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

by Peter Schweizer

THE BOOK WASHINGTON DOES NOT WANT YOU TO READ

How is it that politicians often enter office with relatively modest assets, but then, as investors, regularly beat the stock market and sometimes beat the most rapacious hedge funds? How did some members of Congress know to dump their stock holdings just in time to escape the effects of the 2008 financial meltdown? And how is it that billionaires and hedge fund managers often make well-timed investment decisions that anticipate events in Washington?

In this powerfully argued book, Peter Schweizer blows the lid off Washington’s epidemic of “honest graft.” He exposes a secret world where members of Congress insert earmarks into bills to improve their own real-estate holdings, and campaign contributors receive billions in federal grants. Nobody goes to jail. Throw Them All Out casts light into the darkest corners of the political system — and offers ways to clean house.

" Throw Them All Out is filled with stories of petty theft and so-called 'honest graft' . . . Unsparingly bipartisan in [its] criticism of Washington . . . Mr. Schweizer has performed a valuable service to his country." — Washington Times

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Political Science, Economics, Finance, American

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Peter Schweizer is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. From 2008-'09 he served as a consultant to the White House Office of Presidential Speechwriting and he is a former consultant to NBC News. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, National Review, Foreign Affairs, and elsewhere. His books include The Bushes, Reagan's War, and Do as I Say, Not as I Do.

Reviews

[Amora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very important read now because of the people that are exposed in this book. The same people pushing the Russia hoax are the same people that have involved themselves in shady activities as shown in this book. The people I’m referring to are Nancy Pelosi, Richard Durbin, and Sheldon Whitehouse. All of these people have been big proponents of the Russian collusion narrative. Republicans like Dennis Hastert are also exposed as being crooks.

Indeed, Peter Schweizer is no partisan and has angered both corrupt Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike over his damning findings. Give this book a read!

[Margitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off of Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison is a great book to read for those who want to understand Donald Trump's promise to 'drain the swamp'. It also corresponds with Bernie Sander's criticism of big business (and their cronies in Congress) as 'corporate welfare at its worst'.

It is much clearer now why there was such a vigorous, aggressive opposition to both Trump and Saunders, from both Democrats and Republicans. It is also much more understandable why all previous presidents, and the Secretary of State are fighting alongside each other to get Trump ousted. He is a major threat to a cushy status quo that needs to be protected in every which way way possible.

Peter Schweizer is also the author of the book Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich (2015), which exposed the Uranium One deal. The information was ignored until now.

It seems as though I am reading some serious politician-bashing books lately. But I have an excuse for that. Our country is experience fraud and corruption on a monumental scale, leaving us on the brink of financial collapse. In order to understand it, I need to read books explaining some political moves which are applied to the global platform. This is one of those books. The author exposes the entire Congress, the political caste, or Permanent Political Class, enriching themselves while pretending to serve the public. Their sense of entitlement is phenomenal. The thing is, these politicians have a motivation for what they do: because of their 'public service' and "sacrifices to us", they feel entitled to the manipulation of the business market for their own benefit.

I promise you, this book takes the emotions out of politics.

Examples of members of Congress opposing one another in public on legislation, but are partners in business in private, snakes through this book. It doesn't matter how many thousands of pages are producing new legislation, just one sentence in it promising new deals for the caste, ensures that it will go through. If that sentence is not included, well...the deal is off.

As many people observed before: If you have a seat at the table, you are in for a feast. If you don't have a seat at the table, you are probably on the menu.

I am of the opinion that this book exposes the reasons why 'crooked' Hilary was allowed to do as she pleased. The rest of the political caste dared not investigate her, since they all had too many skeletons in the closets.

A few quotes from the introduction:

This is a book about how a Permanent Political Class, composed of politicians and their friends, engages in honest graft. Let's call it crony capitalism. Here the "invisible hand" is often attached to the long arm of Washington. And business is good.

WE'VE ALL HEARD about the New Rich. Once, they were the Oil Rich. Then they were the Silicon Valley Rich. The Dot-Com Rich. Now it's time to meet the New New Rich: the Government Rich. For the Government Rich, insider deals, insider trading, and taxpayer money have become a pathway to wealth. They get to walk this exclusive pathway because they get to operate by a different set of rules from the rest of us. And they get to do this while they are working for us, in the name of the "public service."

The Permanent Political Class does not produce any goods or services. Their ability to make money rises from their ability to extract wealth by leveraging it from others. Politicians can write legislation that can destroy corporations or help them prosper. They can perform constituent services to benefit friends or punish enemies. They can intervene with bureaucrats in a way that can reap billions for a company. They have access to information that can dramatically affect the economy and financial markets, information that few other people have.

