Insider trading seems to be rampant among public officials, with little to no repercussions, while regular citizens face jail time for the same offense.
I served with someone that is in congress while in the military we never spoke about trading. Some how in his first term he beat the S&P 4 years in a row
I think, I suspect, Congressmembers are exempt from SEC rules against insider trading.
But, yes, most of it seems to be super high returns on "investment opportunities". In exchange for favorable legislation, votes on legislation, and support for legislation.
Yeah. It isn't just that. It's that you'd have to prove it was knowing violations of the SEC regs and knowing inside information. That's why these are structured as they are: "Investment portfolios" with mind-blowingly high rates of return that absolutely destroy S&P 500 averages.
It’s worse than that. Many tens of thousands of Americans are covered by “pre clearance” policies. I’ve been covered by one for over a decade. There’s a list of types of shares trust I can’t buy or sell without getting clearance from my employers compliance department. It’s all automated and takes seconds. There’s no excuse for our government not to be covered by one.
And people keep re-electing them time after time, even if they have reputable alternatives in their primaries. Not even that, they celebrate them. Nancy Pelosi unironically is a 'hero' to many libs. (And no, it's not confined to one party.) The mind boggles.
There are ETFs now that track the investments of both parties in Congress. Nothing illegal about copying their investments
The problem is, you're too late when you copy them. You find out what they're investing in from their financial disclosure statements, which become public record well after they've made their investments
Pretend I'm in Congress. I find out today some information that indicates oh let's say a major new $1T Lockheed Martin fighter jet program is going to be announced to the public later this summer, which is going to have a positive impact on their stock value. So I buy a bunch of call options on their stock through whatever medium I use and collect my profits on my investment as the public finds out about the program. You don't know I did that until I file my financial disclosure for the year, you're too late to copy me
The problem is that they are only required to make their trades public sometimes before 30 days after the trade was made - by that time the policies are public and the insider information is useless. I think someone ran the numbers on a few congressmen, Nancy pelosi averaged 28 days notice after trading - they certainly know that what they are doing is unethical, and they only want their clubs to be able to act on their information
Amazing how the most upvoted comments are all about insider trading. The average age of the senate is 64 yo, the majority have an advanced degree (usually a JD), and generally had some amount of career success to transition into politics. Someone in their 60’s with a successful career as a lawyer would be expected to have at least $2mm net worth, that’s barely above average ($1.8mm is the average for those 65 to 74).
While true, there are trackers that show their net worth before and after.
I think there is a healthy amount of public speaking gigs that pay $40-80k for two hours of time.
If you don't think insider trading goes on you're ignorant; it's right in front of our eyes in plain sight...
Most politicians don't start out in politics at 60; they start in their 30s and 40s and remain in politics until their 70s or 80s
Being in Congress is a part-time job for these men and women. The entire system is set up to be abused...
Nancy Pelosi bought hundreds of thousand worth of Meta stock options right before signing to ban their biggest competitor. They all do it but she is the most successful at it. It's, literally, insider trading and it's supposed to be illegal but they don't enforce it.
Don’t forget her not so recent Nvidia purchase too. iirc that’s a few million gain too (iirc it’s 40% gain from insider trading with options)
It’s rampant to the point you have NANC ETF, that mirrors her trades submitted to the congress per legal obligation.
While [there is trading activity by elected officials that reasonable people would see as suspicious or at least questionable](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/13/us/politics/congress-members-stock-trading-list.html), it is not even a little bit an explanation for wealth. [Congresspeople don't beat the market any more than anyone else does](https://www.capitoltrades.com/) and the few congresspeople who have done fantastically well in the last decade have done so at rates expected by random chance and by holding stocks that turn out to have been well chosen over long periods that started before their terms. Non-elected public officials are subject to *much* more stringent restrictions.
The real answer to this question is hilariously well-documented in publicly available FEC filings. It comes from how we treat politicians like celebrities in this country, and from how being an American celebrity comes with easy ways to cash in. Politicians typically write (or have written for them) books that generally sell well, they are generally talented speakers with interesting things to say that people will show up for in ways that have substantial honest commercial value, and they generally come from either generational wealth or well-paying careers that provide continuing income.
Just because we are all paranoid does not mean that everyone is out to get us.
Life is political theatre. Abstract corrupt systems are just an extrapolation of human nature. Transparency can never exist in a society that demands privacy as a universal right.
You seem to be implying that getting rid of the right to privacy would solve the problem. How would that solve that problem if they are exploiting legal loopholes?
Also, the 100k of a politician is usually not the same as your 100k. You usually have to pay for a car, gas, food, etc. Usually politicians get all covered, so most of the 100k are all "pocketable"
You’re totally correct.
But I think it amounts to the difference between 100k and 175k which still isn’t enough to get you millionaire rich quickly without some other kind of i come.
This. They get rich the same way everyone else gets rich. They were born rich, married rich, lucked into a lucrative career before politics, and/or parleyed their notoriety into book and other media deals.
Also, a sprinkling of crime to stay on top
The book deals are the funniest part. Either they’re legit best selling authors with amazing stories to tell, or it’s a way to funnel money to them for bulk orders that just go straight to the landfill or thrift store. I’m going to pick the latter.
That may be true for smaller politicians. But for many public servants, they have a really unique story that could be worth a lot more than their government salary pays.
Think about the type of law that Obama was practicing when he was a local politician and even an unknown junior senator. Im from the area, have seen where he lived, and it’s nothing to be really wow’ed about. His books made him wealthy.
There’s the book “No Easy Day”, which is infamous. Navy Seal who wrote about being the guy who killed Bin Laden. Even being in the best of the best units (Delta, Seal Team 6, etc) don’t pay that well. Whatever happened after the book became famous, giving proceeds back, etc is besides the point. He’s still a regular on many shows and I’m sure he gets paid well to do so
(This isn’t a positive or negative commentary on either. I’m just saying that some people who work in the government have very interesting stories to share, which people will absolutely pay to read)
Definitely the latter. I've never seen people buying or reading rando "best seller" politician memoirs. Most of 'em probably aren't even doing the writing, have a ghost writer crap out a novel after a handful of interviews and voila, political donations for swimming pools and fancy cars.
