ATLANTA — Did you know members of Congress can actively buy and sell stocks? These are the very people who make laws that can directly affect companies and industries.
To no one’s surprise, members of both parties have done exceedingly well in the markets. But finally, there may be an end to this obvious conflict of interest.
“We have extraordinary access to confidential information, and we shouldn’t be playing the stock market while we’re serving the public,” said Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Ossoff is pushing a bill through Congress and has worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move a stock trading ban for the first time through a major Senate committee.
It’s the kind of restriction already in place for the executive branch.
Presidents of the United States and their immediate families are already banned from trading on the market. Their investments must be placed in a blind trust managed by others.
“We’ve seen for years that there have been people like Nancy Pelosi, her husband Paul Pelosi, who touts himself to be an investor type millionaire guy that does better than Warren Buffett. Well, how does he get that information?” said Ted Jenkin, president of Atlanta-based Exit Stage Left advisors.
“Nobody that’s an elected official at that level should be able to trade in the stock market without a blind trust, in my view,” Jenkin said.
Consider that for everyday Americans, if you’re found guilty of insider trading, you can go to prison.
“The good news is that the public is with us. 90% of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans in Georgia and nationwide agree that members of Congress should be banned from trading stocks.”
Ossoff has been working on this bill for two years.
He said he now has the bipartisan support to finally get the bill heard on the Senate floor.