All of this crony capitalism comes at a high price for the rest of us. Under free market capitalism, the idea is that a rising tide lifts all boats. Henry Ford wanted Americans to become more prosperous because then he could sell them more cars. Crony capitalism is a zero-sum game. Crony capitalists don't care whether a rising tide lifts all boats. They just want to buy their way onto the big party boat.

This book was published in 2011, which makes it old news, perhaps, but also relevant to today's politics. By reading it now, many issues are becoming much clearer, for instance, the protectionism of the loot against journalists such as Sharyl Attkisson, who wrote the book Stonewalled- My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama's Washington, and Dinesh D'Souza's mission to expose the looting of state coffers in his book Stealing America: What My Experience with Criminal Gangs Taught Me about Obama, Hillary, and the Democratic Party.

In recent events the controversial web broadcaster, Alex Jones, have been targeted for 'censor'. Hilary warned against him in a speech I listened to, and in one of the congressional hearings in which Facebook, Twitter and those social moguls participated, it was also mentioned that Alex Jones's Twitter posts were censored and even disabled. I listened to the 'hearing'.

So, for people to take them all on and publish a book like this, demands guts and determination to make a difference. We should honor them all.

Beside the point: So by the way, I read an article on how journalists were intimidated by Harvey Weinstein. Read Army of Spies , and get an insight into journalists' perils.

Back to the book: Peter Schweizer is well-known for his excellent research and many books. The evidence provided in the book is jaw-dropping, but essential to know. Everyone should make the time to read this book.

Some Chapter headings in the book:
-The Drug Trade
-IPOs: Invest in politicians often
-Crisis for all, opportunity for some
-Warren Buffett: Baptist and bootleggers
-Cronies on parade: Hedge funds, defense contractors, colleges, big oil ... and George Soros

The Affordable Health Care legislation had many Congressional ants running around to get in on the lucrative action.

This book reads like a thrilling novel, with a multitude of characters in both houses of Congress to make the eyes water.:-)

But, it also explains why the world is imploding around ordinary people, why thousands of soldiers die in combats all over the world, and no one knows what the hell is happening.

The book ends with recommendations on how to fix it.

Would you have the guts to read it? Maybe it's time. You might even find a shady deal in your own county explained in the book. There are many to feast on. :-) And forget about shelving these authors of my latest reads as conspiracy theorists. That's a good way of slamming anyone who might disagree and really have become stale bread. These books are backed up by hard facts. It's called REALITY.

Exactly how crony capitalists are consuming public wealth and fattening themselves is the subject of this book. You will be a fool not to read it, especially if you are a tax payer. And frankly, my dear, it doesn't matter if you're a Republican or Democrat. You are being robbed blind. This book might dry up your tears dramatically. It explains (in retrospect) why a candidate lost this election and an independent outsider came out of the woodwork and won.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's so disgusting how the present politico world is operating that I can't even form a non-nausea reaction. Read it. It sure pays to be a crook and high hypocrite.
While mouthing effusive empathy daily to the public. Helped and paid for with/by their crony association with media and entertainment accomplices. Gut wrenching facts of compatriot criminals. Lies, lies, lies. They pay well and often.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

"At the root of the Permanent Political Class is a profound sense of arrogance" (Schweizer).

This is a book for grown folks of all political stripes who are tired of buying slogans over statistics, or for those who never did to begin with.

Essentially, “Throw Them All Out” is a modern American manifesto.

Schweizer painstakingly details and connects dots that reveal the scope of government and corporate corruption throughout approximately the last decade. There is a more pronounced focus on the fever-pitched pace of political maneuvering throughout the last several years.

He deftly accomplishes this using easy-to-read charts, maps, and drawings, and exposition in plain English. He also meticulously annotates facts and timelines.

The book exposes the political and fiscal underpinnings behind the drafting of the legislation of the health reform bill, going far to explain much of the political bombast that Americans were subjected to during throughout that time, courtesy of mainstream media.

For example, John Boehner and John Kerry, who both publicly espoused such different views regarding the health reform bill, nonetheless had portfolios that show how they’d both profited from the legislation.
In this way, Schweizer shows that they were “allies when it came to investment decisions”.

The only logical conclusion a reader can make is that it was all theater.

Over-time performances of apolitical, versus political hedge funds, are analyzed. These analyses lead the reader to disturbing conclusions regarding the vast and varying extents of numerous congress people involved in short-selling stocks against the best interest of America's economy and, more importantly, its people.