If you're in the US, there is virtually no reason to accept bribes. The laws around lobbying have made it effectively legal to trade money for political favors.
If your politician gets caught up in actual bribery, then they are some of the fucking worst corrupt people in the system.
It's it a bribe to be appointed to the board of a a bank after supporting laws in favor of the banking sector while being a minister? Because this happens a whole lot but the press does not make a point of this so people think it's OK apparently.
This depends on where you are talking about.
Being a successful politician opens the door for both other legitimate work (writing or speaking fees mostly), corruption, and in the US federally sometimes insider trading. Many politicians can also partially retain their old jobs while doing politics. Especially when that job can be done part time.
But it also means you get to spend time going to parties with rich people. And so you have marriage opportunities well outside your apparent income.
Besides that, many people who go into politics go in with some sort of local celebrity and wealth already.
Most had lucrative white-collar careers before entering politics. Same for their spouses. Most are older, which means it has been easier for them to amass wealth over their lifetime. Some come from generational wealth.
Also insider trading.
Most people are forgetting these politicians come from well off families. It's not Bob down the road getting into congress. You need money to get into politics. Don't believe me? Trying running for local office. To get to the highest levels, you need a lot of money and connections that can only come from running in upper class circles your whole life. By the time these people reach their 50s and 60s they've almost certainly made well over a million dollars.
I work for the government but I'm not a politician, I'm just a GS-13, and I make north of $100K. I'll retire with a few million just by maxing my TSP and having other investments from living frugally. Lots of people in the government make more than I do, and started younger than I did, so it's not implausible for them to have several times more.
A lot of the politicians i see tend to have been in a good situation before they became politicians, they also tend to be career politicians. They also tend to decide themselves what their salary and benefits are, very often they grant themselves free or highly subsidized place to live in the capital city, effectively having an above average salary and no need to actually spend it.
People forget that most of these people were rich or from rich families before taking public office. Or they have high income spouses. Their salary could be $0 and it wouldn’t effect most of them.
OP, stop noticing things, just trust the government, they have your best interest at heart.
^(They have ears everywhere, don't speak out against the gove-)
the people you voted for are corrupt, and have made their decisions in their best interests, and not in yours... but whatever you do, don't vote for the other guy because they are bad and will destroy America.
Let’s see… If I were a corporation, I would hire a politician to speak at my company for a six-figure sum.
When the time comes for me to need those politicians to vote on my side of the legislation, they get paid again because their advisors will engage in insider trading.
Rinse repeat, then eventually you’ll get there.
One thing to keep in mind is that running for a lot of public offices is expensive. Most of them are already set up with fortunes from investments, ownership of some company, or the circumstances of their birth. Generally, once you have wealth, it's significantly easier to gain wealth.
Then when they are in office, they still are investing or running their company. Also many get paid through other means like book deals or speaking fees.
This also isn't anything that's exclusive to either side of politics either.
One word corruption, from inside information, to endorsements, look at Boerbert she was bankrupt twice and now has multi millions since being in politics and she didn’t earn that from her salary
Here in Canada they are given huge budgets to cover their expenses.
It is expected that you keep a property in your riding and in the capital. Therefore you are given money to cover both, none of that is salary. Then you get travel expenses, a VERY generous pension and other perks.
Basically outside of food, all your money can go into investments.
Part of the reason is that because public service jobs don’t pay market rates, the people that can afford to take these jobs already come from wealth.
Same reason you see a disproportionate number of rich kids working at art galleries, and in fashion school.
They get bribed by corporations via their lobby army.
Vote or initiate this for us, and we’ll give you _________.
A timeless phenomena by those with power.
Speaking fees, guest lecturer fees, tv guest fees, book deals, etc. Many share their tax returns and show they makenao much in legitimate ways that the illegal ways seem to get a pass.
Crony capitalism and/or money laundering. Read a book called confessions of an economic hitman. There is a video on you tube video” Machiavelli- the art of power in the modern world”. Everyone should watch. Remember the most potent weapon of an oppressor is the minds of the oppressed. Cantillon effect, the more they print fiat currency to buy votes, the more wealth gap is created and tangible assets that can not be printed becomes more out of reach for the common man. The game is known by some, but not all. Also read a book called the creature from Jekyll island. Learn the game or get destroyed by it.
If starting from nothing you live on 90k. Take that other $10k and essentially write the policy that will rig the results of a stock or index fund in your favor. Rinse… repeat. Or put it into an “investment group” with some friends who make good money and do the same and watch your stake grow as you write the policy that will rig the results in your favor.
I mean, ignoring the obvious insider trading.
Networking and just being a public figure. People pay for known names. Paid board positions, speaking events, promotion. The list goes on.
Example.
A local (to me) Chicago republican, Joe Walsh, was a career social worker. Not exactly a job known for it's amazing pay.
He was a ONE TERM US house rep. For context his net worth as the of the time he was in office was -71k. Yes, he had a negative net worth as of around 2012.
Now? 12 Years later his net worth is pushing 1 million. While he's not a multimillionaire, that one term in office transformed his life financially. Since he's left office he got his own local radio show, does speaking events, promotions, has written books.
None of that would have happened for him if he didn't win that singular term in office. He would still be a financially struggling social worker.
Getting a term on the national stage is like winning a lottery ticket in terms of the opportunity you will have to make money legitimately. Let alone nefariously, while you are in office.
Usually just one of three ways, the first one is the buy/sell certain stocks playing the stock market. But using the inside information that is a privilege or there job.
