Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pat mudge who wrote (7563)	11/26/2000 4:26:25 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10042

Pat, since I've benefited from your posts on JDSU and NT and since you asked me so nicely, I'd like to accommodate your request but I'm not sure what I can contribute. I had heard a discussion on TV of the charges in Seminole County but I was not aware of the issue with the judge. This dueling election hanky-panky is way too detailed and arcane for me to deal with, but I can offer some comments on the following: one legal expert said whether Nelson knew what her campaign worker had done is irrelevant under an ethics system in which public perception of a conflict of interest can matter more than actual conflict. As a public servant, I am well aware of the extraordinary measures required to avoid an appearance of a conflict of interest and how seriously they're taken. For example, I went to work for the SEC one October a long time ago, one of those infamous Octobers when the market went kerplunk. Once I was on board, I found out that ethics regs did not allow me to own stock in a broker dealer even though my job had absolutely nothing to do with their regulation. Between the time I went to work and the time I had to sell my stock, well, it cost me dearly. In addition, employees were not allowed to invest in any mutual funds, even money market funds. Now I ask you, what possible conflict could there be in a money market fund? I give you this anecdote only to convey how extreme, some might say absurd, the ethics requirements can be to avoid even the most remote appearance of a conflict. So the comments from the experts advocating her recusal aren't off the wall. Karen