1y ago

46 members of Congress have violated a conflicts-of-interest law

www.rawstory.com

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The standard fine for violating the STOCK Act is $200, but frequently the House Committee on Ethics and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics waive the fee.
Craig Holman, a Capitol Hill lobbyist on ethics and campaign finance rules for nonprofit Public Citizen, said the fee is one of two reasons why the STOCK Act is frequently violated.
“The penalty is so minimal that these millionaire members of Congress really don't care about it," Holman told Raw Story. “The second provision is the ethics committees are not really enforcing it or taking it seriously.”
So basically this "law" is just a suggestion.
- So the penalty for insider trading is $200. That's just a Pay to Play fee for illegal market trading. Let's put some jailtime on that act, FFS.
  
  The standard fine for violating the STOCK Act is $200, but frequently the House Committee on Ethics and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics waive the fee.
  The penalty is $200, but only if they feel like paying it.
- The cost of doing business.
  Income-based fines should really be more commonplace.
Fun fact: NASA employees are unable to even talk with congressional representatives about proposed scientific missions because it is considered a “conflict of interest”. Let that sink in. Meanwhile…
It's not like anything is going to happen. Laws are more like guidelines for them.
- Surely they will enact legislature to put a stop to... Checks notes... Themselves
  
  Must be another one of those checks and balances I keep hearing about
identified as having violated the STOCK Act during 2023-2024
To be specific, these are people who didn’t file required financial disclosures on time during those years.
If a congressman committed insider trading, but filed disclosure and paperwork on time, they wouldn’t be counted here
Only 46?
- Those were just the ones that were lazy enough to not bother hiding it
pretty much just amounts to a congressional "swear jar"
Just because I was curious: I counted 23 R, 22 D, 1 I. That might be off by one or two but I was surprised (well maybe not really) how evenly split it was
- Its a one party system in a two party costume.
Of course fucking Sarbanes is on the list
- As someone who's done a ton of work getting companies to be SOX compliant I have a fresh new hatred for our system of government. I get a new one just about every day at this point.
  
  I only did that for a decade before switching to a cash basis field. It was so good for my sanity.
Maybe time to invest in that NANC ETF...
Didn't Martha go to jail for inside trading?
- Wasn’t it just house arrest? Idk that feels like a lifetime ago
  
  5 months in federal correctional facility.

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