Criminal lawmakers took taxpayer money to bailout firms in which they hold stock!
WASHINGTON - June 11, 2009 - Top House lawmakers had considerable holdings in major financial institutions that took billions of dollars in federal funds - against the wishes of the Amerikan people, in other words, the government stole from the people - at the end of last year, according to annual financial disclosure reports released yesterday.
From stock holdings to retirement funds to mortgages, more than 20 House leaders and members of the House Financial Services Committee had large personal stakes in the Wall Street powerhouses whose collapse last year led to an unprecedented government intervention in the marketplace. In some instances those lawmakers, like millions of other investors, sold their holdings at steep losses while others retained the stocks at greatly diminished value.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Kalif.) and her husband lost hundreds of thousands of dollars investing in American International Group, which has received $170 billion in government loans and cash injections, making it by far the largest recipient of federal bailout dollars. Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Virg.) and his wife held stock, retirement plans and other investments worth at least $183,000 and as much as $495,000 in firms benefiting from federal government rescue efforts, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
At least 18 members of the House Financial Services Committee - which oversees the banking and housing industries at the core of the economic meltdown - held stock last year in firms that received federal bailout assistance, according to a review of the forms that were available yesterday.
The release of the annual disclosure forms was not scheduled to occur until tomorrow, but the House clerk's office briefly posted many of them online yesterday, apparently by accident. A firm called LegiStorm captured the data and posted them on its web site. The Senate will release its forms tomorrow.
The disclosure forms require lawmakers to reveal a broad range of personal holdings and liabilities but not the precise value. Lawmakers are not required to disclose any information about their primary residence, only on rental properties that they own, and they do not have to reveal the terms of those mortgages. Also, Congress requires only that lawmakers list the place of employment and board memberships for spouses, not their annual salaries or director's fees received by spouses.
Some ethics watchdogs were critical of members of Congress for investing directly in companies they oversee. "You wonder if they're voting on things because it's good for the country or because it would increase their personal wealth," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Ed. Note: Because even though the taxpayers were more than 90% opposed to giving public money to these failing financial dinosaurs, Congress voted their own wallets and looted YOU to save their stock portfolios. When is enough is enough? When will you get angry enough to take corrective action? Revolution Now! Independence Forever!
