During the times of the pandemic when many Americans were pushed to the economic strain, many Congressional lawmakers made fortunes either by trading stocks themselves or helping their family members to do so.
This has prompted a backlash of an average American that lawmakers are more concerned about adding money to their bank accounts rather than caring for the well-being of the country
Politicians are successfully addressing public perception in stock trading
Banning stock trading for Congress lawmakers is surely an ideal situation, and both parties have perfectly managed to measure voters’ sentiments in this regard.
Contrary to some other far-left policies where democratic lawmakers failed to incorporate voted opinion in their campaign message, this time, they are also trying to ban stocks.
The news of Nancy Pelosi’s husband accumulating riches made headlines, and this is what encouraged many Democrats to distance themselves from allowing congress lawmakers to trade stocks.
This continuous backlash has even forced Pelosi to announce that she would support the stock ban if the lawsuit is implemented equally on the judicial branch of the country.
While the judiciary has also been seen in the past hearing cases of companies where their family members had stocks, this sort of intervening in the court’s procedure can create a tussle between Congress and the Supreme Court, where both of them are the important pillars of the American government.
The only goal of both political parties is to attract maximum swing voters. Any measure in which Congress lawmakers surrender their authority is always perceived as a good thing by the voters.
Thus multipole lawmakers have already announced bills that aim to curb lawmakers’ authority to trade stocks.
The point here is simple. The very lawmakers who are allowed to make regulations regarding businesses and companies cannot do their jobs properly if they are allowed to do stock trading in the same company.
This creates a conflict of interest among politicians as they are unlikely to regulate those companies well where they or their family members have stocks.
Joe Manchin: The Biggest Loser of Stock Trading Ban
The good thing is that it is a bipartisan idea, but not all lawmakers are happy about it. Surely it will be a suicide attempt for those lawmakers who have vested interests in stock trading.
One of the major troubled senators for Joe Biden, i.e., Joe Manchin, has called that this measure by the Congress is revenge of Democrats against him, as he did not support the social spending legislation.
Manchin is one of those Democrats who have stocks as a major source of income, and any legislation would push him into absolute chaos.
Currently, different sorts of bills are circulating in Congress to control stock trading for lawmakers. While some of them are more sweeping than others, the major parallel thing in all of them is that it will not be good news for many private companies.
Now corporations can face increased scrutiny because lawmakers can do their work more honestly. Many people used to buy stocks that politicians were buying, considering it as a signal that these politicians know the ins and outs of the stock trading market.
Thus these sorts of stock traders will also face the brunt of the consequences once a stock trade ban is implemented.
Although Congress barred the lawmakers from doing stock trading in 2012 using the stock act, however, it had too many loopholes.
Who can know these loopholes better than the politicians themselves who write these very laws? Thus these laws were widely exploited to make money, all by avoiding breaking the law.
Final Thoughts
By disallowing lawmakers to trade in stocks, the unfair advantage that these people had while trading would be eliminated.
Now is the time that both parties act immediately to pass a bill so that it can become a law. Although many bills are currently present in Congress, bipartisan lawmakers can debate about building a consensus on one bill or about crafting an all-inclusive bill altogether.
This will help power brokers of Congress in fast-pacing the process that has been awaited by the masses.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.