by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The rapidly growing coronavirus disaster has now reached a couple of tentacles into the halls of Congress. Over the past few days two members of the House have come forward with announcements that they have tested positive for the virus, and now a rapidly spreading scandal in the Senate has ensnared several senators in what appears to be an insider trading scandal based on an early private briefing that they received on the pandemic.
The virus has attacked the House, so far, in an even-handed manner. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, a Republican, and Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah, a Democrat, are both reporting that they have tested positive. Speaker Pelosi, who has been outspoken in her opposition to a "vote from home" option for House members, has now referred that option to a committee for study. House members, by the nature of their jobs, meet with constituents and mingle with crowds - and are thus at risk of contracting the virus - and the Speaker, who will be eighty in six days, may have suddenly realized that there are advantages to maintaining a space between herself and House members - whether they are currently ill or not.
In the opinion of this humble typist: All people who could do their work from home during this national emergency, should be allowed and encouraged to do so - even members of Congress.
So far no Senators are reporting that they have tested positive for Coronavirus, but several have suddenly found themselves being accused on insider-trading because they dumped stocks after receiving an exclusive Senate briefing on the coronavirus outbreak. They managed to sell their stocks before the bottom fell out of the market, possibly as a result of the insider knowledge that they acquired while functioning as U.S. Senators.
News broke last night that Senator Richard Burr, a Republican of North Carolina, had managed to off-load $1.7 million in stocks before the market began its collapse. The law that Burr and others have been accused of breaking is the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" (STOCK) Act of 2012, Interestingly, Burr was one of only three United States Senators to vote against that act when it originally passed.
NPR has also released a tape of Burr meeting with wealthy constituents and informing them that things were going to get bad - at a time that he was being openly optimistic in talks with regular members of the public.
Senator Burr plans on retiring in 2022, but critics, including commentator Tucker Carlson of Fox News, are calling on his to resign now.
Newly appointed Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia (a Republican whose husband is the president of the New York Stock Exchange) is also being accused of insider trading due to selling 27 stocks after being in a confidential Senate briefing that addressed concerns about the impending crisis. She also bought one stock that dealt with software used in working from home - and has done quite well on that investment. Loeffler insists that neither she nor her husband have any control over their stock sales and purchases - and says all of their stock transactions are handled by third parties.
Also implicated in the growing scandal - so far - are Senators James Mountain Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, and Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California. Feinstein, like Loeffler, in insistent that all of her stocks are in a blind trust, however, she also indicated that the trust is under the control of her husband.
In the opinion of this humble typist: Anyone who profits off of knowledge acquired while working a public trust, especially members of Congress, should resign and then stand trail for insider-trading.
That's the Congressional Coronavirus Scorecard as of today, but like the cases of the illness itself, the numbers seem certain to rise. The virus marches on, and (sadly) so does the greed!
Citizen Journalist
The rapidly growing coronavirus disaster has now reached a couple of tentacles into the halls of Congress. Over the past few days two members of the House have come forward with announcements that they have tested positive for the virus, and now a rapidly spreading scandal in the Senate has ensnared several senators in what appears to be an insider trading scandal based on an early private briefing that they received on the pandemic.
The virus has attacked the House, so far, in an even-handed manner. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, a Republican, and Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah, a Democrat, are both reporting that they have tested positive. Speaker Pelosi, who has been outspoken in her opposition to a "vote from home" option for House members, has now referred that option to a committee for study. House members, by the nature of their jobs, meet with constituents and mingle with crowds - and are thus at risk of contracting the virus - and the Speaker, who will be eighty in six days, may have suddenly realized that there are advantages to maintaining a space between herself and House members - whether they are currently ill or not.
In the opinion of this humble typist: All people who could do their work from home during this national emergency, should be allowed and encouraged to do so - even members of Congress.
So far no Senators are reporting that they have tested positive for Coronavirus, but several have suddenly found themselves being accused on insider-trading because they dumped stocks after receiving an exclusive Senate briefing on the coronavirus outbreak. They managed to sell their stocks before the bottom fell out of the market, possibly as a result of the insider knowledge that they acquired while functioning as U.S. Senators.
News broke last night that Senator Richard Burr, a Republican of North Carolina, had managed to off-load $1.7 million in stocks before the market began its collapse. The law that Burr and others have been accused of breaking is the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" (STOCK) Act of 2012, Interestingly, Burr was one of only three United States Senators to vote against that act when it originally passed.
NPR has also released a tape of Burr meeting with wealthy constituents and informing them that things were going to get bad - at a time that he was being openly optimistic in talks with regular members of the public.
Senator Burr plans on retiring in 2022, but critics, including commentator Tucker Carlson of Fox News, are calling on his to resign now.
Newly appointed Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia (a Republican whose husband is the president of the New York Stock Exchange) is also being accused of insider trading due to selling 27 stocks after being in a confidential Senate briefing that addressed concerns about the impending crisis. She also bought one stock that dealt with software used in working from home - and has done quite well on that investment. Loeffler insists that neither she nor her husband have any control over their stock sales and purchases - and says all of their stock transactions are handled by third parties.
Also implicated in the growing scandal - so far - are Senators James Mountain Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, and Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California. Feinstein, like Loeffler, in insistent that all of her stocks are in a blind trust, however, she also indicated that the trust is under the control of her husband.
In the opinion of this humble typist: Anyone who profits off of knowledge acquired while working a public trust, especially members of Congress, should resign and then stand trail for insider-trading.
That's the Congressional Coronavirus Scorecard as of today, but like the cases of the illness itself, the numbers seem certain to rise. The virus marches on, and (sadly) so does the greed!
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