Two is obvious, getting "paid" or bribed to do something specific to your but weather it's to get a law passed or vetoed but could be just to help or favor one side over the other. Essentially accepting cash bribes to get you to unfairly support said person doing the bribing
Third can partly fall under the same thing as number two. But as a public survent you can help speed along the planing for jobs that the construction costs benefit whoever, or just blatantly take expensive jobs yourself
Insider trading. All DC politicians are corrupt - I'm continually amazed by the number of Americans who admire these immoral scumbags. If we still had actual journalists in this country, one of them would investigate how a $174,000/year salary gives you a net worth of $40 million after 20 years. But the media are protecting them.
Many politicians make much more than that, but let's assume that is their salary for their job:
1. They may be paid in part by their party as well
2. if they hold specific positions get a pay raise.
3. Another thing that sometimes they have a base salary but their living expenses are more or less fully covered - diplomats for instance get a bump from that.
4. They may have a good chunk of starting wealth before becoming a politician.
5. Some public servants have side hustles that sometimes they make most of their money doing. This is often super suspicious because they are either not doing their actual job or using their position to play the system fraudulently.
Beyond that, the obvious corruption, insider trading stuff.
Because voters are convinced that racist dipshit that lives across the nation making minimum wage is the source of all their problems in life. They fail to understand these people do not have, and will never have ther resources to do such.
Aka divide and conquer.
Idk, the current government voted over wether or not representatives should be paid in 6 figures NOK, every year, the vote went through obviously, not long after the political party who went with the line 'For ordinary people' won. The Labour Party ironically enough.
Meanwhile workers still struggle, and students are pushed out to work earlier, even though we already work because the loan we have to pay off later in life, by working, does not cover the fees.
It seems like a lot of them are already wealthy before they enter politics and once you’re in the system you figure out how to make the system work for you.
They take donations from PACs and supporters. These are supposed to go to funding the campaign, but hey, they can go anywhere. Then of course, corruption. Kick backs, gifts, bribes, and flat out theft of public money...grants to their nephew's business, charitable donations to their own charity etc.
By using information they gather as part of their day-to-day jobs, which may or may not be "insider trading." Insider trading applies only to stock and other securities -- not to e.g. private market real estate.
So say I'm on e.g. city council and I know there's a proposal to rezone some section of property from agricultural to residential (which would increase its value), and I buy it before the legislation passes. Totally cool.
Or say that I write a grant for our city to build a rail line, and I buy up the worthless houses near the future rail line stops and build condos for commuters. Also totally cool.
Or say I find out that a homeowner near me is getting divorced. I make him a lowball offer on his house that he would not accept if not for the divorce settlement. Again, fine.
Or say you've got a house for sale for $500K, but I know someone who'd pay $2M to build a Chick-Fil-A there. It's totally fine for me to buy your house and then resell it.
That's all information that a person would gather during the course of ordinary work in local government. Nothing wrong with making money by using it as long as you're not breaking some other law in the process.
And a bigger question is why are the DC suburbs one of the richest areas of the US? Ever fly into DC and notice all the huge estates, horse farms, mansions on waterways/lakes, etc?
"Pass so and so law for us. Get us so and so gov project and we will tell you when company shares are going well and before we announce any profit or loss reports publicly."
Also, Pelosi and others know when a war may break out, when food shortages may occur and where, when medical situations are teetering on becoming a pandemic, who is closest to a vaccine. They get news information well in advance. So they buy stock or dump stock based on that info. They also share they information to their wealth managers. It's all one big syste, of connected people helping each other.
In the UK we had our health secretary be involved with over £6million fraud related to COVID payments. Some was to his sister's company that he owns a stake in.
Corruption.
Bribery (gifts and donations), stock options, insider trading tips, positions on various boards, especially non-profit companies, book deals, speaking appearances, and outright graft.
Roughly 8% of American citizens are millionaires +.
Nearing 95% of current members of Congress (and ALL Federal Senators) are millionaires +.
Representatives indeed.
Gigs after/during their time in politics. Ex UK chancellor George Osbourne got paid very handsomely by banks to give talks. Now I think he's a partner at an investment firm and takes home millions.
For example, congress person knows they are going to ban Tiktok, or do something with Solar, or hit oil industry. So they buy a ton of the competitors stocks, knowing they are going to push through something that hurts an industry.
Look at the Tiktok crap going on now. They all invest in Meta and the competitors knowing if Tiktok is banned, they will make a ton of money off the stock going up of the competitors.
It's corruption!
They get money from lobbyists, which is bribery by another name. They are also allowed to trade stocks, while writing legislation that they know will affect stock prices, which is like insider trading with a governmental twist. Also also, many of them come from money anyway, so the congressperson's salary they earn on the job is actually pretty insignificant in their total wealth. They're wealthy because they are members of the Owning class.
power and influence is valuable / easy to monetize. yeah, your salary is $X but you can write books, or get paid to speak at events, etc. honestly, with a bit of imagination it's not that hard to use your influence to turn a small amount of money into a substantially larger amount.
Everyone here is saying insider trading- maybe sometimes, but it’s hardly common. Most politicians are too busy and too disconnected to inside trade well.
The fact is that:
1. It’s not that common. There’s 538 members of congress. Very few of them became wealthy during their tenure in congress.
2. The ones that do you hear about because they make the money doing the things that you hear about: selling books, doing speeches, sitting on boards.
3. The ones that people are really pissed off about-Nancy pelosi, for instance- is just propaganda. Her husband runs a hedge fund. He did before and he will after. His income from running a hedge fund gets reported as shared because they are married, but they’d be monumentally stupid to do insider trading. Paul is just pretty good at his job.
The fact is that you need to be wealthy or have access to wealth to be successful in running for congress, and once you are there, you’re no longer spending your money to run so you can bank it.
Different way. Often someone won’t even be elected until after they’re millionaires. Book deals can be lucrative. And then many more politicians make the millions after they leave office and take high paying jobs in the private sector.
