|

Do you know America's top politicians exit their office
with millions more than credible based on their salaries
and perhaps some patient investing? Do you know how they
achieve that? Nobody has directly and fully answered that
question until Throw Them All Out was published.
你知道美国高官离职时个个都捞了个钵满盆满吗?你知道他们是怎么通过当大官来发大财的?《统统滚他妈的蛋》终于揭示了其中的奥妙。
The book, freshly published on November 15, 2011, was written
by Peter Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution,
Stanford University, and a consultant to the White House
Office of Presidential Speechwriting between 2008 to 2009.
这本昨天刚印发的书是由彼得·史威泽攥写的。史先生是斯坦福大学的研究员,并于2008至2009年间担任白宫总统发言撰稿人顾问。
In the light of Schweizer's investigation, one
of the biggest scandals in American politics is waiting
to explode:
史先生的调查报告为世人揭开了一个惊天大秘密:
The full story of the inside
game in Washington shows how the permanent political
class enriches itself at the expense of the rest of us.
盘踞在华盛顿的是一群腐败特权阶层,他们利用手中职权通过内部交易发财,损害美国民众的利益。
Insider trading is illegal on Wall Street, yet it
is routine among members of Congress. Normal individuals
cannot get in on IPOs at the asking price, but politicians
do so all the time. The Obama administration has
been able to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to
its supporters, ensuring yet more campaign donations. An
entire class of investors now makes all of its profits
based on influence and access in Washington.
内部交易在华尔街是非法的,但国会议员却可以不受法律约束。奥巴马政权通过这种渠道攫取了上亿美元的资产用于总统竞选活动。而投资人再通过他们在华盛顿的关系从公众攫取更多的资财。
Peter Schweizer has doggedly researched through mountains
of financial records, tracking complicated deals and stock
trades back to the timing of briefings, votes on bills, and
every other point of leverage for politicians in Washington. The
result is a manifesto for revolution:
通过对海量资料的深入研究,线索追查而得出的结论,史先生发出了如下的革命性宣言:
America's Permanent
Political Class must go!
美国有一个固化的政治阶级。这个阶级必须被清除!
More details at Amozon.com
Citizen John (amazon.com):
When I go to the election booth, I don't see the option, "None
of the above," below the candidate names.
我在选票上找不到半个值得我投票的人。
The `Permanent Political Class' makes rules for itself.
Members with no time to meet small business constituents
do not spare any trouble to legally enrich themselves through
earmarks, real estate deals, securities violations, trading
on inside information, self-dealing with stimulus funds and
literally every budget item.
这个固化的政治阶级制定了适合他们的法律。那些抽不出时间到选民中访贫问苦的人,却有充裕的时间通过暗箱操作挣大钱。
DC is a profit center for them and all those that support
them in various capacities, as they use government to enforce
sophisticated pay-to-play and don't-make-no-waves rules.
There is little incentive for them to leave Washington, which
is one reason they became the permanent political class.
华盛顿就是贪污腐败的总部,那些国会山上的人无非就是看钱说话,同时互相包庇,狼狈为奸。怪不得他们谁也不肯离开政坛,这也是固化的政治阶级得以形成的原因。
Schweizer cites popular officials that play the IPO (Initial
Public Offering) game. For example, he shows how Nancy
Pelosi, the 60th Speaker of the United States
House of Representatives with an estimated net worth of $58
million, bought 5,000 shares of V (Visa) at the privileged
IPO price $44. This trade showed a profit immediately and
the shares went up to about $88 in a matter of days. However,
Pelosi worked on major legislation that if it had not been
killed in the body she led, would have had a strong negative
affect on the price right at that time. The rest of us can't
do it because we're subject to strict conflict of
interest rules, unlike lawmakers. Plus, we're not
invited to participate in IPOs until after the price is run
up.
在史先生所列举的例子里有第六十届国会议长南希·佩骡西。此人身家值五千八百万。当初曾一气买下了5000股“签证”,没过几天44块钱一股的“签证”就疯涨到88块钱。而这支股票的剧烈波动和她领导的国会的某些议案密切相关。要是我们普通人这么干早就被抓起来了。但在美国,法律对制定法律的人无能为力。再着说,我们小百姓也没有参与讨论议案的机会,也不会知道哪支股票几时会涨何时会跌。
According to US law, if you're an elected official
and you sit on an important committee, you are allowed
to trade on the information that comes to you or even results
from your committee-related decisions. It stands
to reason that if you're on the banking committee, you
probably trade bank stocks, playing it both long and short.
If you're a staffer, you may accumulate sensitive information
and sell it to hedge funds. A lot of careerists trade on
non-public information.
按照[混帐的]美国法律,如果你是哪个重要委员会的成员,你可以利用你了解的内部信息或相关决定随便挣钱,没人管你。
This book is a manual on ways to give money legally to elected
officials. One big story is how Congressman Spensor Bachus
used a private meeting with Fed Chair Bernanke and Treasury
Secretary Paulson. Bachus was in the role of Ranking Member
on the House Financial Services Committee. He used the dire
information presented to him in this meeting to bet heavily
that the market would go down, using option trades. Bachus,
working with Bernanke and Paulson from July 2008 to November
2008, scalped $50K out of the falling market. The book has
lots of war stories like that.
书中列举的另一个典型例子是议员白楚思。白某是财政评级机构成员。他通过和联邦主席博纳克及财政部长泊森的私下会面获得有关市场的关键信息,并由此斩获5万元。这样的例子在书中不胜枚举。
While Throw Them All Out is our wake up call, it is also
a potential training guide for future politicians. After
all, Congress is unlikely to change the substance of rules
that allow them to make a killing year on year. We should
not aspire to do what they do. This would land the rest of
us in prison and earn their contempt for us.
这本书为美国社会敲响了警钟。但有什么用呢?那些政客是不会主动改邪归正的,他们只会从书中学到更多的贪腐之道。只是小民百姓看了千万别有样学样,须知法律是无情的。
Hassan Z. Brockovich
Sr.:
According to author's earth-crushing investigation, the
permanent political class is in power in Washington, D.C.,
because average Americans are all just lazy, stupid and unmotivated,
while the political class is savvy, aggressive and very ambitious.
I could not agree more; after all, how can you explain that
the political class keeps lying to the average voter...yet
the average voter keeps sending them back every election
cycle to Washington, D.C., to screw them over some more?!?!?
Prev: America's War Against China
Next: How Can US Government Ever Be Trusted
Again
|