Congress should be most scrutinized for insider-trading laws

Letter to the Editor,

The recent expose’ of insider trading revealed that members of Congress are immune from insider trading laws. I was shocked by this revelation, but not surprised.

I was shocked, because if anyone needs to be barred from insider it is the legislators who make laws that directly affect stock prices.

I was not surprised, however, because it has become apparent that over the years the worst examples of our society in terms of integrity and moral character seem to wind up in Congress.

We see one scandal after another emerge among our “esteemed” Congressional members.

Nefarious conduct has become almost synonymous with the job. Now that this latest cozy arrangement has been revealed, a bill to make members of Congress subject to the same laws as the rest of us has found numerous co-sponsors and will probably become law.

If it does not, public outrage will doubtless cause the popularity of our Congress to sink even lower than it is.

We, the people, are of course responsible for putting these people of low character in Congress.

If we hope to resolve this sordid problem, we must vote for candidates not because they promise the most goodies, but because they represent the values we hold most dear.

I get the sense that we are running out of time to fix our broken government.

This upcoming election may well be the last opportunity we have to put our nation back on track.

—Bill Payne

Libby