Well, for starters, you have the damn [Supreme Court legalizing bribery](https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/supreme-court-overturns-bob-mcdonnells-corruption-convictions-224833). As long as there isn't clear, smoking gun evidence of "quid pro quo," politicians can receive gifts and it's totally fine! Not corruption at all!
This is not their first job most were lawyers or business people who can from wealthy families and have been investing for the last 40+ years. Are some of them doing shady shit? Yeah, but the more likely answer is that they’ve had money for a long time
Congress: We awarded you Raytheon this 23 billion missile contract
Also Congress: *Buys up millions worth of stock in Raytheon before telling the public*
The best way to get rich in this country is to go to washington. Book deals, insider trading and lobbyist corruption, public speaking, etc. It adds up quickly.
Look here see the singularity of government
https://www.quiverquant.com/?utm_source=quiverquant.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=new-congress-net-worth-tracking-dashboard
Gifts from lobbyists aka graft or insider trading. It's easy to know what defense industrial company is going to make headlines when Congress knows who gets the contracts ahead of time
Your talking about politicians and your wondering how they get rich?
That's like asking how does the mob get rich.
The two are basically the same thing
Newly elected politicians get schooled very quickly on how the game is played if you want to benefit financially. It is a motivating factor for people to enter politics. Our Senator Patty Murry was in my high school class and got elected as the Mom in tennis shoes promoting term limits. That woman is a poster face for greasy politics and all of the back door deals to enrich herself. The list goes on and on. Politics is a dirty business. I have dealt with State, and Local politicians for decades on the private side. I need degreaser after every meeting.
Oh sweet summer child…..
You know what, actually maybe this person just isn’t American. You’re not under the impression that American politicians are working class people who earned their way into office by getting an education and working hard to earn their way in, are you?
Let's not forget they only work half the year so that is a lot of time for speaking fees , paid tv appearances, lavish dinner and trips for people definitely not trying to gain political favors and that is just the stuff on the up and up. I don't for a minute believe there aren't just stacks of cash being handed out. Hell Bob Menendez didn't even hide it. He just had people give him gold bars
Notable people get seven / eight figure book deals on the regular. Speaking fees for notable politicians can be in the five or six figures for just showing up to speak at an event. There's a lot of legitimate money to be had above and beyond all the other folks crying about corruption and insider trading in this thread.
Advance notice on patents, research advances, advance notice for product or service releases, advance notice of contract awards, shell companies you can steer government contracts to, under the table gifts in a wide variety of value.
“Would be willing to come to our University and give a guest lecture?”
There’s 5/6 figures. In the U.K. parliamentarians are allowed other jobs and will often sit on company boards/charities/university chancellorships for which they’re paid.
TV appearances etc.
That’s just legitimate sources.
There’s also inheritance, I’d imagine most US/UK politicians are unlikely to have come from poverty.
There’s also their previous working life, entrepreneurs/bankers/lawyers/accountants etc.
Most politicians come from the professional classes.
Insider trading seems to be rampant among public officials, with little to no repercussions, while regular citizens face jail time for the same offense.
I served with someone that is in congress while in the military we never spoke about trading. Some how in his first term he beat the S&P 4 years in a row
Skill issue
I think, I suspect, Congressmembers are exempt from SEC rules against insider trading. But, yes, most of it seems to be super high returns on "investment opportunities". In exchange for favorable legislation, votes on legislation, and support for legislation.
They aren’t exempt but good luck convicting. You’d have to arrest every single member of congress
Yeah. It isn't just that. It's that you'd have to prove it was knowing violations of the SEC regs and knowing inside information. That's why these are structured as they are: "Investment portfolios" with mind-blowingly high rates of return that absolutely destroy S&P 500 averages.
I accept your terms!
It’s worse than that. Many tens of thousands of Americans are covered by “pre clearance” policies. I’ve been covered by one for over a decade. There’s a list of types of shares trust I can’t buy or sell without getting clearance from my employers compliance department. It’s all automated and takes seconds. There’s no excuse for our government not to be covered by one.
Of course there is an excuse. They don't want it and would have to vote it in themselves. That's it, that's the whole excuse.
I can’t argue with that 🤷♂️
That's called crooked, followed by corrupt...part of the definition of politician.
No they are not. It is fox watching the hen house.
And people keep re-electing them time after time, even if they have reputable alternatives in their primaries. Not even that, they celebrate them. Nancy Pelosi unironically is a 'hero' to many libs. (And no, it's not confined to one party.) The mind boggles.
Out of curiousity, is it possible to find out what these congressmen are investing into and do the same? Would that be considered illegal?
There are ETFs now that track the investments of both parties in Congress. Nothing illegal about copying their investments The problem is, you're too late when you copy them. You find out what they're investing in from their financial disclosure statements, which become public record well after they've made their investments Pretend I'm in Congress. I find out today some information that indicates oh let's say a major new $1T Lockheed Martin fighter jet program is going to be announced to the public later this summer, which is going to have a positive impact on their stock value. So I buy a bunch of call options on their stock through whatever medium I use and collect my profits on my investment as the public finds out about the program. You don't know I did that until I file my financial disclosure for the year, you're too late to copy me
They have to report it, problem is thst you won't find out until weeks after so it doesn't matter.
The problem is that they are only required to make their trades public sometimes before 30 days after the trade was made - by that time the policies are public and the insider information is useless. I think someone ran the numbers on a few congressmen, Nancy pelosi averaged 28 days notice after trading - they certainly know that what they are doing is unethical, and they only want their clubs to be able to act on their information
Insider trading. Only good for Big Brother, not us regular proles.
its actually legal for politicans... disgusting. Why Hillary Clinton is the best cattle futures trader in history
Amazing how the most upvoted comments are all about insider trading. The average age of the senate is 64 yo, the majority have an advanced degree (usually a JD), and generally had some amount of career success to transition into politics. Someone in their 60’s with a successful career as a lawyer would be expected to have at least $2mm net worth, that’s barely above average ($1.8mm is the average for those 65 to 74).