He posits the question, "Why did the Tammany Hall political machine gain so much power in New York City"? The answer is revealed: The public had come to accept it. Thus, the parallel between then and now is clearly illustrated.

Okay, so now the public must come to reject it.
How, you ask?

In addition to a discussion of the lexical evolution of the term "cronyism", Constitutional Article 1, Clause 6 (Speech and Debate Clause) http://bit.ly/meFwhx is also given lengthy consideration - what it is used to justify, and what it actually exists to protect.

Essentially, says Schweizer, "Cronyism is the antithesis of a meritocracy". Toward the book's end, he outlines a bulleted list of initiatives that could go far to minimize the practice of crony capitalism.

To summarize them, they’d involve:

o The creation of a legal code that would make trading of non-public government information illegal.
o Requiring SEC disclosure of stock trades within two days for Congress members (the way that corporate insiders are currently required to).
o Not permitting Congress members to trade stock in companies that are overseen by their committees.
o Applying whistleblower laws to Congress.
o Not permitting “sweetheart” IPOs (initial public offerings) to be bid on by members of Congress in advance of public availability.
o Revisiting and maintaining existing conflict of interest laws.
o Not allowing earmarks that would yield direct financial benefits to specific members of Congress.
o Not allowing Congress members to become lobbyists.
o Not allowing campaign contributions to take place while Congress is in session.

Until such initiatives are adopted, in the interim, the reader can draw her own conclusions, and echo the sentiment of the title.

[Dave Lefevre · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of the long list of books that certain people should read but never will. This book takes a look at the growing corporate/congress complex and highlights the fact that Congressional politicians are making MILLIONS and sometimes even BILLIONS of dollars by acting on their inside knowledge of upcoming government actions. On average Congresscritters do many percentage points better in their stock and real estate investments than the average Joe. Are they just smarter? Well, maybe, but in case after case records show that they have bought or sold stock at JUST the right time to benefit. For instance John Kerry bought millions of dollars in stock that were sure to benefit by the health care bill. Nancy Pelosi also blocked measures that would help Visa, a company she has heavily invested in. The list goes on and on... but the kicker is that the entire thing is LEGAL. There are no conflict of interest rules or insider trading statutes that cover the Senate or the House. Records show well timed investments made by close campaign contributers as well, so not only does Congresspersons and Senators benefit, so does their biggest campaign buddies.

This book goes after the Obama White House for passing along information to close cronies, but there is significant problem with this book. Schweizer is known to be a conservative, and while he rightly goes after Obama's abysmal record he hardly mentions the biggest corporate cronies we've ever seen in office: the Bush White House. Not only did Bush and Cheney enrich themselves with the government's help, but people died doing it when you consider the push for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The fact that the Bush administration is conveniently not mentioned could be the fact that this a book written in 2011, but it does cause a question of fairness and credibility. Schweizer does call out other Republicans and do his best to present this a systemic problem and not a problem with just one of the parties (which is correct) but this omission makes me scratch my head. The Bush White House was a dream for corporate cronies and it set the precedent for the Obama administration, but it doesn't make the cut and does not get called out.

Despite that, the message of this book is strong and clear and convincing and it deserves a read.

Edit: After re-considering the fairness issue with Schweizer's focus as mentioned above I have docked this book another star. It pays too much lip service to the fact that the graft is on both sides while working to protect Republicans at the same time.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I generally do not recommend books to people, probably because i have never cared enough. However, I just finished reading "Throw Them All Out". This book provides very specific examples of how our corrupt government (both parties) is using their political power to enrich themselves and their wealthy connections at the expense of the taxpayer.

If anyone has even a modicum of interest in learning... why things are not getting better for the average American, this is a must read. It is a short, quick read so it doesn't require much time investment. If you read this and are as sickened as i am, please let others know about this book.

[Brice Karickhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple weeks ago, I read about an interview with Nancy Pelosi regarding her lucrative investments while in congress, and I thought it just couldn't be real. SO, I did what I usually do when I want to dig into something, and I saw what books the public library has on the topic. Usually, that strategy works pretty well, but in this case, the library’s one book sort of let me down. This book had a few issues:

1. It was a drag to read because it was basically just a thorough documentation of hundreds of (maybe) corrupt financial dealings by politicians.
2. Though the author goes after individuals of all political leanings, there is no reason to believe that he had no biases when choosing who to throw under the bus. This book may or may not have been totally agenda-driven. Impossible to tell.
3. The book delegitimized its discussion of some truly egregious acts by speaking on equivalent terms about deals that I personally see no wrong in.

