Our Congress - Corrupt and and Morally Bankrupt...

Ever wonder why members of Congress leave the public payroll a lot wealthier than they were when first elected?

Members of Congress legally make trades on non-public information they obtain during their official duties, CBS News' '60 Minutes' reported on Sunday night.

Branded 'honest graft,' lawmakers can use market-moving information that they learn in congressional committees to trade on the stock market — actions that likely would carry stiff jail and civil penalties if they did not hold public office.

In one example, Steve Kroft reports that Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), now the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, bet against the market in the days before the 2008 financial crisis hit — after getting 'apocalyptic briefings' from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

Kroft also raises questions about the trading patterns of Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — and the real estate purchases of other senators and representatives.

The report relies heavily on the work of Peter Schweizer, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution, whose work '60 Minutes' independently verified.

"This is a venture opportunity," Schweizer told '60 Minutes.' "This is an opportunity to leverage your position in public service and use that position to enrich yourself, your friends, and your family."

Former White House Chief of Staff  Rahm Emanuel (now Mayor of Chicago) also appears to have been caught up in allegations of insider trading while a member of Congress.

Then-Rep. Emanuel reportedly sold up to $250,000 in Freddie Mac stock on February 21, 2003 days before it dropped by 10 percent — and weeks before it was publicly revealed that the entity was under criminal investigation for inflating earnings. The allegations are revealed in Peter Schwiezer's new book "Throw Them All Out," which 60 Minutes based their investigation on.

Emanuel served on the board of the Government-backed lender before his election to Congress in 2003, and later held a seat on the House Financial Services' Committee's Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises — the very committee charged with regulating the Freddie Mac.

While by no means illegal; lawmakers are exempted from the insider trading laws they impose on private traders. But the timing of the trades is certainly suspect, especially given Emanuel's service on the board during the time period for with the federal government was investigating the actions of Freddie Mac executives.

Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist/crook — turned jailbird — says he knows of as many as 12 members of Congress who have engaged in insider trading — in at least one case making "several hundred thousand dollars."

You cannot read the description of the personal stock trading allegedly conducted by various members of the Congress (of both parties)during the financial crisis and conclude anything other than the following - our government is corrupt and morally bakrupt!

Yes, this behavior may be technically legal, because of an absurd loophole that makes insider-trading rules not apply to Congress, but no reasonable person would consider this behavior ethical or okay. And for the 300+ million Americans who aren't members of Congress, it would be just plain illegal