One Way Politicians Can Start to Regain Voter’s Trust

Quick, name some national politicians you trust. What’s that you say? You’re struggling to think of any trustworthy politicians in Washington? You are not alone.

Pew Research reports 80% of us say we do not trust the federal government to do what’s right “always or most of the time.” And 81% of us think members of Congress act unethically “all or some of the time.”

I came to realize one way Congress could polish up their tarnished reputations after reading an editorial in the New Republic. Simply put, members of the U.S. Congress should stop playing the stock market. That’s right, either get out of the market all together or set up tamper proof blind trusts.

Through their committee assignments members of Congress are exposed to mountains of insider knowledge, classified documents and secret information gleaned while questioning expert witnesses, sometimes behind closed doors.

Photo from: wallpapercave.com
Think How Much Can Be Made With Insider Knowledge!

Even though there is a law to guard against member’s illegal insider trading – it’s called the STOCK Act, short for “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012” – dubious, perhaps criminal, investing still occurs.

How can that be? Because members can simply claim they made questionable stock trades on “publicly available information” and not on information they got during classified briefings. It is mighty tough to prove the lawmaker is lying.

The STOCK Act requires members to post all their family’s stock market transactions but Senator Dianne Feinstein (D.-Ca) recently failed to properly disclose a $50,000 stock purchase made by her husband. This wasn’t the first time Feinstein was in the hot seat about fortuitous family stock transactions, one of which reportedly involved as much as $6 million worth of biotechnology stock dumped right before the pandemic-driven market crash. The FBI investigated the Senator, but no charges were filed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) followed the law and recently disclosed that her investor husband bought up to $1 million in Tesla stock just weeks before President Biden announced he intends to replace the entire government fleet with electric cars. The eyebrow raising transaction gives Speaker Pelosi an obvious a financial interest in Tesla at a time when she will play a lead role in passing green initiatives that will surely help the electric car maker. Mr. Pelosi also bought options on Apple stock worth up to $500,000 at a time when Congress is talking about tough restrictions on Big Tech. But Speaker Pelosi reported all this, so everything is hunky-dory.

photo from MTC.ca.gov
Spouses of Feinstein and Pelosi Suspected of Insider Trading – No Charges Filed

To be clear, this is not just a Democrat problem. Besides Feinstein the FBI also investigated suspicions of insider trading against three Republican Senators, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Richard Burr of North Carolina. The Loeffler and Inhofe investigations were quickly dropped. Not so with Senator Burr, Chairman of the powerful Intelligence Committee.

At a time last February when Senator Burr was getting classified Covid-19 briefings which warned of economic catastrophe he sold stocks worth as much as $1.7 million. The FBI investigated but ultimately could not disprove Burr’s contention that he traded only on information he gathered from public sources.

It is widely believed that Senator David Purdue (R-Ga.) lost his recent re-election bid due, in part, to charges of insider trading. The FBI and SEC investigated a series of suspicious and highly lucrative stock trades in Perdue’s accounts. The Senator insisted brokers made the transactions without his knowledge. The investigations were ultimately dropped.

See a trend here?

When members of Congress make laws that govern the behavior of members of Congress you can bet those laws will have built in loopholes. Adherence to the true spirit of the STOCK Act would be a great first step for members who want to earn back public trust.

Creative Commons photo credit: Creator: Eric Haynes 
Copyright: Eric Haynes
Congress Makes No Ironclad Laws Controlling Members of Congress Behavior

They could also concentrate helping Americans who want COVID-19 vaccinations and those suffering from the pandemic’s profound economic fallout. They could make sure all schools and universities open, come to a bipartisan immigration policy and create an equitable energy strategy that doesn’t cost thousands of Americans their jobs. Oh, and they could stop the blistering partisan attacks and work on that unity thing.

The list of what politicians could do goes on and on. The question is: will they stop fighting long enough to repair their reputations and help Americans during this trying time?

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25 Comments

  1. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:02 am

    Peny F writes:

    It should have never been allowed to begin with. Also they need to be graded by the people they are supposed to “lead” and their wages need to match approval. If we don’t get paid they shouldn’t either. It is US the middle class that carries this country and we have been spit on for far too long. I’m actually not surprised people stormed the capital. I am surprised it too this long.

  2. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:02 am

    Anchio writes:
    While in office, senators and congressmen their families should be barred from trading in the stock markets to avoid any questions of insider trading.

  3. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:03 am

    Jerome Welch writes:
    They rub it right in our face! The entire Congress and US House of representatives in my opinion they’re all inside traders. under some definition of that meaning they’re all gaming the market on us! if the integrity of elections is in question then politicians need to reassure our beliefs in a system where we can have a fair and honest election otherwise politicians don’t care because otherwise they’re somehow controlling the” vote” . In the future how will anybody know anything if everything is under the scrutiny of fake news it will really become as difficult as it is to parse science from politics within the climate debate! Let’s all join the sense making revolution shall we! Peace

  4. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:03 am

    dkitchell writes:
    Paragraph 7. Herein lies the problem.
    “ The FBI investigated the senator, but no charges were filed.”

