Democrats, Republicans and Obama unite on repealing part of STOCK Act

The federal Government Accountability Office created a report about political intelligence. (Snip: U.S. GAO)Bipartisan bickering? Rabid partisan rhetoric? Not this time.

In a move not widely reported, Democrats and Republicans in Congress united with President Barack Obama to repeal part of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, legislation designed to keep lawmakers from capitalizing on information to enrich themselves and their associates, more commonly called cronies by critics.

The repeal doesn’t completely stop the public from getting information about financial matters their elected officials and other government figures disclose. The repeal simply makes it much harder and far more time-consuming to find that information.

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Why did Goldman Sachs chair fumble answers to Coburn’s questions?

by Kay B. Day

Goldman Sachs has a chummy relationship with Washington. And one of the firm’s recipients of a large amount of campaign money is a key player in the financial regulation bill, ‘The Dodd Bill.’

Lloyd Blankfein, chair of Goldman Sachs, sounded like a first grader during Congressional hearings when Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) quizzed him about a relationship with the US Treasury Dept. Blankfein drew a blank.

THE EXCHANGE

Sen. Tom Coburn grilled Goldman Sachs chair Lloyd Blankfein.
Coburn: “Have you personally spoken with anybody at Treasury about the regulatory reform effort?”

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