Editorial Board
Lawmakers Have No Business Trading Stocks
As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi comes around on the issue, there’s new momentum for a smart reform.
Seeing the light.
Photographer: Pool/Getty Images
After a contentious year, Congress appears to be on the verge of passing bipartisan, commonsense legislation. Even better, the effort in question is popular, prudent and right on the merits.
This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered tepid support for legislation that would bar lawmakers from trading individual stocks. Pelosi has long resisted the reform, saying in December that members should be allowed to participate in the “free-market economy” and that current regulation was enough. With a trading ban getting strong backing from the public, she has evidently seen the light.