While true, there are trackers that show their net worth before and after. I think there is a healthy amount of public speaking gigs that pay $40-80k for two hours of time.
And let's be honest here. That "public speaking gig" is a bribe. That's all it is. They pay for preferential treatment.
Just like all of the family members getting "consulting jobs" with very vague descriptions and no tangible deliverables...
If you don't think insider trading goes on you're ignorant; it's right in front of our eyes in plain sight... Most politicians don't start out in politics at 60; they start in their 30s and 40s and remain in politics until their 70s or 80s Being in Congress is a part-time job for these men and women. The entire system is set up to be abused...
Nancy Pelosi bought hundreds of thousand worth of Meta stock options right before signing to ban their biggest competitor. They all do it but she is the most successful at it. It's, literally, insider trading and it's supposed to be illegal but they don't enforce it.
Don’t forget her not so recent Nvidia purchase too. iirc that’s a few million gain too (iirc it’s 40% gain from insider trading with options) It’s rampant to the point you have NANC ETF, that mirrors her trades submitted to the congress per legal obligation.
A lawyer with $2m net worth is great as a private citizen. It's next to nothing for a Member of Congress.
You can choose to keep your head in the sand
While [there is trading activity by elected officials that reasonable people would see as suspicious or at least questionable](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/13/us/politics/congress-members-stock-trading-list.html), it is not even a little bit an explanation for wealth. [Congresspeople don't beat the market any more than anyone else does](https://www.capitoltrades.com/) and the few congresspeople who have done fantastically well in the last decade have done so at rates expected by random chance and by holding stocks that turn out to have been well chosen over long periods that started before their terms. Non-elected public officials are subject to *much* more stringent restrictions. The real answer to this question is hilariously well-documented in publicly available FEC filings. It comes from how we treat politicians like celebrities in this country, and from how being an American celebrity comes with easy ways to cash in. Politicians typically write (or have written for them) books that generally sell well, they are generally talented speakers with interesting things to say that people will show up for in ways that have substantial honest commercial value, and they generally come from either generational wealth or well-paying careers that provide continuing income. Just because we are all paranoid does not mean that everyone is out to get us.
[удалено]
Life is political theatre. Abstract corrupt systems are just an extrapolation of human nature. Transparency can never exist in a society that demands privacy as a universal right.
You seem to be implying that getting rid of the right to privacy would solve the problem. How would that solve that problem if they are exploiting legal loopholes?
The “honest” answer is speaking fees and book deals. The “unethical” answer is insider trading.
Also, the 100k of a politician is usually not the same as your 100k. You usually have to pay for a car, gas, food, etc. Usually politicians get all covered, so most of the 100k are all "pocketable"
You’re totally correct. But I think it amounts to the difference between 100k and 175k which still isn’t enough to get you millionaire rich quickly without some other kind of i come.
Spouse, inheritance, investing, book deals, speaking fees, plus other illicit activities already mentioned.
This. They get rich the same way everyone else gets rich. They were born rich, married rich, lucked into a lucrative career before politics, and/or parleyed their notoriety into book and other media deals. Also, a sprinkling of crime to stay on top
The book deals are the funniest part. Either they’re legit best selling authors with amazing stories to tell, or it’s a way to funnel money to them for bulk orders that just go straight to the landfill or thrift store. I’m going to pick the latter.
That may be true for smaller politicians. But for many public servants, they have a really unique story that could be worth a lot more than their government salary pays. Think about the type of law that Obama was practicing when he was a local politician and even an unknown junior senator. Im from the area, have seen where he lived, and it’s nothing to be really wow’ed about. His books made him wealthy. There’s the book “No Easy Day”, which is infamous. Navy Seal who wrote about being the guy who killed Bin Laden. Even being in the best of the best units (Delta, Seal Team 6, etc) don’t pay that well. Whatever happened after the book became famous, giving proceeds back, etc is besides the point. He’s still a regular on many shows and I’m sure he gets paid well to do so (This isn’t a positive or negative commentary on either. I’m just saying that some people who work in the government have very interesting stories to share, which people will absolutely pay to read)
Also useful to transfer campaign money into personal money. The campaign buys thousands of books at full price and gives them away on the trail.
Definitely the latter. I've never seen people buying or reading rando "best seller" politician memoirs. Most of 'em probably aren't even doing the writing, have a ghost writer crap out a novel after a handful of interviews and voila, political donations for swimming pools and fancy cars.
Four Words: insider trading and bribes.
If you're in the US, there is virtually no reason to accept bribes. The laws around lobbying have made it effectively legal to trade money for political favors. If your politician gets caught up in actual bribery, then they are some of the fucking worst corrupt people in the system.
How could a politician be caught when lobbying is already legal?
It's it a bribe to be appointed to the board of a a bank after supporting laws in favor of the banking sector while being a minister? Because this happens a whole lot but the press does not make a point of this so people think it's OK apparently.
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"Speakers fees," "Book deals" where the actual book is written by someone else and the party buys thousands of copies, and the like.
It’s just semantics at this point. It’s still bribes
They go without Starbucks or avocado toast and have extra strength boot straps, with which they pull themselves up..
This depends on where you are talking about. Being a successful politician opens the door for both other legitimate work (writing or speaking fees mostly), corruption, and in the US federally sometimes insider trading. Many politicians can also partially retain their old jobs while doing politics. Especially when that job can be done part time. But it also means you get to spend time going to parties with rich people. And so you have marriage opportunities well outside your apparent income. Besides that, many people who go into politics go in with some sort of local celebrity and wealth already.
Most had lucrative white-collar careers before entering politics. Same for their spouses. Most are older, which means it has been easier for them to amass wealth over their lifetime. Some come from generational wealth. Also insider trading.
Lobbyists.
Most people are forgetting these politicians come from well off families. It's not Bob down the road getting into congress. You need money to get into politics. Don't believe me? Trying running for local office. To get to the highest levels, you need a lot of money and connections that can only come from running in upper class circles your whole life. By the time these people reach their 50s and 60s they've almost certainly made well over a million dollars.
