(TheConservativenews.org) – Pelosi’s opinion on whether members of Congress and their spouses should be banned from trading stocks while they’re in office is interesting. Speaker Pelosi responded by saying, “We’re a free-market economy. They should be able to participate in that.”
After hearing Nancy Pelosi’s comments on trading stocks, Several News anchors had harsh words for her. They called it “shameful” and said she is elected to represent all Americans as Speaker of the House instead of making personal profit.
MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle criticized Pelosi’s response, “When you’re the CEO of a publicly traded company, there are all sorts of restrictions on what you can do. When you work in an investment bank, when you work as an investor, so many restrictions when it comes to personal investments. But these people, lawmakers, these are policymakers – policies that directly influence the way business is done all over the country – how is this even remotely legal?”
Ruhle said, “This isn’t about free markets. This is about having privileged information and using it to your own personal advantage … Even if you agree that the current laws make sense, that you should be able to buy and sell stock, the penalties are a joke. You can make tens of millions of dollars with privileged information. And what’s going to happen? You’re going to get fined $200!”
CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin also had some harsh words for Pelosi, saying, “This was one of the most disappointing and, maybe to put it even less politely, disgraceful comments in views I have heard espoused on this issue and surprising given Pelosi’s views on many other issues. We have insider trading laws for a reason. CEOs, executives cannot trade. Members of the Federal Reserve now cannot trade.”
Sorkin continued to say, “And yet we are allowing our politicians, who do have access to inside information, they are often briefed regularly about all sorts of things that are about to happen and that they have a meaningful influence on what is about to happen and they are trading, to the extent that politicians should want the public to trust them, this undermines every bit of trust. It goes to every worst expectation of corruption, and it’s not even expectation. It’s real!”
Besides news anchors speaking out against Pelosi’s comments, she has been criticized by other top democrats. Including former director of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub, who served during the Obama administration.
“They should absolutely be banned from trading stocks,” Shaub said. “Let them buy diversified mutual funds. Let them buy government bonds. But bar them from trading stocks for crying out loud.”
One twitter user by the name of Pedro “Vacunado” Rosado said, “Nancy Pelosi is dead wrong. I prefer our elected officials worry about governing the country and not be tempted to influence legislation for their own enrichment.”
