#politicians #money #corruption
#AAPL $AMZN $MSFT $FB $GOOGL
“Many US politicians receive very comfortable salaries. But, corruption runs deep in politics”— Paul Ebeling
- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s wealth has increased from $41 to 115-M since Y 2004
- At issue here is not the fact that politicians are multimillionaires; rather, as noted on a recent Twitter thread by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, it’s how they made their millions
- In the last 2 yrs, nearly 75% of Speaker Pelosi’s stock trades have involved Big Tech stocks, totaling over $33-M in trading. There is no such thing as lucky stock trading at her level.
- The trading has occurred as major legislation was proposed, controlled by the Committees Mrs. Pelosi oversees, that could reshape the future of the industry
- Mrs. Pelosi’s 5 most-traded stocks in the last 2 yrs were the FAAMGS: Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and Google. And those that stood to be most affected by pending legislation
- The system is corrupt, with most politicians are not fighting for the public but, rather, looking out for their own self-interest and wealth accumulation
Corruption runs deep in politics, with Big Tech and Big Pharma giving campaign money to politicians who in turn receive non-pubic information about the corporations that can be used to enrich their personal stock portfolios. The lawmakers then have influence over legislation that affects the companies in which they are personally invested.
Politicians are supposed to be performing a public service, but once they are out of the public eye, many go on to serve as lobbyists or work in the corporate world. This means that during their tenure, they do not close doors that may help them once no longer in politics.
The system is such that most politicians are not fighting for the public but, rather, are looking out for their own self-interest and wealth accumulation.
Case in point: There were 1,502 pharmaceutical lobbyists in Y 2020, 63.91% of whom were former government employees.
A revolving door: government employees and former members of Congress take jobs with lobbying firms, is common among lobbyists, and the reverse also occurs, in which people from the private sector end up in government positions.
The Big Q: How is this legal?
The Big A: Unless insider trading can be proven, this type of “lucky” trading that is building the wealth of numerous politicians will continue.
Members of Congress should not be allowed to buy and sell individual stock, they are there to serve the public, not to profiteer.
The above does not take into account the sweet heart real estate dealing.
Have a healthy, happy weekend, Keep the Faith!
