Dear John,

It’s time to stop war profiteering!

Members of Congress have at least 108 investments in 16 major defense contractors, including all of the top 10 companies by defense revenue.^[1] In fact, at least 47 members of Congress and their spouses own up to $6.7 million worth of defense contractor stocks -- stocks that see massive returns during wartime.

Take Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example.^[2] On February 22, she bought defense and energy stocks. On February 23, she publicly complained about war profiteering. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. There is hardly a more compelling case for the need to ban members of Congress from trading defense industry stocks.

Members of Congress know about military action before everyone else, and they can make a lot of money when they trade on that knowledge.

Lawmakers shouldn’t be allowed to exploit wars to make money in the stock market. There’s only one foolproof way to stop it: Ban members of Congress from trading defense contractor stocks now.

A Business Insider report^[3] shows the laws meant to limit Congressional insider trading aren’t doing enough. One in ten members of Congress have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act -- proving measly fines are no deterrent.

Right-wing news outlets also agree that members of Congress shouldn’t be able to make money off the wars they greenlight, and the defense contractors they fund.

The right-leaning NYPost criticized James Inhofe when he bought over $50,000 of Raytheon stock days after a Senate meeting about increasing the military budget.^[4] And even voters on the Trump fansite Patriots.win have expressed support for stopping war profiteering by Congress.^[5]

We can’t let politicians keep making money off wars they fund with our taxpayer dollars.

Join me in demanding a total and complete ban on all defense stock trading by members of Congress by adding your name now.

It’s time to stop Members of Congress from making money off wars, and exploiting their positions of power to enrich their bottom lines.

Thank you for joining me in this important call to action.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action

^{[1] Lawmakers Benefit From Booming Defense Stocks Sludge, August 2021
[2] “Marjorie Taylor Greene Bought Defense Stock Day Before Slamming 'Profitable' War” Newsweek, March 2022
[3] “59 members of Congress have violated a law designed to stop insider trading and prevent conflicts-of-interest” Business Insider, March 2022
[4] “I’m no fan of Robert Reich but he’s right on this one” Patriots.win, March 2022
[5] “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams lawmakers profiting off stocks, gift rules” NYPost, December 2018}