Book Post #1

I recently started reading the book Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer. This book talks a lot about the corruption that is currently taking place inside the United States government. The current scandal is within the stock market, and is one of the main reasons why politicians leave their seat with so much more money than they actually earn on a yearly basis. In the first part of the book Peter talks about the various bills and how these have influenced the stock market. The most notable is the health care bill and the effect that it had on the company Teva Pharmaceuticals. “When the Kerrys first began buying shares, the stock was trading at around $50. After health care reform passed, it surged to $62" (5). The majority of Congressmen know when a bill will be passed and can buy the stock low, knowing for sure the stock will go up to a much higher price. After reading this I was shocked. This is essentially insider trading which is highly illegal, yet these government officials are doing it on a daily basis.  It just seems wrong. There must be rules and regulations in place to help stop this activity by government officials. It is hard to say that these people, once elected, are not able to trade stocks, but I am interested to see what options Peter will offer throughout the rest of the book.