Cassidy, Kennedy strangely silent on two bills restricting trading by members of Congress; passage prospects dim
I have consistently written here that Congress long ago lost touch with the average Americans as its decisions are heavily influenced by money – money from corporate lobbyists, many of whom are themselves former members of Congress.
The 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United decision literally opened up the gusher flow of cash into political campaigns, obliterating any chance the average citizen had to be heard in the halls of Congress.
A prime example of the death of even the pretense of representation would be the story of former U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin of the metropolis of Chackbay in Lafourche Parish.
Tauzin, first elected in 1980 as a Democrat, suddenly switched to Republican in 1995. He retired from the House at the end of his 12th term in January 2005. Before doing so, however, he pushed through Congress as he headed for the door a provision that prohibited the federal government from importing cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and elsewhere or from negotiating the price of prescription drugs for Medicare/Medicaid patients – a gift for the pharmaceutical industry that was not removed until this year.
The very day after his retirement, he began work for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) at $2 million per year.
As I write this, a bill that was initially ballyhooed as a sweeping ban on members of Congress, their families and staff members from TRADING STOCK while Congress is in session is currently dying a quiet death and one of the most active traders shoulders most of the blame.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, insisted for a month that the House would pass the bill but now the prospects look increasingly unlikely.
It’s long been a sticking point that members of Congress have access to inside information that allows them to interpret the nuances of the stock market in advance and to act accordingly with their trading.
Take our own senior senator, Dr. Bill Cassidy, for example. His wife sold CVS Health stock while the company was being targeted in a bipartisan INVESTIGATION into surprise medical billing. Cassidy, as a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, was in a unique position to anticipate fluctuations of CVS stock.
Pelosi has drawn scrutiny for years over her husband’s TRADING ACTIVITY, much of it suspiciously timely, considering the insider information readily available to the Speaker.
The bill in question is SENATE BILL 3631 by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts). Many of the more popular bills may have up to 200 – or more – co-sponsors, because everyone wants the folks back home to know he/she was in on the legislation. Warren’s bill, however, has only five co-sponsors – three Republicans and two Democrats – which is a pretty good barometer of its chances of passage (It’s given a 2 percent chance of becoming law).
Three of the co-sponsors, Warren, Sens. Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia), are members of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and the Finance Committees and a fourth, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), is a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
But here’s the kicker. Cassidy is a member of the Finance Committee and Sen. John N. Kennedy is a member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. You’d think they would jump on board, but neither has seen fit to sign on as a co-sponsor.
There’s another bill pending before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs that will be interesting to watch.
S.B. 3990, by Sen. Jack Reed (R-Rhode Island) would ban insider trading outright by members of Congress. Kennedy is a member of that committee, so it will be interesting to track his vote on the bill.
Reed’s bill has exactly one co-sponsor, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) which, I suppose, makes it a bipartisan bill but something of a lonely one considering the yawning absence of more co-sponsors.
Here’s another interesting fact about Congress. The 25 RICHEST MEMBERS range from the $20.7 million of South Carolina Republican Ralph Norman to the eye-popping $200 million of Florida Republican Rick Scott. In between the two extremes are Pelosi at $46 million and Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah transplant Republican, at $85.3 million.
And it’s worth mentioning that the 25 richest members of Congress were almost evenly divided by party: 13 Republicans and 12 Democrats, yet another indication that our elected officials, no matter their party affiliation, no longer answer to us. They have their ear trained on those who keep the dollars flowing into campaign coffers.
I won’t speculate how Scott amassed his fortune other than to point out that he once was CEO of Columbia/HCA that came under investigation for MEDICARE FRAUD. In his 2000 deposition, Scott invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 75 times and the company eventually reached a settlement with the Justice Department of $1.7 billion.
But on reflection, it’s probably fair to ask why John Neely Kennedy needs nearly $28.3 MILLION in his campaign fund to run for re-election in Louisiana.
Why, indeed, would anyone need that much cash to run a campaign in Louisiana?
For that matter, it seems pretty obvious why Warren’s and Reed’s bills may be dead on arrival. After all, why would members of Congress want to kill their personal golden goose?