When I heard a month or so ago that at least one member of the US legislature had profited hugely by selling stocks using “insider information,” I was shocked. These lawmakers are not working for the benefit the people who elected them. Not only are they enriching themselves, but they are making laws on behalf of the corporations they own stock in. No wonder people don’t trust the government.
Whether you identify as Democrat or Republican, left or right, this kind of corruption is the enemy of every one of us.
A new bill, co-sponsored by our Congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, would help correct that situation. HR 7200, nicknamed the TRUST in Congress Act, is subtitled “To require Members of Congress and their spouses and dependent children to place certain assets into blind trusts.” What this bill aims to do is to separate the ability to buy and sell assets from the Congressperson’s direct control. Of course each legislator would be able to choose their own trustee, and no one would be required to, for instance, liquidate their holdings. (After all, who would run for offices, if it meant impoverishing themselves?)
Maybe there are issues that are nearer and dearer to our hearts right now, but wouldn’t it at least be nice to know that our government folks are not simply enriching themselves at our expense.
Rebecca Sue Rayburn
Louisa
This letter was published in The Central Virginian and is reprinted here with the permission of the author.