  5. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:03 am

    oropesd writes:

    No way!
    Politicians are just smooth speakers who will say anything to get your vote, then once they get in do anything they want.
    Both Democrats and Republicans put this show on at DC just to keep the American people separated. The tactics are used to keep the sides against each other while behind the scenes, they steal us blind.
    Don’t just look at the surface. Look deep into the repercussions of the politician actions and the damage they cause.

  6. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:03 am

    caclegal writes:

    The answer to your last question is a resounding NO! You see, the politicians do not at all care what the American people think of them. The only reputation they worry about is their reputation among others of their ilk and their major donors.
    They absolutely could not care less about American and it’s citizens as long as their $$$$$ keep rolling in.

    • Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:04 am

      vickerydavid replies to caclegal

      The author has a good point and it would certainly help. However, as long as the politicians have control of, or any kind of influence over the Justice department and the Judicial branch, we will never be able to trust them. And yes they do have that kind of control—Obviously!

  7. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:04 am

    highlndr writes:
    They need to agree on TERM LIMITS!!!

    • Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:04 am

      Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot replies to highlndr:
      down
      Yeah right, and who is going to vote on that? A: Congress.

  8. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:05 am

    lackeysmassagetherapy writes:

    If 81% think politicians are unethical why do 81% keep voting in these SOB’s!

  9. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:05 am

    toby Wilson writes:

    Politicians have shielded themselves from any accountability. Just look at Hillary Clinton.

  10. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:05 am

    jimpoulos writes:

    They can regain our trust by resigning enmass and putting strict terms limits and lobbying restrictions in place. Get a real job you rat ba$tards.

  11. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:06 am

    john quinn writes:

    Just tell the damn TRUTH !
    It ain’t rocket science!!

  12. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:13 am

    Mjrdm writes:
    Yeah right. The stock market is the most critical thing these politicians can do to regain trust. After all the 2020 election debacle was just a “one off” to get rid of Donald Trump Now that a demented old white guy has been installed as president the Stock Market abuses have to be fixed RIGHT NOW!! We have just had our votes rendered meaningless in a National Election but the Stock Market abuses must be stopped now

  13. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:13 am

    gregstocks2005 writes:

    Although this certainly needs done. And of course there is no wide spread proof of fraud other than policy influence…..sorry, there is no way for THESE politicians to regain the trust of American people and they know it! So they will continue to rob the United States until the people put a stop to it.

  14. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:14 am

    Teri Goodenough writes:
    So why aren’t Pelosi and her husband in prison for insider trading???

  15. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:14 am

    Peny F writes:

    No wonder they don’t give 2 shits about us American citizens. They are only looking out for their investments and not what the citizens best interests. This is beyond infuriating and disgusting

  16. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:14 am

    Scott Channell writes:
    No intelligent person would ever “trust” a politician….. nor should we ever be expected to. We just want them to do their dang job, within the scope of their dang job, and within the confines of the Law and Constitution…… and we want them to do this with oversight, not with blind “trust”

  17. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:15 am

    Susan Bustinza writes:

    I don’t hate politicians because they have inside information into the stock market. I think anyone, if they were honest, would do the same thing.

    To me that’s a perk of the job.

    What I hate is when a politician commits a crime, a serious crime, like Hillary and her email crapola, nothing happens. They have this big C-Span drama, investigate, do a bunch of interviews, look smart for the camera, then nothing happens. No one goes to jail.
    But if it were you or I, we would be packed away in Sing Sing’s basement and never heard from again

  18. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:15 am

    3 Hour Tour writes:

    “Axing” US Congress to give up insider trading as part of the Congressional Gravy Train to self-enrichment is about as likely as them introducing and then actually passing a term limit measure.

  19. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 10:16 am

    Dude writes:

    The one and only thing is politicians can due is to create a trustworthy voting system. Anything else is just mute.

  20. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 12:01 pm

    Jonathan Swartz writes:

    I would say yes. Regardless of what side of the aisle you’re on, insider trading and illegal trading for one’s own personal gain should be, and these politicians should be treated as equally as the general public. Everyone should pay the price for their own misdeeds, and another excellent article Diane, and another reminder why I’ve enjoyed your writings/broadcasts for the past 30 years or so.

  21. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 1:54 pm

    Mark Simmermon writes:

    Absolutely! It is their responsibility and expected duties to not share any confidential information with anyone! If proven then should by all means be held accountable!

  22. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 1:57 pm

    pattip1956b writes:

    They go to jail and lose their seat in Congress as well as the right to hold any position in government. The end.

  23. Diane Dimond on February 22, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    James Reinhardt writes:

    The law is for thee … but not for me

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