there was also a gentleman at that meeting named spencer bachus.he left that meeting, and the next morning bought something called proshares ultra short qqq. now, what on earth is that? okay, i'm not a financial guy can. that is a options trade that is a leveraged buy that you're shorting the markets. you're betting the market -- or in this case knowing -- that the market is going to go down. he literally made that trade the next morning. and he made $10,000 while putting a couple thousand dollars at risk. in bachus' case as he was having these series of meetings, as he was writing t.a.r.p. legislation, as he was the ranking republican on the house financial service committee, he literally engaged in 40 options trades that seemed to be particularly well timed, and he made a lot of money. his insistence is that he does not trade on inside information, but to my mind if this were a corporate executive rather than a member of congress, the the sec would take a huge interest in this. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. >>> ne

it's also good to see chairman bachus and ranking member frank in the full committee. thank you for inviting me to speak today on the volcker rule. i'm glad to join my fellow regulators in testifying today. following the congress mandate of last week the cftc proposed rules consistent with the joint rule proposed in october by fellow regulators. the commission's proposal also included additional questions. i know there were 1400 but we added a few additional comments on whether certain provisions of the common rule or even applicable to the cftc restaurants which are part of the banking entity. the dodd-frank act as we've all been talking about amended the holding company act that prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading. yet also permitted certain activities, the one that has the most talk here is about market making and risk mitigated hedging. civil law requires the banking entities with significant trading activities to have policies and procedures in place to identify and prevent violations of this statutory provision on proprietary trading.

the house financial services committee is chaired by congressman spencer bachus of alabama. this hearing is three and half hours. >> of the hearing will come to order. the committee on financial services has been convened. today we will examine an issue that it's received a significant amount of attention in recent weeks. the american people deserve an answer to questions that have been raised about whether insider-trading law is applied to the members of the congress or their staff. they also have an absolute right to demand that people they elect to represent them in congress conduct themselves according to the highest ethical standards and do not seek to profit from their positions. during this hearing we will address this concern. we will seek to learn whether a member of congress or any citizen is exempt from all and we will discuss a chart 1148, the stock trading on congressional knowledge act. accordingly, we would hear from several witnesses today including the sponsors of a chart 1148, our colleagues, the director of enforcement at the securities and exchange commis

there was also a gentleman of that meeting called spencer bachus who is the chairman of the house financial services committee. he left that meeting and the next morning bought something called short shares. what on earth is that? i'm not a financial guy. that is an option trade that is a leveraged by that you are shorting the markets. .. it is a little under an hour and a half. [applause] >> it's so exciting to see young people really get involved. for a long time i think we are wondering where is everybody. how come everyone is asleep. people were asleep. and this is what this book is all about, people who have reached a certain level, a boiling point to say enough is enough and the want to make something changed. i think the occupation is a perfect analogy. the city certainly in all the country. the ripple effect of these things is pretty remarkable. yuri to tipping point where one thing happens. it creates a dollar of sector around the world. i think once this seems to really get energy of its own and continues to grow and grow and grow. i hope you will continue to support with these yo

and on the house side, actually, congressman spencer bachus who i mentioned doing the options trading during the financial crisis, and as i lay out in the book, he's done massive amounts of trading throughout his congressional career. of when he was on the transportation committee, he was shorting united airlines stock where he has oversight. the point is he was the chairman of that committee, and i think it's pretty doubtful that he would want me the show up. this is, to my mind, what's so curious. so much in this town is partisan. there is bipartisan circling in the wagons of this. this is something they can agree on, that this -- no, in this really is illegal. that's the positional thing. this is really illegal. but then when you say has the securities and exchange commission ever gone after a member of congress for this insider trading, no, they can't think of an example. and let's face it, the sec, its budget is set by congress. and look what happened when the fbi got a federal judge to give them a search warrant to search congress william jefferson's office, jefferson, the guy t

there is also a gentleman at the meeting named spencer bachus is a current chairman of the house financial services committee. .. >> that seemed to be particularly well-timed, and he made a lot of money. his insistences that he does not trade on inside information, but to my mind if this were a corporate executive rather than a member of congress, the sec would take a huge interest in this. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. >> next, jay wexler examines the more obscure clauses of the u.s. constitution scattered among the better known amendments throughout the 8,000-word document. this is about 40 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> good evening. thank you for coming out to support your local independent. my name is evan, and i'm the events director here at the brookline booksmith. i hope you guys will pick up one or our calendars. we've got some great readings lined up with john hodgeman and larry doyle next week and a night of staff recommendations later in the month. also you may have noticed we're filming tonight, um, so if you could, please, make sure to

with that i will now turn to my good good friend from montana senator bachus for the purpose of his opening statement. >> thank you mr. chairman. dr. king once said, we may have all come on different ships but we are in the same boat now. we have all come from different places. we have fought for different priorities that we are now all in the same boat. families in montana and across the country are watching to see if we can deliver. they are watching to see if congress can work. i believe we can. but this isn't about the washington debate. it's about the consequences to our economy if we don't deliver. those consequences are real and they affect each and every family we represent. those families like the second family of butte montana are the reason we are here. we don't extend the payroll tax cut jeff beckett and lucretia will pay $800 more in taxes this year. that is $800 the beckett's can't spend on groceries. that is money just can't use to take his daughters piper and page to the pizza parlor on friday nights. that is $800 not pumping into the local economy. that is just one worker a

we in fact today recruit ad local candidate against congressman bachus for local primary because of corruptiononally chose to endorse rick santorum, for two reasons. one i believe he will speak well to reagan democrats, being blue-collar candidate. i think that is what we need in this race. also i want to see a candidate accountable to the conservative constitutional type voter and i just, i don't see many of the candidates in this race, if elected, i see them thinking of themselves having been elected in spite of the tea party sort of. i see rick san tan -- santorum knows he need us. if he ends up in the top spot he knows who to thank and be accountable to us. i think those are important reasons to support rick santorum. i'm doing that independently. jenna: one thing you mentioned one feels they might be elected in spite of the tea party. i like to talk to you a little bit about that. scott rasmussen's polling most of folks he polled have unfavorable opinion and they think the tea party movement will hurt the republican party in the 2012 election. where do you think that is coming from? >> as

we have seen a new generation of members of congress that are stepping up to be a new internet bachus. -- caucus. i know i am leaving many others out. i think that as they fill those shoes of becoming a new generation, and they will build up some good will and credibility with a constituency that when they say we're trying to move in constructive way to balance the interest of the internet community with the copyright community, i think that will certainly help. there is a distrust right now about what their intentions are. i think that is changing. >> even if you want to give leadership the benefit of the doubt, we have been consistent about how folks with interests in the cree communities can interact productively with all bankers, the lawmakers to hear from this community. it is a question of how it is weighted. we're going to take every opportunity, and this underscores the need to hit pause right now. it is becoming increasingly clear that it is the tech community whose interesting to be represented and the entrepreneurial community. it is a whole coterie of copyright owners who