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Originally Posted by awareness
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Well, when you say it like that it sounds bad. Why can't a business in the US have a political voice? If I employ 100,000 people in the US why wouldn't I be concerned about the laws?
Second, she makes it sound simple to buy stock in an oil company, pass laws that benefit the oil company and then see your stock go sky high. What law? What congressman has the clout to cause the price of a fortune 500 company stock to go sky high? The best real example is if you know the Pentagon is about to give a fat contract to a relatively small company, this information could double the value of the stock overnight. However, trading on inside information is illegal. Also, if you owned stock in the company you might have to recuse yourself from any decision about whether or not they get the contract. That also would be regulated.
It is possible as a congressman you get an understanding of complex issues that others don't understand as well and using that information you can invest in a way that is virtually guaranteed to be profitable. LBJ did this when he understood the deregulation of the radio industry and bought up radio stations. That is legal. Technically he didn't trade on inside information. However, his practices were certainly in the grey area of using his friends and contacts to give him an inside track.