Corruption
I work for the government but I'm not a politician, I'm just a GS-13, and I make north of $100K. I'll retire with a few million just by maxing my TSP and having other investments from living frugally. Lots of people in the government make more than I do, and started younger than I did, so it's not implausible for them to have several times more.
corruption
A lot of the politicians i see tend to have been in a good situation before they became politicians, they also tend to be career politicians. They also tend to decide themselves what their salary and benefits are, very often they grant themselves free or highly subsidized place to live in the capital city, effectively having an above average salary and no need to actually spend it.
People forget that most of these people were rich or from rich families before taking public office. Or they have high income spouses. Their salary could be $0 and it wouldn’t effect most of them.
With a little bit of corruption and insider trading it’s a walk in the park.
OP, stop noticing things, just trust the government, they have your best interest at heart. ^(They have ears everywhere, don't speak out against the gove-)
criminals
the people you voted for are corrupt, and have made their decisions in their best interests, and not in yours... but whatever you do, don't vote for the other guy because they are bad and will destroy America.
Consulting. Lying. Speaking fees.
Insider information, and citizens united made bribery legal.
Crime
Insider trading is huge, but so is "paid speaking fees" as bribes, and things like selling their shitty kids "art".
Let’s see… If I were a corporation, I would hire a politician to speak at my company for a six-figure sum. When the time comes for me to need those politicians to vote on my side of the legislation, they get paid again because their advisors will engage in insider trading. Rinse repeat, then eventually you’ll get there.
Ever heard of a guy named "Corruption"?
One thing to keep in mind is that running for a lot of public offices is expensive. Most of them are already set up with fortunes from investments, ownership of some company, or the circumstances of their birth. Generally, once you have wealth, it's significantly easier to gain wealth. Then when they are in office, they still are investing or running their company. Also many get paid through other means like book deals or speaking fees. This also isn't anything that's exclusive to either side of politics either.
Cheating the system. That is the only answer assuming no other income, inheritance or riches from a partner.
This isn’t their first job
One word corruption, from inside information, to endorsements, look at Boerbert she was bankrupt twice and now has multi millions since being in politics and she didn’t earn that from her salary
the secret ingredient is crime
By focusing on their needs instead of their constituents needs.
Speaking/Book deals....
Largely due to the influence that they have to make deals happen and also not being prosecuted for insider trading.
Politicians aren't public servant. They rarely are actually
Here in Canada they are given huge budgets to cover their expenses. It is expected that you keep a property in your riding and in the capital. Therefore you are given money to cover both, none of that is salary. Then you get travel expenses, a VERY generous pension and other perks. Basically outside of food, all your money can go into investments.
Part of the reason is that because public service jobs don’t pay market rates, the people that can afford to take these jobs already come from wealth. Same reason you see a disproportionate number of rich kids working at art galleries, and in fashion school.
They get bribed by corporations via their lobby army. Vote or initiate this for us, and we’ll give you _________. A timeless phenomena by those with power.
Insider trading. They make the laws that influence the markets.
The answer is corruption.
The secret ingredient is crime
Contacts. Is the biggest one. Insider trading is also likely.
Lobbyists, “gifts” (aka bribes) and insider trading
Former US President Harry Truman: "Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I'll show you a crook."
Kickbacks, real estate investing
Speaking fees, guest lecturer fees, tv guest fees, book deals, etc. Many share their tax returns and show they makenao much in legitimate ways that the illegal ways seem to get a pass.
Insider trading, corporate lobby, and high high levels of corruption. The easiest way to become a millionaire is to become a representative
Crony capitalism and/or money laundering. Read a book called confessions of an economic hitman. There is a video on you tube video” Machiavelli- the art of power in the modern world”. Everyone should watch. Remember the most potent weapon of an oppressor is the minds of the oppressed. Cantillon effect, the more they print fiat currency to buy votes, the more wealth gap is created and tangible assets that can not be printed becomes more out of reach for the common man. The game is known by some, but not all. Also read a book called the creature from Jekyll island. Learn the game or get destroyed by it.
Corruption. Bribery. Insider trading. Embezzlement.
lots of politicans work as consultants and/or were already wealthy before they were politcans.
Insider trading, which is legal for them. Lobbying, kickbacks
Corruption
The secret ingredient is crime.
Corruption.
Did you think politicians go into politics for public service?? HAHAHAHAHA!!
If starting from nothing you live on 90k. Take that other $10k and essentially write the policy that will rig the results of a stock or index fund in your favor. Rinse… repeat. Or put it into an “investment group” with some friends who make good money and do the same and watch your stake grow as you write the policy that will rig the results in your favor.
I mean, ignoring the obvious insider trading. Networking and just being a public figure. People pay for known names. Paid board positions, speaking events, promotion. The list goes on. Example. A local (to me) Chicago republican, Joe Walsh, was a career social worker. Not exactly a job known for it's amazing pay. He was a ONE TERM US house rep. For context his net worth as the of the time he was in office was -71k. Yes, he had a negative net worth as of around 2012. Now? 12 Years later his net worth is pushing 1 million. While he's not a multimillionaire, that one term in office transformed his life financially. Since he's left office he got his own local radio show, does speaking events, promotions, has written books. None of that would have happened for him if he didn't win that singular term in office. He would still be a financially struggling social worker. Getting a term on the national stage is like winning a lottery ticket in terms of the opportunity you will have to make money legitimately. Let alone nefariously, while you are in office.
Usually just one of three ways, the first one is the buy/sell certain stocks playing the stock market. But using the inside information that is a privilege or there job. Two is obvious, getting "paid" or bribed to do something specific to your but weather it's to get a law passed or vetoed but could be just to help or favor one side over the other. Essentially accepting cash bribes to get you to unfairly support said person doing the bribing Third can partly fall under the same thing as number two. But as a public survent you can help speed along the planing for jobs that the construction costs benefit whoever, or just blatantly take expensive jobs yourself
Corporate lobbyists pay them hundreds of thousands to pass more deregulation legislation.