Nonetheless, I still gotta give this book three stars because it did illuminate to me how INSANE it is what US congresspeople can get away with (not nearly as true at the state level or in the other two branches of govt). However, my big takeaway isn't that I hate the players, so much as the game - or rather the rules to the game. In other words, the House and Senate Ethics Committees and the SEC are the problem. It bothers me that politicians would sit on a committee that regulates a particular sector of the economy while 50% of their investment portfolio is stocks from that sector, but it shocks me even more that said politician can do said thing.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are all familiar with the expression that you really don't want to see how the sausage is made, you just want some. In Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off of Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Prison by Peter Schweizer, you will see in excruciating detail how the political sausage is made by all sides. There are no innocents or sacred cows in this book; it's really us (the common folk) versus them (the elected = entitled politicians). The author leads you by the hand into understanding how elected politicians being paid $150-200,000 per year can be multimillionaires before their first term is up. He explains how special arrangements are made to offer them early access to IPOs, land deals, stock tips, and more that are essentially a sure thing; remember Hillary Clinton turned a $1,000 investment into a risky market bet into $100,000 in a short amount of time. What is astounding is that, where the general population including heads of companies, are subject to fines and jail time for things like insider trading, congress has specifically exempted themselves from any such rules. Therefore, however Hillary or anyone else in congress makes money off sketchy deals, it will pass the test of their ethics committee. Excellent read and no holds barred but you may want to be at least partially sedated before you start reading.

[John Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Schweizer has compiled a lot of data to make a compelling argument that the status quo in federal government desperately needs to be changed.

The book has three sections. Part One, Congressional Cronies, has 4 chapters that show how members of Congress exploit their power and the absence of adequate rules to inappropriately enrich themselves. Members of both parties are criticized, but there are more examples of Democrats than Republicans because Democrats had majorities in both the House and the Senate from 2007 through 2010, when this book was being researched.

Part Two, Capitalist Cronies, has 3 chapters that deal with businessmen who use their political connections to get unfair advantages over competitors. Part Two has a lot to say about the stimulus programs of 2008 and 2009 and shows many examples of maximum stimulus dollars being spent to create a minimum number of jobs. One example is a $100 million grant to the Basin Electric Power Cooperative, a partner of Powerspan. Powerspan’s investors include George Soros and two members of President Obama’s National Finance Committee. As of December, 2010, 1 ½ years after the grant was announced, the project had created eight jobs.

Mr. Schweizer raises many questions about the stimulus programs of 2008 and 2009 – and stimulus plans in general. One question is whether the federal government should be in the business of selecting some businesses - but not selecting other businesses - to receive amounts paid by taxpayers. Even if this could be done impartially, the very nature of rewarding some businesses and not rewarding other businesses is inherently unfair. It is unfair to both the businesses that don’t get selected and to the taxpayers who are forced to subsidize businesses instead of spending their money to stimulate the economy in whatever ways they choose. When the inherent unfairness of the process of the government selecting winners and losers is complicated by unavoidable tendencies to reward political supporters (crony capitalism), it is hard not to conclude that stimulus programs do more harm than good.

Another Part Two revelation is that Warren Buffett made many self-enriching recommendations during bailout considerations while trying to appear the altruistic, paternalistic advisor.

Part Three, Breaking the Back of Crony Capitalism, concludes with Mr. Schweizer’s recommendations for reforming the system. These recommendations include laws restricting insider government information, which exist in Great Britain and throughout the European Union.

Mr. Schweizer is to be commended for the profound revelations and significant recommendations in this book. One relatively minor problem is that the book in general, and Part One in particular, deals with numbers. The details for the large gains resulting from legislators trading on their insider information make for dry reading. Again, the author is to be commended for his research, but some of the numbers would have made more sense if they had been presented in tables instead of prose. Another minor issue is that because of the weak reporting requirements that currently exist that only require reporting in ranges, some of the examples of legislators unethically taking advantage of insider trading do not definitively show that large profits have been made.

The title of the book might seem to be an exaggeration. Unfortunately, it is not. Mr. Schweizer makes a strong case that there is a lot of “legal” (but not ethical) exploitation of legislative power. If legislators were interested in making the necessary changes to eliminate this type of behavior, they would have done it by now.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friggin' Unbelievable...Those are the only words I can use to describe this book. The author laid out well the "Let them eat cake" mentality which is permeating Washington (with no political preference) on multiple levels. In my opinion, a must read for every US citizen not currently holding office in Washington or in any state capital(cuz I am sure the same stuff happens there)to open our eyes to the Political Class and all of their dirty dealings which would send the average US citizen to jail, if we could even get our hands on it.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throw Them All Out catches what's really irking the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street: politicians and investors are making crony business deals that the rest of us would go to jail for. Throw Hastert, Pelosi, Obama, Boehner, Kerry, Buffet, and Soros in that mix. And then throw them out.

