Sen. Richard Burr has a lot of nerve. He was one of only two senators to vote today against a bill that prohibits members of Congress and their staffers from making stock trades based on insider information. Back during the economic collapse, Sen. Burr was briefed by the Treasury Secretary on the severity of the crisis. This is what he did with that information:
“On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, ‘Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.’ I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash.”
He didn’t warn his constituents. He panicked. He sought to protect himself, but he didn’t seek to protect the people of North Carolina. And now he opposes a ban on members of Congress repeating his cowardice and selfishness.
I’m sure his next opponent will be happy to remind his constituents of this during his re-election campaign.
Unfortunately, that won’t be until 2016.
Elaine Marshall tried to get him out of there in 2010 but was swamped by the Tea Party wave.
I would investigate his banking and Big Tobacco transactions. Maybe also positions in pharmaceuticals.
Sounds like an outtake from “Deep Impact,” where a cabinet secretary freaks out when told a comet would strike Earth.
The whole ATM episode he describes is essentially a microcosm of the current economic situation – reality and consequences be damned, let’s milk this thing for all it’s worth right now.
I hope the (likely) $900 his wife was able to withdraw helped him sleep a little easier.
Don’t they have banks that are open on Saturday?
Many banks are, at least here where I live. I don’t know if that varies by region.
Most banks in NC are open Saturday until noon.
The obvious implication is that Burr didn’t want a Senator’s wife to be seen to be withdrawing their entire account at once. Whether that reflects his guilt about insider information or concern that his wife’s actions would cause a run on their branch and bring headlines that could further runs on banks (FDIC be damned) and embarrassment to the Senator is something we’ll likely never know.
I will probably write something to eviscerate you on Iran; more a matter of style than fact, at this point. The facts are in, only style remains.
Why on earth would you want to eviscerate anyone??? I grew up on a farm and I can tell you that what you are saying is really disgusting.
And if the intent is to persuade people of your view on the subject, that will not be an effective way to accomplish your goal.
Why on earth do you feel the need to use such violent imagery about a debate on an issue?
is, literally, death and destruction. Mayhem. Women and children and men. Body parts, everywhere.
I am only using words to prevent it, whereas his lead to it.
Thanks.
Violence begets violence.
You are going to use violent words to prevent violence. Do you think that will work?
Are there any examples of this approach working?
This guy thinks I want to go to war with Iran. I don’t know why he thinks that, but he keeps saying it.
What I want is for the Syrian regime to be overthrown by their own people. I want the Iranian regime to be overthrown by their own people. And I want Iran to stop enriching uranium and pretending that they’re only concerned with producing nuclear energy. I want the international community to demonstrate that they can peacefully do counter-proliferation operations.
There are many other things I want. I have no love for the House of Saud and I am adamantly opposed to the settlement policy the Israelis have been pursuing for 30+ years now. I’d like to see Israel and North Korea give up their nuclear weapons, and for all the other nuclear-armed nations to do more to reduce their stockpiles.
But, what I don’t want is war with Iran.
I agree with you on all those “wants”.
Taking money out of an ATM is not making a stock trade.
Just a little reality check.
way to miss the point
If it hadn’t been Friday night he would have been on the phone with his broker, too. Obviously.
The ethical issue with insider trading is the use of inside information for gain, not the financial vehicle.
Sen. Burr obviously though he had information that Congress would not honor it’s FDIC commitments in the event of a run on banks. He had information that definitely without the security for most folks of FDIC have produced an immediate run on banks.
The political malpractice, however, was thinking of his own welfare before that of his constituents. Of course, that is what has broken Congress.
He panicked.
He did indeed. This is the guy who needs to be compared to the Italian cruise ship captain. He panicked, and he was only concerned with saving his own ass.