One of the few good bills that got passed in April – with bipartisan support has a major flaw. For some reason, Eric Cantor and his Republican flock decided to “unintentionally” move the requirements that the bill also apply to spouse and children, to another section. This “unintentional” move legally excludes spouses and children of Congressional members from having to report insider trades they make.
The purpose of this bill was to prevent members of Congress and their family and staff from purchasing stock based on inside information – such as upcoming legislation that may affect stock prices of certain companies. Up until now, members of Congress could sit on a committee and make decisions that will affect a company or industry, and rush out and buy or sell that stock before the actual bill gets passed or denied – knowing in advance how it would be voted. This is the same reason Martha Stuart ended up in jail.
Several members of Congress, including Nancy Pelosi, have been accused of this practice. Up until July 3, 2012 it was perfectly legal – for Congress – not the public – to do this.
Which brings us to Eric Cantor’s sneaky little move. If CNN had not brought this legal loophole to light, Cantor’s wife and spouses and children of Congressional members could transact these insider trades just like before the bill. Cantor got caught… so is claiming it was an “unintentional” mistake. The question remains, why did he move spouses and children out of the Senate bill’s legally worded section and move it to a completely different section in the back of the bill where they would legally be excluded from the bill before presenting it to the House?
This move just underscores the self serving corruption that has been going on for a long time in our government. There was no reason to mess with the Senate passed version of the Insider Trading Bill. But Cantor and his people saw a loophole and grabbed it. They got caught and now it was just an “unintentional” mistake. Does not sound so unintentional to me. If you left it as it was, I would not be writing this.
Shame on our government for not being able to govern even themselves. Get elected, get rich, is the mantra these days. Serve your country, serve the people, has been withering away for years. Shame on them, shame on us for not holding them accountable.
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