This book captures the contemporary zeitgeist, and while I wish it would have skewered more guilty Republicans (there are so many), it's an important book for the 99% of us who think that cronyism should be illegal.

[Alex Frame · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does crony capitalism work ,why does it exist, why has it grown over the years and how can it be stamped out?
Schweizer does a good job answering all these questions.
In 2023 it's worse than ever, it seems politicians are there now only to feather their own nests and it's happening across the globe.
How many have been paid by big pharma to promote lockdowns , to support the war in Ukraine or to scream endlessly about climate emergencies?

Make all politician's connections more transparent and how they are subsequently remunerated or emloyed after they leave politics should be clearly scrutinised.

[Nancy Lilly F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this and remember it the next time we vote!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

very one-sided (author's affiliation with the Hoover Inst. should have been my first clue) in taking down liberal politicians only. Dick ("Halliburton") Cheney doesn't even appear in the index, whereas Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, and Barack Obama come in for rough treatment, and Obama's stimulus grant process gets a thorough once-over.

Some of it is also numbingly detailed (and here's example #356 of a congressperson pushing for an earmark in favor of a road improvement that just happens to improve property values in, wait for it, HIS neighborhood!).

But overall makes a convincing case that conflict of interest rules are too lax for politicians and that they exploit this for their own financial gain regularly. Does seem absurd that they can openly trade in individual stocks of companies and then vote on and/or write policies directly affecting those companies, who in turn can bankroll their campaigns. Wouldn't cleanse politics of corporate or big-donor influence, but it should be feasible to institute COI rules similar to what applies to judges etc.

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now we all know how to increase our wealth in this down economy, run for office and become a legislator! Although this book had too much detail for my liking, it truly makes me angry that our legislators are using inside information to trade stocks and increase their wealth while in office or providing funding to their friends and family. We, as citizens, need to demand some type of Freedom of Information Act that require legislators to open their "books" for scrutiny by the public. After all, aren't they supposed to be working for our benefit?

[Alex Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I can't refute the substantive content, I don't think it was written in as balanced of a way as it could have been. The author had a clear political objective. Namely, to challenge the Obama Administration. He only glossed over corruption among Republicans that should have been explored in more detail. I think the disturbing trends that he discusses are evident in both parties. Where the author starts his timeline of tracking such phenomena leaves something to be desired. I still recommend reading this for situational awareness.

[Book Shark · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 by Peter Schweizer

“Throw Them All Out” is an eye-opening expose of how politicians in Washington have made politics into a prosperous business. Research fellow, consultant and author, Peter Schweizer provides a relentless account of practices that would send anyone other than a politician to prison but allows them the path to legal riches. This troubling 240-page book is broken out into the following three parts: 1. Congressional Cronies, 2. Capitalist Cronies, and 3. Breaking the Back of Crony Capitalism.

