Insider Trading in DC

"Ah, Mr Gekko, that's not what I do. I could lose my license. If the SEC found out, I could go to jail. It's inside information, isn't it?"
--Bud Fox (Wall Street)

As pathetic as 60 Minutes is at 'investigative journalism,' once in a while the show does good work. Such is the case with last Sunday's segment on insider trading in Washington.

Essentially, there is no law prohibiting federally elected officials from trading on information that they are privy to in their government jobs. In the private sphere, of course, those who trade using non-public information are subject to prosecution in Gekko-like fashion.

A current high profile example involves the former head of hedge fund Galleon Group Raj Rajaratnam, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay over $150 million in fines after being convicted of insider trading.

Ironcially, if Mr Rajaratnam had made the same trades as a member of the US Congress, no criminal proceedings would have been no criminal proceedings at all.

In a bipartisan effort, 60 Minutes staff cornered both current House Speaker Boehner and former House Speaker Pelosi on their trading behavior. There are many more where those came from.

It should also be noted that, although 60 Minutes deserves a shout out for bringing this issue to the masses, the good folks at Minyanville were on the case here months ago.

When a mainstream outlet like 60 Minutes finally decides to pursue a story like this, one has to wonder whether the time is ripe for reversing the Double Standard that Washington enjoys.