The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and the Democratic Representative from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, held a news conference on June 16, 2021.
Pelosi rejected the idea of banning congress members from owning stock.
It should be banned because members have access to sensitive information.
Insider has found that 52 members of congress and 182 senior staffers have violated the STOCK Act.
The ban on members of Congress from trading and holding individual stock while in office was rejected by Pelosi.
When members have access to sensitive information and write major policy, trading individual stock while in office is not appropriate.
The AOC's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted a message on December 18.
Insider's "Conflicted Congress" investigation identified the ways members of the US House and Senate have undermined their own ethical standards, skirted consequences, and blinded Americans to the many moments when lawmakers' personal finances clash with.
The investigation showed that many members of Congress invest in fossil fuel companies and other corporations with questionable environmental records, and that many of them personally pour their money into at least one of them.
thrift savings plans or index funds are other ways in which members can still invest without running into conflicts of interest. Several members of Congress have promoted "blind trusts" as a way to avoid ethical quandaries, while co-sponsored a bill to ban the practice.
The New York lawmaker wrote that they will vote against increasing pay for members and staffers alike in the name of fiscal responsibility only to "compensate by engaging in this highly questionable trading."
She said that it incentives bad behavior.
The AOC's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted a message on December 18.
The job of Congress comes with unique burdens, as evidenced by the fact that both senators and House members make at least $174,000 per year.
She wrote that many don't know it requires paying 2 rents. She said that members of congress are trading stock to make up for not being paid enough to do the job.
The AOC's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted a message on December 18.
That same logic applies to high-level congressional staffers who are often given the same information as their bosses. Insider looked at the issue of inadequate pay for congressional staffers and how many are forced into taking second jobs to make up for it.
Insider's five-month investigation found that dozens of congress members have violated the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge" (STOCK) Act, which requires timely disclosure.
At least 182 senior congressional staffers were found to have violated that law. Insider identified 2 more Democrats in Congress who have failed to comply with the STOCK Act.
It can't be a perk of the job.
Speaker Pelosi at her weekly news conference.
Pelosi was asked by Insider if she would support banning members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stock while in Congress.
We are a free-market economy. She rejected the idea that they should be able to participate. She said she had not heard of the investigation.
Paul Pelosi trades a lot of stocks. Pelosi is among the wealthiest members of Congress because of her husband's assets, according to an Insider analysis.
The speaker doesn't own any stocks, according to his spokesman. The transactions are marked "SP" for spouse, as you can see from the required disclosures. The speaker has no prior knowledge or involvement in any transactions.
Pelosi's remarks caught the ire of several members of her own caucus. Andy Kim said that he disagreed with the speaker and that he needed to show that he was serving the people. It cannot be a perk of the job for Members to trade on access to information.
The congressman from New York said that members holding stock fuels corporate interests in congress.
December 16, 2021.
The American people should not have to guess whether or not an elected official is moving an issue or voting on a bill based on what's good for the country, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Business Insider has an original article.