Positives:
1. A well-written, well-referenced book.
2. An eye-opening expose on a fascinating topic. If you care about ethics, this book will make your blood boil.
3. Introduces and defines concepts in support of his well-argued conclusions. “This is a book about how a Permanent Political Class, composed of politicians and their friends, engages in honest graft. Let's call it crony capitalism. Here the "invisible hand" is often attached to the long arm of Washington. And business is good.”
4. A relentless approach. Schweizer provides example after example of crony capitalism. “Politicians have made politics a business. They are increasingly entrepreneurs who use their power, access, and privileged information to generate wealth. And at the same time well-connected financiers and corporate leaders have made a business of politics. They meet together in the nation's capital to form a political caste.”
5. Does a great job of explaining the power of access to information. Congressional trading of pharmaceutical stocks.
6. Exposing those who benefitted from the 2008 financial crash. “And for certain members of Congress, it also meant trading stocks at critical times.” Many examples.
7. Unfair access to IPOs. An interesting example of the VISA legislation. “Companies recognize the importance of having friends in powerful places, and granting them access to an IPO is one way to reward them. Members of Congress often participate in IPOs that are difficult, if not close to impossible, for ordinary Americans to join.” Schweizer names politicians involved, I’m not going to spoil it.
8. A recurring theme, clear examples of unethical yet clear conflicts of interest. “Persuading a corporation to spend money on an initiative that you as an executive would personally profit from would raise huge questions. And if you were a middle-level employee in the executive branch of government, such a conflict of interest would trigger an investigation. Trying to help companies in which you have a large financial stake become more profitable through congressional legislation is the very definition of conflict of interest.”
9. Earmarks used for personal gains. “In the words of the White House Office of Management and Budget, it's a way that "circumvents otherwise applicable merit-based or competitive allocation processes" to make favored projects happen.” A bonus and pardon it’s length but too good to pass up, ‘Members of Congress have used federal earmarks to enhance the value of their own real estate holdings in several ways: by extending a light rail mass transit line near their property, by expanding an airport, or by cleaning up a nearby shoreline. Federal funds have been used to build roads, beautify land, and upgrade neighborhoods near commercial and residential real estate owned by legislators, substantially increasing values and the net worth of our elected officials, courtesy of taxpayer money. Not only is this legal—by the bizarre standards of the Permanent Political Class—it's also deemed ‘ethical.’ Congressional ethics rules simply say that as long as a member can demonstrate that at least one other person will benefit from an earmark, that earmark is in the ‘public interest.’"
10. Describes how wealthy friends and donors make use of power to enrich themselves. “The game of funneling taxpayer money to friends has exploded to astonishing levels in recent years. Now that annual federal outlays exceed $3 trillion, there are extraordinary opportunities to get a piece of the action. Government checks routinely find their way to very wealthy Americans. Convincing the public that billionaires need the money can, needless to say, be tricky. But if a government check somehow serves the "public interest," it can become part of a larger program and might escape scrutiny.”
11. An interesting look at grants and guaranteed loans under one stimulus program run by the Department of Energy, for alternative energy projects.
12. A chapter dedicated to Warren Buffett where Schweizer makes some interesting observations. “Buffett needed the TARP bailout more than most. In all, Berkshire Hathaway firms received $95 billion in bailout cash from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Berkshire held stock in Wells Fargo, Bank of America, American Express, and Goldman Sachs, which received not only TARP money but also $130 billion in FDIC backing for their debt. All told, TARP-assisted companies constituted a whopping 30% of his entire publicly disclosed stock portfolio. As one investigation by the Houston Chronicle put it, Buffett was "one of the top beneficiaries of the banking bailout."
13. There are some great short quotes that capture the sentiment of this book, “Perhaps the best investment a hedge fund can make these days is not in a financial wizard but a politician.”
14. The role of lobbyists. “Elliott Portnoy, a lobbyist in Washington, says that the biggest field of growth for lobbyists is not in influencing legislation but in obtaining "political intelligence" for hedge funds and large investors.”
15. Crony capitalism. “Crony capitalism favors the politically active, and the manipulative. It does not favor one party over the other. It does not care about policy. It just knows how to make money off any policy—your tax dollars, leveraged to the rich.”
16. Unequal treatment. “Members of Congress and their staffs are effectively considered exempt from many of the laws they define for the rest of us, and from executive-branch regulation.”
17. The problem in Washington. “The Permanent Political Class is unresponsive to our concerns and needs because it is partly immune to the economic realities the rest of us face.”
18. A great comment worth sharing.” The Constitution is a contract between the people and the elected. When members of the Permanent Political Class use their public office for personal interest, they have breached that contract.”
19. A great chapter on what needs to be done broken out in shorty sections. A list of some initiatives to break the cycle of crony capitalism.
20. Links to notes.

Negatives:
1. Though Schweizer appears to make an effort to be fair and balanced the book is not. There is much more written about Democrats than Republicans. Despite stating a number of times that this is a bipartisan problem Schweizer certainly provides much more details on Democrats. The book does focus more on recent politics so that may be a plausible explanation.
2. Are there any ethical politicians in Washington? Schweizer never bothers to answer that question thus leaving that up to the reader despite a title that posits the contrary.
3. No formal bibliography.

In summary, this is a solid book. Schweizer delivers a page-turner of an expose that clearly shows how politicians and their friends prosper from access to information and rules that don’t apply to them. The author apparently takes more glee in exposing Democrats or it just may be causing some troubling cognitive dissonance to this progressive-minded reviewer. Be that as it may, Schweizer gives me much food for thought and I am first and foremost a realist. A book worthy of reading regardless of your political persuasion, I recommend it.

