Should sitting Congressman have their ability to trade stock curbed?

1. 79

   Credence2posted 4 years ago

   "Former presidential candidate and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker says that senators shouldn’t be allowed to own individual stocks after news that Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) sold stock holdings ahead of the COVID-19 market crash. What’s more, it’s alleged both senators made their stock moves after receiving intelligence briefings about the coronavirus outbreak."
   
   https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics … r-BB11tPCK
   
   ------------------
   
   Just another example of how the "playing field" needs to be leveled. How much insider information and other wise prior knowledge not available to the general public do our elected members of Congress use to enrich themselves at our expense?
   
   I, like Liz Warren, wanted to see much more of this free wheeling influence peddling and unfair advantage hamstrung from ALL corners.
   
   But the resistance of those who benefit from inequity is always going to be furious, as who is going to willingly give up their advantages, unfair, unethical or not?
   
   That is at the heart of it for many aspects of life in our society, outside of my problem with Congressmen lining their pockets instead of doing what they were sent to Washington to do.
   
   Just venting on a Sunday morning, your opinion, please.

   replyreport
   1. 0

      promisemposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. Likewise Presidents who make big trades right before major announcements to the public that impact the stock market.
      
      And their children should be subject to insider trading laws.

      replyreport
      1. 79

         Credence2posted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, indeed, just like we need to curb the influence of lobbyists and "big money" in Washington. But who has the courage to do it?

         replyreport
   2. 78

      Eastwardposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I do think they should have their trading ability curbed. Does anyone really believe we can trust the politicians to make unbiased decisions on companies and industries they are invested in? I sure don't.

      replyreport
2. 90

   IslandBitesposted 4 years ago

   James Inhofe (R-Okla.)) and Dianne Feinstein (Dem-Calif.) too.
   
   These are their answers:
   
   Inhofe sold at least $180,000 in stocks on Jan. 27, days after the Senate’s coronavirus briefing, according to Senate records. Inhofe also sold at least $50,000 in stock in an asset management company on Feb. 20, four days before the stock market crashed.
   
   Inhofe said in a statement Friday that he did not attend the Senate coronavirus briefing on Jan. 24, and instead met with children from Oklahoma who were in Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life and with the nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Tanzania.
   
   Inhofe added that he does not "have any involvement in my investment decisions" and instructed his financial adviser in December 2018 to begin selling all of his stock holdings two months after he was elected chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
   
   "I instructed my financial advisor to move me out of all stocks and into mutual funds to avoid any appearance of controversy. My advisor has been doing so faithfully since that time and I am not aware of or consulted about any transactions," Inhofe said.
   
   ---
   
   Feinstein, one the longest-tenured Senate Democrats, sold at least $500,000 in shares of Allogene Therapeutics, a California biotechnology company, on Jan. 31 and at least $1 million in Allogene stock on Feb. 18, according to Senate records.
   
   
   A spokesman for Feinstein told The New York Times that she had nothing to do with the decisions to sell her stocks.
   
   “All of Senator Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust,” Tom Mentzer said in a statement. “She has no involvement in her husband’s financial decisions.”
   
   “During my Senate career I’ve held all assets in a blind trust of which I have no control,” Feinstein tweeted. “Reports that I sold any assets are incorrect,” said Feinstein.
   
   Feinstein said her husband sold shares in a cancer therapy company that “is unrelated to any work on the coronavirus and the sale was unrelated to the situation.”

   replyreport
   1. 79

      Credence2posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, IB, I certain do not want to give the impression that this is a scourge limited to Republicans only.
      
      It is a problem with all of Congress. But, I will just bet you that Republicans are going to be more resistant with needed changes and remedies and that increases the weight of their responsibility as to why these practices are not addressed.

      replyreport
   2. 89

      GA Andersonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Speaking only from your provided information, and accepting those statements to be truthful, I don't see a problem with either's actions.
      
      But . . . Inhofe's claim that he didn't attend the Congressional briefing—inferring that he was unaware of the information in the briefing, is a bit more of a stretch than I think probable. It causes me to wonder why he felt the need to imply a lack of knowledge.
      
      GA

      replyreport
3. 60

   Live to Learnposted 4 years ago

   Common decency would call that all 4 Congress people identified immediately resign. And any more identified should do likewise. Those who claim blind  trust my butt. They have insider info, they share it, and decisions are made. They may not have made the decisions but they influenced them.

   replyreport
   1. 79

      Credence2posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I concur with your stance on this...

      replyreport