“It’s the flavor of the month.”
“Another act of self-flagellation.”
“Just another way Congress undermines people’s faith in their legislative body.”
Other
“People a lot smarter than me on current law have testified that members of Congress are already covered today. That may be true, but the perception of many in our country appears to be that we play under a different set of rules. If it’s possible to pass legislation that clarifies the situation for most fair-minded people while not treating people in the congressional branch of our government unfairly, we should—as they say in those Nike commercials—just do it!”
“Unnecessary in reality. Necessary politically.”
Is the STOCK Act a necessary measure to curb insider trading in Congress, or an unnecessary solution in search of a problem?
Republicans (22 votes)
Necessary: 27%
Unnecessary: 73%
Necessary
“It is so blatantly wrong; I think many members thought it was already illegal.”
“Congress should play by the same rules as the average American.”
“More than anything, it helps repair the trust of the public in their government.”
Unnecessary
“Insider trading by members of Congress is already against the law!”
“This is typical Washington. Pass laws to ‘fix’ a created‘problem.’ Insider trading is already illegal. Most of the ‘insider knowledge’ members and staff have access to is published daily in the Hill rags.”
“When will Congress stop making life worse, rather than better, for its members? This is a media-manufactured issue that Congress will go along with because it doesn’t matter. 60 Minutes should be ashamed.”
“Congress is already covered under existing insider-trading laws and rules. It is not a bad bill, just unnecessary.”
“There are laws on the books now for all Americans. Why not enforce them?”
“This is a classic example of Congress outlawing something that is already illegal. Moreover, there isn’t a single shred of evidence to suggest any member of Congress has engaged in insider trading anyway.”
“Isn’t insider trading illegal for any profession?”
“Terrible solution to a narrow problem.”
“Political theater.”
__________
Democratic Congressional Insiders Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Thomas Carper, Christopher A. Coons, Mark Pryor, Tom Udall; Reps. Jason Altmire, Robert Andrews, Tammy Baldwin, Karen Bass, Xavier Becerra, Howard Berman, Lois Capps, Michael Capuano, Dennis Cardoza, James Clyburn, Gerry Connolly, Joseph Crowley, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, Elliot Engel, Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Rush Holt, Mike Honda, Marcy Kaptur, Jim Langevin, John Lewis, Zoe Lofgren, Ed Markey, Jim McGovern, Jim Moran, Gary Peters, Collin Peterson, David Price, Linda Sanchez, Kurt Schrader, Allyson Schwartz, Jose Serrano, Bennie Thompson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Henry Waxman, Peter Welch, and Frederica Wilson.
GOP Congressional Insiders Sens. Johnny Isakson, Richard Lugar, David Vitter; Reps. John Boehner, Charles Boustany, Kevin Brady, John Campbell, Eric Cantor, John Carter, Tom Cole, Mike Conaway, Jeff Denham, David Dreier, Sean Duffy, Jo Ann Emerson, Jeff Flake, Scott Garrett, Bob Goodlatte, Trey Gowdy, Kay Granger, Doc Hastings, Nan Hayworth, Tim Huelskamp, Mike Kelly, Peter King, Jack Kingston, Adam Kinzinger, John Kline, Dan Lungren, Kenny Marchant, Kevin McCarthy, Patrick McHenry, Candice Miller, Sue Myrick, Devin Nunes, Tom Price, Dave Reichert, Reed Ribble, Phil Roe, Paul Ryan, Aaron Schock, David Schweikert, Austin Scott, Adrian Smith, Steve Stivers, Lee Terry, Pat Tiberi, Fred Upton, Daniel Webster, and Joe Wilson.
This article appears in the Feb. 11, 2012, edition of National Journal.
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