But this allegiance to Democracy over the party leader should yield some frightened republicans (AHEM GYM JORGAN), as they realize that the majority of Congress does not support the President.

Another reason why they should be afraid is because if Trump were to be impeached, a whole new staff would come in, and there would be no one in the White House to protect them. Because as of right now, a select handful of Trumpers working in the West Wing support various Republican senators because of their mutual avocation in congress.

If Trump were to B removed, these leeches that hold political office would dry up and die, as their grease and cocaine filled lifeblood would be back on the streets bankrupting himself.

All smears and criticisms aside, even if Trump were to be removed, it is still a dark time in our country’s history, as party lines have never been stronger and corruption has never run so deep.

(Except for the Gilded Age but we don’t talk about that.)

A Government Shutdown?

frog3Leave a comment

f4r

What is a government shutdown? One would expect that it involves a government shutting down. In the United States however this is not the case. Instead government shutdown is a term Democrats and Republicans use to blame each other. It is also used to stir up fury in the American people, who would fear a dreaded shutdown.

A more accurate term for this “ government shutdown” would be a limited government cutback. In its current state the federal government is shutting down non-essential services and unfortunately jobs. Approximately 800,000 federal workers will, temporarily, lose their jobs.

A true government could occur if Democrats and Republicans cannot pass a federal budget that both agree to. The longer this government cutback lasts the larger the effect it will have on the United States and the American people. Most likely one side will cave in to the other sides demands. I find the possibility of a true compromise remote, if a budget is not created then the federal government will cease to function.

American Guns

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

The White House just came out with this dashing photo of Obama shooting clay pigeons at Camp David.

I really love the way the White House is trying to look “pro-gun” by releasing this photo. There really shouldn’t have to be so much of an effort by the White House to try to convince so many gun-advocate dunderheads that their president isn’t going to come to their house and steal their guns when they sleep.

America has a weird fascination with guns. About 40% of Americans have guns in their house. This is one of the only developed countries on the planet where the citizens feel the need to own assault weapons and as many magazines as they can handle. There really is no reason for people to own these types of weapons. The only benefit of an assault weapons is that they don’t leave time for people to think in between shots.

Take Australia for example. My cousin, a police officer in Tasmania, came over to California just after the Sandy Hook shootings. He and his entire family really could not understand the gun laws here in the States. In Australia, no one is allowed assault weapons, guns must be kept in locked containers and police officers check to see if your house is suitable for guns. I asked him if there are many shootings in Australia, and he replied, “Um, no. Of course not.”

What a luxury it must be to live in a country where shootings aren’t something common. It really is not hard  to make that dream become a reality. America could take a page from Australia’s law book. This is something that can happen, it’s just a matter of how much people care about saftey.

Censorship and privacy,Is it really necessary?

frog3Leave a comment

Internet privacy and censorship is an issue that has caused much controversy in recent times. With the astronomical growth of the Internet in the last decade, cyber bullying has become an unprecedented problem. Proponents for the removal of online anonymity have argued that cyber bulling would end if people would have to take responsibility for what they say.

A major problem with cyber bulling is the anonymity of it. For example, if a child bullies another child in person, the child can tell school administration and get the problem sorted out. If a child is bullied on lets say Facebook, it is much more difficult to catch the bully.

A fourteen year old boy killed himself on September 9th at about 2 o clock on an early Sunday morning. He was being bullied for his homosexuality, via the popular blogging site Form Spring. It also happened to be suicidal awareness month.Gay Pride

A very recent issue that has reached attention is Internet censorship. This bill is being debated in Congress right now. What it will do is outlaw “illegal pirating of movies, music and other copyrighted material.” This could be a very big deal to many people.

Many people illegally download copyrighted material on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see the backlash that comes from this bill if it is passed.

Budget Day

venturatrekerLeave a comment

On February 14th, for many Americans, it was a day of love and spending time with that special someone, but to Washington DC, it was day of money, petitions, and vetoes.

At around noon on Monday, President Barrack Obama released his Draft of the 2012 Budget.  Speaking to a Legislative Assistant to California Senator Dianne Feinstein, he commented that the draft was about 15” thick.  Later this week the Draft will go through Congress for revision.

floor-of-congress.jpg

Currently the 2011 fiscal year budget plan, is the continuation of 2010’s.  When the budget can not be finalized by the start of a fiscal year (November)  the previous years budget plan is continued into the next fiscal year.

Senator Barbara Boxer, our own California representative, released the following statement on President Obama’s Budget:“While I may not agree with everything in it, the President’s budget reflects the need to cut the deficit in a responsible way.”

What our Senator does support fully is Obama’s increased funding to transportation which will help maintain and create millions of much-needed jobs.  The 2012 Budget Plan has a great possibility of going through.  This would greatly help Obama to first off, reduce the overall budget, and allow him to better concentrate funds on Health Care and Transportation.