Tea Party 'outsiders' should raise hell about insider trading by lawmakers

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

Peter Schweizer's hot-selling book, "Throw Them All Out," is a hard-hitting, thoroughly documented expose of insider trading activities by members of Congress. Starring roles are filled by such worthies as former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and former House Committee on Financial Services ranking member Spencer Bachus, the Republican who now chairs the same panel. According to Schweizer, Pelosi and her husband made millions participating in a special invitation Initial Public Offering from VISA at the same time legislation critical to the credit card company was before Congress. Kerry added to Teresa Heinz' millions by trading on insider information he got while on the Senate Finance Committee. Hastert profited big-time by getting an earmark to build a highway that doubled the value of land in which he had previously invested. Bachus fattened his bank account with stock deals he made during the 2008 financial crisis.

What makes these blatant examples of getting richer on public service so galling, of course, is the fact that Pelosi, Kerry, Hastert and Bachus can't be prosecuted for violating the laws against insider trading that would send corporate executives to jail. As they have with the federal Freedom of Information Act, members of Congress are exempt from such enforcement. They and members of their staffs are free to make millions on information they get by virtue of being in Congress, whether ordinary citizens like it or not.