Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and their Friends Get Rich off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

Schweizer, Peter

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, Massachusetts, 2011

About this Item

As new condition black boards with white spine lettering contained in an as new condition non price-clipped color illustrated dust jacket. Includes List of Other Books by Peter Schweizer; Author Dedication; Preliminary Page Quote; List of Illustrations; Introduction; Notes; Acknowledgments and Index. Illustrated with graphs, pie-graphs, tables, and maps. "There is so much honest graft in this big town that they would be fools to go in for dishonest graft." - George Washington Plunkitt. "The Book Washington Does Not Want You To Read. As Ben Franklin knew, ambition and avarice, the love of power and the love of money, "when united in view of the same object. have in many minds the most violent effects." In Throw Them All Out, Peter Schweizer rips back the curtain to show how Washington has become Franklin's worst nightmare, thanks to: INSIDER TRADING IN CONGRESS: Senator John Kerry's stock transactions included aggressive health care trading just as he helped write health care legislation. Congressman Spencer Bachus shorted the market in 2008 after receiving private briefings from Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson. LEGAL LEGISLATIVE GRAFT: Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi received insider IPO shares and bought millions more in Visa stock, and shortly thereafter she blocked four bills that would have harmed the company. Former Speaker Dennis Hastert used an earmark to pull off a multimillion-dollar land deal that helped make him rich. FAVORS TO CRONY CAPITALISTS: Over $10 billion worth of stimulus grants and loans were directed to companies run or owned by members of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign National Finance Committee and his campaign donor "bundlers." For the rest uf us, this is called insider trading, confllict of interest, and kickbacks. But for them, it's completely legal. It's time to end crony capitalism once and for all." - from the rear outer jacket. "Politicians often come into office with relatively modest assets. Then, as investors, they regularly beat the market and sometimes beat the most rapacious hedge funds. Even without trading stocks, they often retire rich. HOW DO THEY DO IT? Billionaires and hedge fund managers often make well-timed investment decisions that anticipate events in Washington. HOW DO THEY DO IT? When former politicians and federal appointees such as Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and Madeleine Albright decide to launch investment funds, wealthy clients flock to sign up. WHY? Welcome to the insidious world of crony capitalism. Cronyism exists not so much as outright bribery, using suitcases full of cash, but rather in accepted insider routes to wealth: Members of Congress trade stocks based on privileged information. They insert earmakrs into bills to improve their own real estate holdings. Campaign contributors receive billions in federal grants. Nobody goes to jail. Crony capitalism transcends party lines and has become a big business hidden in plain sight. Using personal financial information, government databases, and a team of indefatigable researchers, Peter Schweizer shines a light into the darkest corners of the system - and offers ways to overcome it. IT IS TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE." - from the inner front jacket flap. Seller Inventory # 006073

Bibliographic Details

Title: Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and ...

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, Massachusetts

Publication Date: 2011

Binding: Hardcover

Illustrator: Green, Tim (jacket design)

Condition: As New

Dust Jacket Condition: As New

Edition: 1st Edition