Surprise, surprise, congressmen can engage in activities that make them millions but, the same actions by your average citizens would land them in prison.  Some more naive readers might think that the law is designed to protect society from criminals even though the exact opposite is true.  The law is actually designed to expropriate wealth from the population by favoring big business/government insiders against the rest of us.  Those who write the laws (corporate lobbyists, big business, and government officials) are the real 1%.   They are the real beneficiaries of state coercion, you are the host, they are the parasites.   While the rest of us have to acquire wealth through economic means, the beneficiaries of the state apparatus acquire wealth by what Franz Oppenheimer called the “political means.”  There is no better example of the total disregard for the people that they are elected to represent than congressional insider trading but, in the end this is just a symptom of a much larger disease.

People are complaining about congressional insider trading but they are missing the bigger picture.  Why do politicians get to buy stocks at all?   The system is obviously rigged with political power!  Politicians know what new laws and regulations are going to be passed and can make huge amounts of money from the knowledge.  They also decide the funding for the SEC and it turns out that the SEC has decided that congressmen are immune to insider trading.  Well isn’t that just great!

Well, to start off, insider trading laws are ridiculous because they actually hurt the middle class the most by allowing bubbles to build to much higher levels.  It is the guys on Wall Street that buy early but, it is usually the middle class that buys at the top.  Any information to pop that bubble earlier would help the middle class but, if such laws exist why is congress exempt from them?  I think congress is exempt for two reasons.

One, the whole point of political office is for power and privilege over the rest of the population despite noble campaign rhetoric.  The goal of almost all congressmen and senators is to land some kind of big lobbying job after their term that will make them millions due to their insider connections…  so why wait until their term is done to cash in?!  They want to use their political connections in the present to make some big bucks. That is the whole point of going to congress besides some kind of twisted urge to rule over your fellow human beings.  That is why so many go into office with a moderate amount of wealth and leave very rich. This should not be surprising considering they are all egomaniacs and sociopaths, so any thought that the rule of law should be applied equally to the whole population does not even cross their minds.

Two, if they applied the laws of insider trading against congressmen it would demonstrate the absurdity of the law.  Every bill that congress passes could have some potential affect on the stock market.  Even a small change in the FDAs food period could have a significant impact on agricultural stocks not to mention all the subisidies and trade restrictions that could literally make or break a business over night.  The SEC prosecuting a bunch of congressmen every other day would be ridiculous and more importantly strike at the credibility of the political system which would be the very worst, harming the power structure.  People have to genuinely believe the lie that their politicians generally care about them, at least a little bit, or the whole system falls apart.   It is for every ones best interest, congressmen, senators, and the SEC itself, that no congressmen ever gets prosecuted for insider trading.

Solution-  Make all congressmen put all their assets in savings accounts!   The economy and the dollar would be saved! The American people would force congress to pass a law that all their money needs to be in savings accounts except for their house and their car. The law could be written something like this:

“This congress chooses to place all their assets into savings accounts to show solidarity with the American people.  The middle class and the poor are the largest holders of cash and most vulnerable to monetary devaluation so it is only right that this congress stands with the people and puts all of their holdings into cash as well.  (except for a single house and two cars per congressman).”

Whatever savings account they want, they get to choose because the American people are a fair bunch!  We would even let those creeps have two cars and a house!  Just imagine what this would do!  All of monetary and economic problems would be solved overnight.  Can you imagine Ben Bernanke trying to pitch QE3 to a congress that had all their assets in savings accounts?  Congressmen would go ballistic.  I would not be surprised to see rotten vegetables thrown during a congressional session for the first time in a hundred years.  It would be like marching into a den of lions for old Ben, I doubt he would even show up.  Congress would likely reign in the Federal Reserve over night.  End the Fed would no longer be a motto for the few in the liberty minded minority that actually understand money and credit but it would instead be shouted from the halls of power in Washington DC.  Ben Bernanke walking onto the congressional floor might look more like  Caesar walking onto the floor of the Roman Parliament on March 15^th if he was really unlucky.  The Great Savior, Time Magazine’s man of the year in 2009, Ben Bernanke would become enemy number 1 of the people in a day.  The 100 year reign of the evil Federal Reserve would finally end and the power over money would finally be restored to the people.

Ahh, well, maybe I day dream too much.  Nothing like that will happen anytime soon.  Congressmen will remain corrupt and make massive amounts of money through insider trading through the huge loop holes in the law made to supposedly prevent such action.  Ben Bernanke will continue to inflate the dollar because that is all he can do and America will get closer and closer to fiscal and economic oblivion.  Its like watching the crazy drunk whose life is careening out of control and his only solution is to drink more booze.  The only problem is that he is in the driver’s seat and we are the passengers.  Sit back and enjoy the ride, there is no jumping out of this car, we have already passed the point of no return…   but buckle up (buy some gold and silver) because the crash is coming…   the only question is how bad.