Pelosi shifts stance on banning lawmakers from trading individual stocks
Washington PostSep 09, 2021
Pelosi Warms to Congressional Stock Trading Ban
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Image copyright:Â AFP via Getty Images [via Newsweek]
The Facts
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) shifted her public position on banning lawmakers and their spouses from owning or trading stocks on Wednesday.
She said she's "a big believer in our committees" and that a number of Democrats were working on proposals to amend the 2012 STOCK Act.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Members of Congress have great power to shift stock prices, and massive financial incentives to do so. Allowing lawmakers to trade on these stocks is out-dated and must be outlawed for this conflict of interest to stop.
Democratic narrative
Not only is Pelosi flip-flopping on something she's long opposed, she's using an already popular initiative to try and get a win for the Democrats ahead of the upcoming midterms.
Cynical narrative
In Pelosi's aims to expand the legislation to the judiciary and other branches of government, she is cynically attempting to create a behemoth of the issue so that it remains in discussion stage and never gets tackled.
