Manic, Chill

Senate Passes Bill To End Insider-Trading In Congress And The Executive Branch, Kills Multiple Bills Intended To Curb Congressional Perks

In an effort to curb steadily-declining Congressional approval ratings, the Senate passed a strengthened version of the STOCK Act, a bill to ban insider trading by members of Congress and some members of the executive branch, on Thursday. The vote passed 96-3 with Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) voting against passage of the amended bill.

from CNN:

The bill states that insider trading is criminal and requires public disclosure online of any trades within 30 days of a transaction. It was aimed initially just at Capitol Hill. However, Republicans clamored for the inclusion of executive-branch employees.

“The same standards should apply to the White House and the executive agencies that spend hundreds of billions of dollars at the president’s direction,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

Obama, referring to his State of the Union address, said in a statement: “Last week, I called on Congress to pass a bill that makes clear that Members of Congress may not engage in insider trading. … So I’m pleased the Senate took bipartisan action to pass the STOCK Act. I urge the House of Representatives to pass this bill, and I will sign it right away.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, issued a statement after the Senate vote saying the House may take up the STOCK Act next week.

While voters and advocates of the measure will likely celebrate the strong bipartisan support the bill received in the Senate, it should be noted that a slew of additional amendments were blocked from being added to the bill. The additional amendments, intended to curb future perks for former members of Congress, were defeated through a combination of unsuccessful votes for passage and vote prevention by Senate leaders.

An amendment to ban all earmarking of future bills, sponsored by Senators Claire McCaskill(D-MO) and Pat Toomey(R-PA), failed when the majority of Republican senators voted to preserve the Senate’s ability to continue the practice.

Additional amendments that did not pass included:

• A bipartisan proposal to permanently ban earmarks as well as an amendment to require lawmakers and senior staff to divest of stocks or put their stock holdings in blind trusts.

• An amendment sponsored by [Sen.] Paul to prohibit executive branch appointees and staff from having oversight, rule-making, and loan- or grant-making authority over companies in which they or their spouses have significant financial interest.

• The amendment sponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jeff Merkley(D-OR) requiring lawmakers and senior staff to divest of stocks lost 26 to 73.

• Leaders also denied a vote on an amendment sponsored by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Jon Tester (D-Mo.) to permanently bar lawmakers from becoming lobbyists and restrict former staff from lobbying their old bosses in Congress for a period of six years.

In his statements to the press, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor(R-VA) made clear that he did not believe the bill was strong enough in it’s current form.

We will quickly review the entire bill and the amendments that were added today to ensure that public servants, whether in the legislative or executive branch, do not personally profit from insider information. It is critical that the bill we send to the president guarantees that the same rules apply to those in the federal government as they do to everyone else

During his remarks, Cantor also announced that his office would introduce an additionally strengthened version of the bill next week. The move has many, including ThinkProgress’ Pat Garofalo, worried that Cantor may try and kill the bill entirely.

For more information on the measures that failed, including information on amendments not listed here, read the full article at The Hill.

(image courtesy of Shockuation)

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New York Building Commissioner Orders Vacation of Global Revolution TV Headquarters, NYPD Arrests #OccupyWallSt’s Livestream Operators

It appears that the watchmen have grown tired of being watched. For the second time since the Occupy protests began, Global Revolution TV will be forced to move to a new location after the New York Building Commissioner ordered the vacation of their current headquarters. When some GRTV volunteers refused to vacate the premises, the NYPD was called, and 6-7 people were arrested.

from The Atlantic Wire:

If you were following along earlier today, you may have been startled at about 1:45 p.m. to see the live feed cut away from the street-level action and to the face of Vlad Teichberg, one of the main organizers of Global Revolution. The new shot showed a large, graffittied space where Teichberg and a couple of colleagues were confronting a man they identified as the landlord, who had apparently broken in their door. They put the camera on him, he threatened to call the police, they said he had no right to come into the space by force, and he eventually left. 

But Sobel said that was just the start of the day’s conflict. Shortly after the confrontation, the police arrived. “Within the past hour, the police came in and removed people that were inside the studio,” she said. “I believe the police just began knocking on the door and saying they would kick the door down and saying they would arrest people on the spot.” 

…

Police and buildings department officials had served the Buswhick, Brooklyn space with notices to vacate on Monday night, declaring it ”imminently perilous to life.” 

Read More

Like many other people around the web/world, I’m don’t understand how the city could only require the vacation of a single group from a building that is “imminently perilous to life.” Here’s hoping that we get an explanation in days/weeks to come.

I’m looking at you LTMC

Related: OWS Invests In Unmanned Surveillance Drone Dubbed The ‘Occucopter’

(image courtesy of A Great Big City)

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thenewrepublic:

Victory for Occupy Wall Street?

Governor Cuomo reached an agreement today with legislative leaders to raise taxes on New York State’s wealthiest residents as part of a deal to overhaul the tax rates.

The tentative agreement would also cut taxes for the middle class, by creating four new tax brackets and tax rates. The officials said the tax rate changes would generate $1.9 billion in annual revenue for the state.

“This would be lowest tax rate for middle class families in 58 years,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. “This job-creating economic plan defies the political gridlock that has paralyzed Washington and shows that we can make government work for the people of this state once again.”

Will other states follow suit and implement a “millionaires tax”? Is this the result of Occupy Wall Street’s focus on income inequality?

Courtesy of the New York Times.