Interesting Video About my Book

This was a really interesting video I found on YouTube (Link Below). The video is a 60 minute video clip. The video clip actually focuses not only on the subject of the book I am planning on doing for my 2nd semester book, but it also interviews the author of my book, Through Them All Out. Off the bat, the amount of research that went into the book amazed me. The fact that Peter had a team of eight people, not including himself, working on this book shows how motivated Peter is by the subject. All of this research comes together and shows how congress is able to trade on daily information that is unable to the public. The example given is with medical stocks and if congress is working on a law or viewing this medical drug, they are able to trade the stock on information that the public is unaware of. This is why members of congress leave with so much more money then they are supposed to make off the salary. While members of congress are serving the public, some join in order to be a part of this "legalized" form of insider trading. Initial public offerings are also a way for corporations to give a senator money, rather then giving that person cash. This is because giving a senator an option to an IPO is legal, where as giving that senator cash is not. These IPO's are very valuable and can make these senators more money than the corporation would have offered them, yet it is not illegal to do so. Land is also another concern when talking about congress. Congress is able to put money into various areas, but these areas usually help benefit their housing value. There is a lot of controversy over this issue, and it makes me more intrigued to learn about what Peter is trying to explain to the public. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3DZh1109W8

2nd Semester Book Finding

While trying to find a book to blog about for my issues class, I stumbled upon an interesting title. A lot of the books showing controversy, were focused around war and the economy. I was able to find another book on computer hacking, but I wanted to blog about a new subject. After spending a good half hour, wandering the book store, I was able to come across a book titled, Throw Them All Out. This book is written by Peter Scheizer. The books main focus is how politicians and their friends are able to make money off things that would send the rest of us to prison. When Peter is trying to explain to the reader on why these politicians are able to invest money so confidently Peter uses a word called cronyism. Cronyism is a shorter form of crony capitalism. Members of congress are able to trade stocks based on privileged information. Already after reading the short summary I was intrigued on learning more. Do people know about what is going on? Should this be allowed? I was very interested in what Peter had to say about this topic. It didn't stop there though. Cronyism is also members of congress inserting earmarks into bills, which helps improve their real estate holdings. Presidential campaigns are able to receive billions in federal grants yet no punishment is given to these people. Peter digs deeper into the issue and offers ways to overcome this problem. I look forward to starting this book for my second semester blog.