NOTE: This post is part of an ongoing education series. This information is for educational purposes only. This information does not constitute investment advice. No rational person would make investment decisions based on a blog post. Please consult with your financial advisor before taking any action. If you wish to have specific advice for your situation please contact Polaris Financial Planning. In April I did a post about a new law that was designed to stop insider trading....
While insider trading is already illegal, there’s some question as to whether current laws that focus on Wall Street apply to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers and staff are encouraged to discuss pending legislation with firms that might be impacted.
Of course they apply. Even if they did not it would be immoral and unethical to use this information for personal prophet. All elected officials should put their funds in a blind trust or at least index funds.
I was stunned that they even had to vote on a law to make something illegal that is already illegal. There are strong and well established laws on insider trading. Some people just thought that they did not apply to lawmakers. So, they passed a law to take away some special privilege that allowed them to do something that is illegal for everyone else. Now I see this news...
[a] 14-page memo notifies House members and aides covered by the law that their spouses and children aren't covered.
Are you f-in kidding me. So a member of the house can have special knowledge give it to their spouse or kids and they can go make a fortune. This is why people don't trust politicians. If they (or their family, or friends, or anyone they give information to...) use this inside information to make trading decisions - they should go to jail!
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, also criticized the House decision not to include congressional spouses and children.
"I think it's wrong, and I think it's unfortunate because the reality is the whole point of this legislation is we should play by the exact same rules as every other American citizen, and when all of America looks at Washington, they know it's broken."
"We're trying to restore just a small measure of confidence through this kind of transparency and accountability," Gillibrand said.
Well, you failed. Now get back in there and fix it.