'The Daily Show' Recap - February 15, 2012
“Happy ‘Oh my god, yesterday was Valentine’s Day. ****!’” Jon Stewarts’s February 15th episode covered congressional insider trading, black history month, and the STOCK Act.
According to one of Stewart’s news clips, laws on insider trading to not apply to members of congress. “Its our systems of checks and balances,” Stewart commented. “They deposit checks and it increases their balances.” The practice is surprisingly common. “Financial Services Committee Chairman, Spencer Bachus, made investments right after closed door briefings on the economy. John Boehner dabbled in insurance stocks during the health care debate; and then, Nancy Pelosi took part in an exclusive VISA ICO while considering legislation on credit cards.” So, congress introduced the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or the STOCK Act. The STOCK Act doesn't actually stop trading on congressional knowledge though. It creates a “political intelligence” industry, where informers must register similar to lobbyists. While imperfect, the bill would generate some level of transparency. Republicans, however, rejected even that. “What does [political intelligence] mean?” was Lieberman’s argument. “What does it mean? You wrote the ******* thing!” Stewart bellowed in response. “Here’s what I think it means, pack your shoots people, no one’s flying this ******* plane.”
In honor of Black History Month, Wyatt Cenac’s report compared slavery to a P.I.T.A. lawsuit. “P.I.T.A., many dismiss the animal rights group because its publicity stunts and gratuitous use of nudity. But, with their latest tactic, they can finally be taken seriously.” P.I.T.A. decided to sue SeaWorld on behalf of its orca whales. They claimed the whales are slaves and need to be freed by the 13th Amendment. Cenac interviewed P.E.T.A.’s Senior VP of Communications, Lisa Lange. “This is a groundbreaking lawsuit. The constitution has never been applied to nonhuman animals. What we want to see for these orcas is, we want to see them released to their freedom.” Activist, Elaine Brown, had a different opinion. “To compare their condition to this incredible condition of slavery in America is beyond insulting. It is a cruel and racist joke.” However, Lange argued, “the 13th amendment doesn’t use the word person, or people, in its language. We’re hoping that a court will see that it can apply to animals.” Then, Cenac found a picture of Lange with her dog, Sophie. “Sophie, is that her real name or her slave name,” he asked. “So orcas are like field niggers, and dogs and cats are the house niggers?” Lange did not respond. Cenac called in his lawyer to act on behalf of the exploited animals in P.I.T.A.’s magazines and posters. Cenac’s lawyer threatened to sue P.I.T.A. on behalf of their animals for back pay in the amount of $50 million. P.I.T.A.’s SeaWorld lawsuit was, ultimately, thrown out.
United States congresswoman, Louise Slaughter, joined Stewart via satellite. Slaughter was the original sponsor of the STOCK Act. “Political intelligence was a part of our original bill, and to me, it’s really the most important part. It’s worth $204 million a year, and it’s totally unregulated,” Slaughter explained. Stewart described the process as “insane.” “We would like to stop congress people from committing an act that, if you’re not in congress, is illegal to commit.” He went on to vent, “these are the people charged with writing laws who are now saying ’well, geez, laws, do they really mean anything?’” Slaughter is pushing for a conference that would put political intelligence back in the bill. Stewart suggested, if you should contact your congressperson, to ask for stock tips while you still can.