Further recommendations: “Plutocrats” by Chrystia Freeland, Winner-Take-All Politics” by Jacob S. Hacker, “The Price of Inequality” and “Globalization and its Discontents” by Joseph E. Stiglitz, “The Crash of 2016” by Thom Hartmann, “The Have and the Have-Nots” by Branko Milanovic, “Affluence and Influence” by Martin Gilens, “Republic, Lost” by Lawrence Lessig, “The New Elite” by Dr. Jim Taylor, “Why Nations Fail” by Daron Acemoglu, “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell, “ECONned” by Yves Smith, “The Great Divergence” by Timothy Noah, and “Bailout” by Neil Barofsky.

[matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book was great but I don’t think it got edited.

I added this book to my list on the recommendation of a college professor (Ed Ketz) after discussing the infuriating news of the Congressional stock trading scandal amid the onset of the pandemic.

The topic is important and more light needs to be brought to the issue of congressional insider trading. This book was poor attempt at doing that.

A few specific issues with the writing, listed in order of appearance, were:
1) In an academic paper Schweitzer cited (Ziobrowski (2004)) he suggested that the average hedge fund outperforms the market by 7-8% per year. The paper makes no mention of hedge fund performance.
2) The author used imprecise language in his discussion of options, stating that buying puts is called short selling while (it's not) and stated that congressman Spencer Bachus "shorted" General Electric options. Option contracts can be bought or sold (aka "written") but this was the first time I've heard an option being shorted.
3) He said that Jim Moran sold shares in "Ecolabs" among other stocks. An astute editor would have recognized that the company name is "Ecolab"
4) Schweitzer discussed IPO flipping as a unethical practice without grounding the reader that it's a) not unique to politicians and b) often disallowed by broker dealers using lockup periods.
5) “Sergei Brin” did not co-found Google, Sergey did.

[Kurtbg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Schweizer uncovers that congressman are apparently exempt from insider trading laws and researches into how the buying and selling of stock often appears to conflict with their writing of laws. Reinforcing the notion of the 'Political Class' he illustrates with cases of both democrats and republicans who leverage their access and control to benefit themselves and others via insider trading and gaining access to IPO's in ways that any other citizen would be charged and arrested for insider trading.

If true, the legitimacy of our lawmakers is under serious question when they can create a personal profit by manipulating what issues are pursued, what bills are addressed, and trade the market respectively.

In sports betting for your own baseball team is illegal.
Shouldn't there be stricter rules for leaders in control of the government with hands that can directly affect the economy?

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful book. This is a fairly detailed exposé of legal graft, insider trading, “crony capitalism,” and so forth by one particular governmental branch. Now I understand why State Senators have to rely on petty bribery, drug dealing, and shoplifting to supplement their incomes. For they don’t control the funding of the agencies that are supposed to police activities labeled criminal for everyone except those in the House and Senate who… control the funding of these agencies. They probably don’t get to pass bills that enhance the profit of companies that offer them first cracks at IPOs while they’re writing or voting on said legislation. It’s a sweet gig. If you finish a term in congress and haven’t become a multimillionaire or otherwise greatly expanded your fortunes on a $174,000 salary then you’re something of a failure. Crazy, bipartisan stuff! Not surprising whatsoever.

[Terry Cornell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be required reading for anyone of voting age. Well researched and documented book that reveals how politicians, Congressmen in particular, game our system to become wealthy while in office. Also explaining why they are so determined to gain re-election. No matter your political stripe, Schweizer has plenty of examples from both sides of the aisle. Congress has made themselves exempt from many of the same rules that effect their constituents and corporations. Whether it be insider trading, legislation that benefits their own property, or pure cronyism it's all here in black and white.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. I know everyone likes to rail about how corrupt members of Congress are, but this is sloppy. Broad generalizations, reckless accusations...argh. Does he realize that the Library of Congress posts every bill? Does he know that every smart political observer knew that (1) the public option wasn't going to survive the health care fight, and (2) that the final bill was good for pharmaceutical companies? There are a couple of examples of shady behavior, but by the end, I thought there were probably explanations for those, too. I hate this kind of mindless piling on Congress.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book is split into 3 sections. Section 1: How Congress if abusing and profiting from the system. Section 2: How entangled business is and how they throw their weight around to get more money and power. Section 3: How can it be changed.

My favorite part is part 3, 1 and 2 only showed how far we are from being a free country and how the love of money and power is eroding America. But in part 3 it talks about real policies that in place in cities, the military, and in foreign governments that will curve the problems discussed in section 1 and 2.

[Juliana Philippa]

Newsweek Magazine - "The Wonk Who Slays Washington"
(Nov 13, 2011 10:00 AM EST)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek...

