Members of Congress are exempt from many insider trading laws. Whatever you think of insider trading laws -- I'm actually not a huge fan -- and the ethics thereof, rather than hoping for water to start flowing uphill, perhaps you can join them in their investment prowess (since they have to disclose holdings anyway).-- theircompetitor, Jan 12 2022 those who beat the S&P last year https://blog.unusua...t_member_vs_SPY.png [theircompetitor, Jan 12 2022] [+] On the other hand, this could be an elaborate way to reward contributors with new stockholders en masse. But what else is new?-- 4and20, Jan 12 2022 Wait a minute, though; if the list in the link is complete, that would imply that most members of congress underperformed the S&P.-- pertinax, Jan 12 2022 Also, if water flowing downhill is the metaphor for people doing what they're inclined to do anyway, could you give an example of a law which is *not* trying to make water flow uphill?-- pertinax, Jan 13 2022 I figure that if your income comes from tax dollars then your every business act should be open to public scrutiny.
You want to have complete surveillance on the populace?... fine, but EVERY single individual employed by those surveilled is subject to the same scrutiny.
All of them.
Military. Cops. Government. Health care professionals. Teachers. Clergy.
Everyfuckingbody!!!
...or nobody.
No in-between.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 13 2022 Want to see con-men scatter?...
...just turn on the lights.
Fucking cockroaches the lot of them, just make sure you've got traps in place before-hand to keep the scum from seeping out under the baseboards and maybe we can have some peace for a bit.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 13 2022 //Everyfuckingbody!!! ... or nobody. //
That's fair. Privacy was nice, but we know that people can function without it because, for much of human history, people lived in smaller communities where everyone knew everyone's business.
//cockroaches the lot of them//
Yeah, no. That part is not OK. People have tried to draw the line before between "people who are virtually cockroaches" and, on the other hand, just "people", and it's an impossibly blurry line. And in any sort of mass-trapping event, the people most likely to get caught up and killed are the ones *least* like cockroaches, because one of the defining characteristics of cockroaches is that they survive. It's very frustrating, but there it is.
The best we can do is, as you say, "turn on the lights" by, for example, protecting journalists and historians and satirists (both professional and amateur, and including the ones we don't like) ... and try not to leave crumbs lying around.-- pertinax, Jan 13 2022 Good idea for America..... where being greedy and corrupt is an asset when it comes to getting elected. It also helps if you don't believe in gravity and are certain that alien DNA is only ever an injection away, so they should all be tested for its presence under a parallel scheme. The ability to be easily mistaken for Ronald McDonald is another asset, so that needs a suitable test too.-- xenzag, Jan 13 2022 Hahaha - You can apply for a visitor's visa anytime you want. (Note - we no longer accept passports hand written on bananas)-- xenzag, Jan 13 2022 That's progress. Learning how to form words is a great step forward, as is the eating of bananas instead of the people in the cave next door.-- xenzag, Jan 13 2022 //, could you give an example of a law which is *not* trying to make water flow uphill?//
a tax cut?
the Homestead Act?
the Second Amendment?
I can dig in further if needed-- theircompetitor, Jan 13 2022 //a tax cut? //
Cutting a tax is more like repealing a law than adding one, so I'm not sure that counts.
//the Homestead Act? //
This went against the natural behaviour of capital. Compare problems of land distribution in the late Roman Republic.
//the Second Amendment? //
This goes against the natural behaviour of governments, and of dominant classes, which is why it's challenged so much.
I'm not talking about whether these laws were good or not, just observing that they did/do "push water uphill" in some sense.-- pertinax, Jan 13 2022 Call me cynical if you like but it sounds like an excellent vehicle to help facilitate wealth creation for members of congress utilising a form of pump & dump.
They buy & everyone watching them buys pushing the price up so they can sell at a profit, then everyone following them bails & the price collapses, if they want they can then buy the shares they just sold back (pumping again) at less than they sold them for & have the same number of shares plus a tidy profit, rinse & repeat.
It would become a vehicle for scams & major fraud in pretty short order ("pretty short order" aka the opening of trading the very same day that this starts).-- Skewed, Jan 13 2022 So earlier yesterday a lawmaker put forth a bil that bans Congresscritters from trading stocks. We'll see how quickly it gets brought forth. I'm expecting to read a thrilling translation of War and Peace in Old Entish so it may make it to debate by the time I'm finished.-- RayfordSteele, Jan 14 2022 zzzzzzzzzzz-- xenzag, Jan 14 2022 //The best we can do is, as you say, "turn on the lights" by, for example, protecting journalists and historians and satirists (both professional and amateur, and including the ones we don't like) ... and try not to leave crumbs lying around.//
Agreed.
That's not what's happening though is it?We've got whistle blowers jailed, truth tellers silenced, protests which don't make the "news", and cartoonists bombed.
There is only the Covid now...
Misdirection is a bitch.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 14 2022 Examples of any of the above?-- RayfordSteele, Jan 14 2022 Not a thesis, an observation.We are being conditioned to live in fear so that the cockroaches can scurry around in the dark.
Don't make jokes about religious figures, extremists will get you.Don't protest injustices, the justice system will get you.Don't leak information the public should know, the government will get you.Don't stand on your right to refuse medical attention, they'll take your job away from you, your rights away from you, and your kids away from you. (latest court case in Quebec)Don't you even dare to question science! Science has never made so much as a single mistake and if you don't stop questioning what you're told the rest of the population will be conned into publicly shaming you because obviously you're an infant killing fuckwad who should have the right to medical treatment revoked and taxed into compliance... maybe jail if you keep it up.
Do not think for yourself citizen. It's not safe.Remain isolated, fearful, and docile... or else.
There now. Isn't that better? So let's get back to willingly throwing away your rights and bankrupting the planet over an engineered overreaction to a man-made virus with a 99.7% chance of shrugging off unless you are already dying of other causes, why you might not even know you have it. Of course we won't actually report these secondary conditions... how would that stoke our fear and loathing agenda?
You... you aren't daring to question the fear agenda are you?Still?!!!Oh now look what you've done! You've made us have to place more restrictions on your neighbours until they smarten you up.
Happy now.No, that wasn't a question. You will shut up and be happy now.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 14 2022 It is exactly science to question the science. But to do it in ways that aren't bringing whatever axes you still have that remain unground.
No actual specifics but the usual rant, then, so I'll take that as a pass.-- RayfordSteele, Jan 14 2022 //An investment vehicle that tracks the investments of members of Congress//
But that's not what an EFT is...-- Voice, Apr 08 2022 I pretend those who fail to beat the S&P 500 deliberately avoid inside trading.-- Voice, Apr 08 2022 //It is exactly science to question the science. But to do it in ways that aren't bringing whatever axes you still have that remain unground.//
Tell it to Galileo...-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 09 2022 Galileo was prosecuted for insulting the Church and mocking the Pope, not for being ahead of his time.-- Voice, Apr 09 2022 If this were an actual ETF you'd likely be prosecuted for insider trading if you bought into it. Who do you think you are, one of the elites?-- xrayTed, Apr 17 2022 That’s a great point.-- doctorremulac3, Apr 21 2022 random, halfbakery