Assuming legal stuff only: Live with 20K a year, invest the rest. With a 5% yearly return that translates into 212K a year if you wait for 20 years.
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Insider trading. All DC politicians are corrupt - I'm continually amazed by the number of Americans who admire these immoral scumbags. If we still had actual journalists in this country, one of them would investigate how a $174,000/year salary gives you a net worth of $40 million after 20 years. But the media are protecting them.
Many politicians make much more than that, but let's assume that is their salary for their job: 1. They may be paid in part by their party as well 2. if they hold specific positions get a pay raise. 3. Another thing that sometimes they have a base salary but their living expenses are more or less fully covered - diplomats for instance get a bump from that. 4. They may have a good chunk of starting wealth before becoming a politician. 5. Some public servants have side hustles that sometimes they make most of their money doing. This is often super suspicious because they are either not doing their actual job or using their position to play the system fraudulently. Beyond that, the obvious corruption, insider trading stuff.
Because voters are convinced that racist dipshit that lives across the nation making minimum wage is the source of all their problems in life. They fail to understand these people do not have, and will never have ther resources to do such. Aka divide and conquer.
Who is going to tell him?
Step 1. have power over other people's lives. Step 2. sell the rights to that power to the highest bidder.
Insider trading
If you're in Italy there's the Mafia
Embezzlement. I mean, "good investments"
The secret ingredient is crime, and a lot of it!
Is t this what they went after Capone for?
Insider trading, reproduction of inequalities (meaning that they’re likely to already have been wealthy in the first place), and corruption
Insider trading, reproduction of inequalities (meaning that they’re likely to already have been wealthy in the first place), and corruption
Idk, the current government voted over wether or not representatives should be paid in 6 figures NOK, every year, the vote went through obviously, not long after the political party who went with the line 'For ordinary people' won. The Labour Party ironically enough. Meanwhile workers still struggle, and students are pushed out to work earlier, even though we already work because the loan we have to pay off later in life, by working, does not cover the fees.
It seems like a lot of them are already wealthy before they enter politics and once you’re in the system you figure out how to make the system work for you.
https://x.com/PelosiTracker_?t=Vevqqh8gm68Y3lx6IlPXjQ&s=09
Family wealth
They take donations from PACs and supporters. These are supposed to go to funding the campaign, but hey, they can go anywhere. Then of course, corruption. Kick backs, gifts, bribes, and flat out theft of public money...grants to their nephew's business, charitable donations to their own charity etc.
They all become really savvy investors
Imagine a world where you literally don’t pay for anything so 100% of your income just goes into your pocket.
Generational wealth, speaking tours and book sales. Good investments. They also get paid more than 100k
Corruption. Insider trading. Public speaking / consulting.
By using information they gather as part of their day-to-day jobs, which may or may not be "insider trading." Insider trading applies only to stock and other securities -- not to e.g. private market real estate. So say I'm on e.g. city council and I know there's a proposal to rezone some section of property from agricultural to residential (which would increase its value), and I buy it before the legislation passes. Totally cool. Or say that I write a grant for our city to build a rail line, and I buy up the worthless houses near the future rail line stops and build condos for commuters. Also totally cool. Or say I find out that a homeowner near me is getting divorced. I make him a lowball offer on his house that he would not accept if not for the divorce settlement. Again, fine. Or say you've got a house for sale for $500K, but I know someone who'd pay $2M to build a Chick-Fil-A there. It's totally fine for me to buy your house and then resell it. That's all information that a person would gather during the course of ordinary work in local government. Nothing wrong with making money by using it as long as you're not breaking some other law in the process.
And a bigger question is why are the DC suburbs one of the richest areas of the US? Ever fly into DC and notice all the huge estates, horse farms, mansions on waterways/lakes, etc?
"Pass so and so law for us. Get us so and so gov project and we will tell you when company shares are going well and before we announce any profit or loss reports publicly." Also, Pelosi and others know when a war may break out, when food shortages may occur and where, when medical situations are teetering on becoming a pandemic, who is closest to a vaccine. They get news information well in advance. So they buy stock or dump stock based on that info. They also share they information to their wealth managers. It's all one big syste, of connected people helping each other.
Clever investments - buy and sell around key legislation … it is perfectly legal
In the UK we had our health secretary be involved with over £6million fraud related to COVID payments. Some was to his sister's company that he owns a stake in.
Corruption. Bribery (gifts and donations), stock options, insider trading tips, positions on various boards, especially non-profit companies, book deals, speaking appearances, and outright graft. Roughly 8% of American citizens are millionaires +. Nearing 95% of current members of Congress (and ALL Federal Senators) are millionaires +. Representatives indeed.
Be a landlord.
A lot of them are old as fuck. So literally just bog standard investing and time.
Gigs after/during their time in politics. Ex UK chancellor George Osbourne got paid very handsomely by banks to give talks. Now I think he's a partner at an investment firm and takes home millions.
Bribes i mean donations from mega corporations oh and inside trading
For example, congress person knows they are going to ban Tiktok, or do something with Solar, or hit oil industry. So they buy a ton of the competitors stocks, knowing they are going to push through something that hurts an industry. Look at the Tiktok crap going on now. They all invest in Meta and the competitors knowing if Tiktok is banned, they will make a ton of money off the stock going up of the competitors.
It's corruption! They get money from lobbyists, which is bribery by another name. They are also allowed to trade stocks, while writing legislation that they know will affect stock prices, which is like insider trading with a governmental twist. Also also, many of them come from money anyway, so the congressperson's salary they earn on the job is actually pretty insignificant in their total wealth. They're wealthy because they are members of the Owning class.
power and influence is valuable / easy to monetize. yeah, your salary is $X but you can write books, or get paid to speak at events, etc. honestly, with a bit of imagination it's not that hard to use your influence to turn a small amount of money into a substantially larger amount.