WBUR, On Point with Tom Ashbrook - "Dirty Politics And Big Money"
(Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 10:00 AM EST)
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2011/11/17/di...

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an eye-opening revelation of the corruption that is "legal" for Congress, but which would land any of the rest of us in prison. Insider trading, self-serving land deals, quid-pro-quo deals, conflicts of interest, extortion, etc. are all apparently ethical for Congress. The author provides specific examples of many of the most influential members of Congress participating in the corruption in the name of public service.

[Loren · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible book detailing just how much corruption, graft and insider trading there is in the U.S. Congress & Executive Branch. The fact that these individuals have the ability to do things that no private citizen or even many state officials could do is disgraceful. And its absolutely both sides of this, few are clean from this graft. Read it, get honked off, do something about it

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

#1 reason for me on why I don't trust the government with more of my money.
60 minutes did a piece on this if you don't want to read the book:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162...

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written book that shows that "Limited Tenure" is a long overdue must for both House's on Capital Hill.

[Jj Li · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started off really interesting, and would've been really interesting if it'd been more bipartisan. About 50 pages, I got bored with reading the ravings of an anti-democrat. Yawn. Pass.

[Jon]

I had always somehow assumed that the members of Congress and the Senate were somehow covered by the same sorts of insider trading rules and conflict of interest policies that the rest of the country has to abide by, but Schweizer's book has rapidly disabused me of that quaint notion. I always knew that the politically powerful had financially advantageous connections, who steered them to business deals that the rest of us would never be privy to, but the practices described in Throw Them All Out go far beyond my innocent imaginings.

The book attempts to be non-partisan, and lists examples from both sides of the aisle of those who have benefited from their access to insider information and their abilities to manipulate the market, as well as steer legislation that would benefit their private coffers. There is, however, a fairly heavy focus on the party in power today, which I believe has two reasons: first, the party with the most control over legislation is the most heavily courted, and gets to appoint its cronies to positions of power, and second, our memories are short, and we'd probably have no idea who Schweizer was talking about if he detailed all the business wheelings and dealings of previous administrations.

I'm certain that we all recall the broad strokes of the events that led to the banking crisis in this country. Schweizer relates the story of a briefing that took place between the leaders of The Fed and major Senators and Congresscritters from both sides of the aisle, warning them of the coming collapse of many of the megabanks. Within days after that meeting, many of the attendees sold off large blocks of stock that they owned in those banks, knowing that the prices would go tumbling down. While the rest of us took our losses in the market meltdown that followed, our humble representatives didn't lose a dime!

Then, as meetings went on throughout the crisis, when it became apparent that the TARP bailout was actually going to be passed and put into place to rescue many of the banks, the same group of folks quietly bought back bank stocks that they knew would be getting bailout money, at bargain basement prices.

"One study by scholars at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and the University of Chicago found that during the critical votes on the subprime-mortgage bailout and subsequent matter related to the financial crisis of 2008, a key facto in how members of Congress voted was whether they held stock in banks and in the financial sector. Personal equity ownership also influenced congressional committee decisions on the amount of bailout money particular financial institutions received and how quickly they got it."

The truly scandalous thing about all this, however, is not that they're doing these sorts of things, but that the Congressional Ethics Committee deems it acceptable. When a particular member of the House Financial Services committee approached the ethics experts there about whether it was OK for him to use options puts and calls to double his congressional salary, they gave him the green light. If members of Congress buy and trade stock based on "valuable information revealed in private meetings, phone calls and correspondence" they are not guilty of any wrongdoing - by their own rules!

Members of Congress also are known for increasing the value of their private real estate holdings by the legislative earmark process. They can be instrumental in determining which local municipalities get federal money, and see to it that roads are built granting access to previously undeveloped plots of land which, coincidentally, they own, or approving light rail projects within walking distance of their commercial buildings, and they are!

Companies or industries that make the investment, not in R&D, but in political campaign donations, seem to have an edge when it comes to receiving government contracts or funding. In the case of the stimulus package recently, billionaire venture capitalist John Doerr has donated almost $2 million to Democrats over the past twenty years.
"...well over 50% of the companies listed...as part of his Green-tech venture capital portfolio received taxpayer grants or loan guarantees from Obama's stimulus program."
Some highlights:
One company alone received $102 million in credits!
60% of another of Doerr's company's customers were winners of government grants totalling more than $560 million!
That was $20 million well spent!

These are just a few examples of the outrageous actions of our ruling political class. Plenty more in the book. I consider this book a must-read for all voters before Election Day 2012.