According to a recent New York Post editorial, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-California, has disclosed she or her husband pulled in upwards to $30 million last year from trading stocks, about which she has access to nonpublic information directly related to the price of stocks.
She is also reported to be further complicit, by also blocking or “slow-walking” bipartisan efforts to prevent insider trading of individual stocks by members of Congress. So, it is not surprising that Pelosi has amassed an estimated net worth of $40 million to $252 million, while her family has recently invested millions in call options on the big tech companies she oversees through Congress.
Some believe members of Congress should be banned from trading individual stocks while serving. Congress has attempted to regulate this issue and in 2012 passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (or STOCK Act). It allows House and Senate members to buy and sell stocks using privileged information — as long as they reveal their trades within 45 days of execution.
“It’s not a good look for the speaker of the House to simultaneously profit directly from the companies she is supposed to rein in,” a source told the Post. People should not join public service to get rich! Yet, we see that resulting all the time.
Imagine the temptations for the same kind of hypocrisy and possible corruption at the state levels and even at county and city levels — especially where one party dominates most offices and appointed roles — like in California!
Gary Curtis
Newhall