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Pelosi opposes idea that members of Congress should be banned from owning stocks and we know why!

December 16, 2021 | | Print Article

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi has resoundingly rejected the suggestion that members of Congress should be banned from owning stocks in the aftermath of a report that dozens of lawmakers and their staffers were in violation of reporting requirements specified by a law passed to prevent insider trading by government employees.

The Business Insider investigation found that 49 legislators, as well as staffers, neglected to report their trading activity as outlined in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 aka the STOCK Act, a law signed by then-President Barack Obama which passed the House with nearly unanimous support.

During a Wednesday press conference, Pelosi who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress was put on the spot over the report, responding that while she is aware of the law’s requirements, that any such ban is off the table because it is a “free market economy” that lawmakers had every right to participate in.

“Madame Speaker, Insider just completed a five-month investigation finding that 49 members of Congress and 182 senior congressional staffers have violated the STOCK Act, the insider trading law, I’m wondering if you have any reaction to that?” the reporter asked. “And, secondly, should members of Congress have their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while serving in Congress?”

Pelosi responded, “No, I don’t… no to the second one, any… we have a responsibility to report in the stock… on the stock but I don’t… I’m not familiar with that five-month review, but if people aren’t reporting, they should be.”

The reporter followed up, “Why shouldn’t they be banned?”

Pelosi replied, “Because this is a free market and people — we’re a free-market economy, they should be able to participate in that.”

Madame Speaker’s rejection of such an idea could be expected considering that her husband Paul Pelosi’s record at picking winning stocks has resulted in riches for the couple to the extent that retail traders are basing their own picks on his activity.

According to a recent report by Yahoo Finance, many are watching Pelosi’s picks very closely including the co-founder of Iris, an investing app that allows users to follow friends, professional investors, and influencers’ portfolios in real-time.

“We’ve been tracking their performance and every single stock she has bought in the last two years has gone up significantly,” said Christopher Josephs, the app’s co-founder.

“The reason why Speaker Pelosi became so popular was because every trade she was making inevitably turned out to be such a long-term winner,” Josephs added.

Paul Pelosi recently drew scrutiny over buying millions of dollars in tech stocks as, in the weeks before the House Judiciary Committee’s vote on antitrust legislation, Pelosi vehemently denied that she was aware of the investments.

Pelosi’s miraculous investing record had drawn so much attention that a popular Twitter account, “Nancy Pelosi Portfolio Tracker,” was suspended this month shortly after new CEO Parag Agrawal took the helm for the San Francisco-based tech giant.

Twitter users reacted to Pelosi’s remarks.

Pelosi’s dismissiveness toward very legitimate concerns that Congress is benefitting from insider trading only serves to fortify the image that she is an elitist with a “let them eat cake” attitude.

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Chris Donaldson
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