Members of Congress shouldn’t trade stocks

Violators can fetch a fine, but it’s typically only $200. Congress needs to do better, and there are proposals now to ban federal lawmakers from trading individual stocks. That’s a good idea. It wouldn’t prevent them from having assets in blind trusts, for example. Some members of Congress already do that. What we know for sure is that many members of Congress have access to valuable non-public information that they could use to their own advantage, and what’s in place now to make them be transparent about that isn’t working.

Here’s just a dozen examples of violations from the Business Insider report:

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado) was months late in 2020, up to more than a year late, in disclosing five separate stock trades for himself or his wife that together were worth between $565,000 and $1.3 million. That same year Hickenlooper failed to disclose purchases of varying classes of stock by his wife valued between $516,000-$1.2 million. He also was late in reporting that his wife sold between $130,000-$300,000 worth of stock in Liberty Media Corporation and Liberty Broadband Corporation this year.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) was months late disclosing dozens of stock trades in 2021 that together were worth as much as $17.53 million. Fallon was late again in December disclosing stock trades.

Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nevada) failed to properly disclose more than 200 stock trades between early 2020 and mid-2021 that were worth as much as $3.3 million all together.

Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tennessee) failed to properly disclose more than 700 stock trades that together were worth as much as $10.9 million.

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-North Carolina) and her husband were late – sometimes by months – disclosing several dozen stock trades made in 2021 that together were worth up to $1.25 million

Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Florida) was weeks late reporting a health care company stock share exchange valued between $250,000-$500,000.

Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Washington) was more than two months late disclosing that her husband purchased up to $1 million in Apple Inc. stock.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) was several days late reporting a purchase last August of up to $100,000 in bitcoin.

Rep. David Trone (D-Maryland) was months late reporting several stocks and structured notes that together were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) was about a month late disclosing a sale of Pfizer stock worth up to $50,000.

Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Illinois) was months late in disclosing that she had sold up to $150,000 worth of stocks in March.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida) was late disclosing that he had purchased up to $100,000 in stock in an aerospace company. The president of the company had just testified before a congressional subcommittee on which Mast sits.

These violations did not involve small numbers – nothing that little ol’ $200 fines would stop, anyway.

According to The New York Times, a January poll found that 63 percent of American voters are at least somewhat in favor of banning individual trading among Congressional members with strong backing among Democrats, Republicans and independents.

But it’s not just Congress that needs to be the focus. The Times also reports that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-California) have reintroduced a bill that would tighten reporting requirements on all three branches of government, as well as bar trading of individual stocks by members of Congress, the president, vice president, Supreme Court justices, and top officials with the Federal Reserve.

In September The Wall Street Journal reported that from 2010 to 2018, 131 federal judges “unlawfully ruled in cases involving companies in which they or their families held shares.” And in two-thirds of those cases the judges ruled in favor of the companies, Forbes reports.

The judges aren’t recusing themselves like they’re suppose to do, and as a result hundreds of those lawsuits may be reopened because of the conflicts of interest.

Some version of stock trading ban legislation may come up for votes in Congress before the midterm elections this year. Watch for it. Tell your Representative and Senators what you want them to do about it.

Steve Gillespie is editor of The Daily Press. Email him at editor@paragoulddailypress.com.