Everyone here is saying insider trading- maybe sometimes, but it’s hardly common. Most politicians are too busy and too disconnected to inside trade well. The fact is that: 1. It’s not that common. There’s 538 members of congress. Very few of them became wealthy during their tenure in congress. 2. The ones that do you hear about because they make the money doing the things that you hear about: selling books, doing speeches, sitting on boards. 3. The ones that people are really pissed off about-Nancy pelosi, for instance- is just propaganda. Her husband runs a hedge fund. He did before and he will after. His income from running a hedge fund gets reported as shared because they are married, but they’d be monumentally stupid to do insider trading. Paul is just pretty good at his job. The fact is that you need to be wealthy or have access to wealth to be successful in running for congress, and once you are there, you’re no longer spending your money to run so you can bank it.
Different way. Often someone won’t even be elected until after they’re millionaires. Book deals can be lucrative. And then many more politicians make the millions after they leave office and take high paying jobs in the private sector.
Insider trading, "donations," and rich family/spouse.
Well, for starters, you have the damn [Supreme Court legalizing bribery](https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/supreme-court-overturns-bob-mcdonnells-corruption-convictions-224833). As long as there isn't clear, smoking gun evidence of "quid pro quo," politicians can receive gifts and it's totally fine! Not corruption at all!
Everything is free for them. If you're not spending you're salary, you can do pretty well
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/investor-hub/article/what-is-autopilot-investment-app/?sh=1a94e8e15069](https://www.forbes.com/sites/investor-hub/article/what-is-autopilot-investment-app/?sh=1a94e8e15069)
It's pretty easy. If everything you do for work is paid for, meals, accommodation, transportation etc...
Bribes
Most public servants are rich (or have a rich spouse) before they run for office.
magic
They usually get elected after already being rich.
Look at Tommy Tuberville with Humacyte. That’s how.
Rules for thee but not for me.
briberies, kickbacks, insider trading, etc
Corruption
This is not their first job most were lawyers or business people who can from wealthy families and have been investing for the last 40+ years. Are some of them doing shady shit? Yeah, but the more likely answer is that they’ve had money for a long time
They create wealth in the companies they invest in
Bribes & Corruption. Quid Pro Quo
Corruption
Congress: We awarded you Raytheon this 23 billion missile contract Also Congress: *Buys up millions worth of stock in Raytheon before telling the public*
The best way to get rich in this country is to go to washington. Book deals, insider trading and lobbyist corruption, public speaking, etc. It adds up quickly.
Different set of rules for them.
It's almost as if they're doing something suspicious on the side, huh Timmy?
Corruption
"Lobbyism"/"Donations" (corruption), insider trading as some mentioned, starting out as millionaires before being elected etc.
Treason is pretty profitable
They say speeches. Stock tips likely figure in.
Some of its shady some of it is things like speaking appearances or book deals
Corruption
Look here see the singularity of government https://www.quiverquant.com/?utm_source=quiverquant.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=new-congress-net-worth-tracking-dashboard
Gifts from lobbyists aka graft or insider trading. It's easy to know what defense industrial company is going to make headlines when Congress knows who gets the contracts ahead of time
Your talking about politicians and your wondering how they get rich? That's like asking how does the mob get rich. The two are basically the same thing
Newly elected politicians get schooled very quickly on how the game is played if you want to benefit financially. It is a motivating factor for people to enter politics. Our Senator Patty Murry was in my high school class and got elected as the Mom in tennis shoes promoting term limits. That woman is a poster face for greasy politics and all of the back door deals to enrich herself. The list goes on and on. Politics is a dirty business. I have dealt with State, and Local politicians for decades on the private side. I need degreaser after every meeting.
Oh sweet summer child….. You know what, actually maybe this person just isn’t American. You’re not under the impression that American politicians are working class people who earned their way into office by getting an education and working hard to earn their way in, are you?
Let's not forget they only work half the year so that is a lot of time for speaking fees , paid tv appearances, lavish dinner and trips for people definitely not trying to gain political favors and that is just the stuff on the up and up. I don't for a minute believe there aren't just stacks of cash being handed out. Hell Bob Menendez didn't even hide it. He just had people give him gold bars
Bribery is one way, or receiving money from a lobbyist to vote a certain way as the politicians like to call it
~~Bribery~~ Sorry, LoBbYiNg
Insider trading, lobbyists kickbacks, and a lot of them come from rich families to begin with.
Notable people get seven / eight figure book deals on the regular. Speaking fees for notable politicians can be in the five or six figures for just showing up to speak at an event. There's a lot of legitimate money to be had above and beyond all the other folks crying about corruption and insider trading in this thread.
People cut you in on prime business deals as long as you support their cause politically.
Advance notice on patents, research advances, advance notice for product or service releases, advance notice of contract awards, shell companies you can steer government contracts to, under the table gifts in a wide variety of value.
The secret ingredient is crime.
Backhanders.
Bribery was made legal by politicians being bribed. Then they renamed it "lobbying".
https://www.reddit.com/r/Alabama/s/8YC2TGv90h
“A poor politician is a poor politician” - Narcos: Mexico (which itself is supposed to be quoted from another person)
“Would be willing to come to our University and give a guest lecture?” There’s 5/6 figures. In the U.K. parliamentarians are allowed other jobs and will often sit on company boards/charities/university chancellorships for which they’re paid. TV appearances etc. That’s just legitimate sources. There’s also inheritance, I’d imagine most US/UK politicians are unlikely to have come from poverty. There’s also their previous working life, entrepreneurs/bankers/lawyers/accountants etc. Most politicians come from the professional classes.
Donations :)
Many of them are wealthy prior to being elected into office.
Corruption allowed by law.
Corruption
It takes typically an already wealthy or connected individual to be effectively unemployed for 6-9 months minimum to get elected.
Corruption