• FoolishAchilles@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      Right? It’s some grade-A sleeze. It’s no surprise that US politics is motivated by two things: money and power.

    • stopdropandprole@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      … there’s some limitations but nobody enforces penalties and the consequences are pathetically small:

      Members of Congress are allowed to buy and sell stocks, but lawmakers, their spouses and dependents must publicly disclose any transactions over $1,000 within 30 days or within 45 days of receiving notice of the transaction if it has been made on their behalf, under the 2012 STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act), which also banned insider trading. Members do not need to report the value of their transactions but must provide a broad numerical range in the periodic transaction reports (PTRs).

      If a Congress member discloses their trade after the deadline, they must pay a fine of at least $200 or apply for a waiver to appeal the penalty. Repeat offenders can face increasingly higher fines. The House and Senate ethics committees enforce these fines.

      “The fact that lawmakers routinely violate the STOCK Act without consequence is a clear demonstration of why stronger legislation is needed to curb congressional stock trading,”