Call them ALL out

[ronntaylor]

There is a bill in Congress to make this sort of thing illegal. Relevant now?

There is always a bill to make this sort of thing illegal. And it never passes in its proposed format. The previously mentioned STOCK Act was supposed to do just that. Didn't happen. And again: what did Nancy Pelosi do that was illegal? Even unethical? She didn't sponsor the bills, Republicans did. The bilsl have been around for more than two years. IIRC, introduced in June 2020 by Cornyn in the Senate and McCall (?) in the House: both from Texas where a great deal of the money will wind up. Which means it'll benefit a ton of Republicans in Congress, in the Texas statehouse. Filling up the coffers of Texas businesses and making the current Republican governor look good even though he likes to shun help he gets from the Feds.

Pelosi's husband has been a long-time finance/stock guy. Anyone worth their salt would know about this. And as previously mentioned in this thread (at least three times) by others, his preferred vendor is basically getting a pittance compared to other big businesses that will benefit from passage. Pelosi at least filed the necessary paperwork. If his past non-compliance gets repeated, Rand Paul won't report if he also benefited from this till late next year or early 2024.

Fox is all over this non-story. You want to guess how many stories they have about Rand Paul and his wife's Ivermectin stock gains? (Y'know, the useless COVID "fix" that he kept talking up knowing his wife was invested in stock). Save your time. 0!!!

 

[Pumbaa]

You know what, let's forget I ever posted anything about it. If you all are fine with Congress (and I mean members of BOTH parties) using their inside information to profit, then you get what you deserve

Wait, what? Who here’s fine with it?

 

[SuperMatt]

You all accuse the GOP of living in a bubble, but the left is just as bad.

Feel free to provide some evidence of this.

 

[ronntaylor]

Wait, what? Who here’s fine with it?

Right! This thread, "Call them ALL out" was posted by a non-conservative. Highlighting a Dem. In fact, the Dem in the House. And Democrats and Republicans were assailed. I mentioned Rand Paul and Dianne Feinstein early on. But it's typical what about-ism nonsense sprouted. Typical I'm no longer participating whining. Typical I'm taking a break BS.

 

[SuperMatt]

Now that the bomb-throwing is over, we could discuss the current rules on stock trading vs what could be done.

It seems like the STOCKS act is good in the sense that it makes Congressional members’ trades public. However, it doesn’t seem to have any enforcement measure. Multiple members have broken the rules, and I’ve yet to see one punished.

I read a bit about the proposed “Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 2022”, introduced in February. It would ban members from owning various types of securities. There are some exceptions. It seems, practically, that if you win a seat, you have 180 days to divest yourself of your stocks, into a diversified fund of some kind. And you get 5 years to do it if you have a hedge fund…

I could imagine this might have some tax implications for people that have to sell a bunch of stock if they win office, but that seems a small price to pay compared to the benefits one gains from being in Congress.

Also, this bill has an actual penalty of $50,000 per infraction.

If a member’s spouse is an active stock trader, it seems like this bill would require the spouse to find another line of work.

Text - H.R.6678 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 2022

Text for H.R.6678 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 2022

www.congress.gov

Elizabeth Warren’s statement:

Senators Warren, Daines Introduce New Bipartisan Bill To Ban Members of Congress from Owning and Trading Stocks | U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

The Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

www.warren.senate.gov

 

[SuperMatt]

A former Republican member of Congress was arrested for insider trading.

An ex-U.S. congressman from Indiana is among 9 people charged in insider trading

Stephen Buyer, a Republican representative from 1993 to 2011, was accused in court papers of engaging in insider trading during the $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.

www.npr.org

Funny how Fox News doesn’t have a story about this. A week ago, they seemed quite concerned about insider trading by members of Congress. What changed?