Think back to your school days.

Most of us have been in a situation where we forgot to do an assignment, so we tried to get it done as quickly (and messily) as possible before class started, just to get it in on time. I did my fair share of homework on the school bus, my handwriting shaky on the paper.  

There’s a difference, however, between trying to get your math homework done in 10 minutes or less and your members of Congress so hastily scrawling out their financial disclosures that neither the public nor regulators can even read them. These documents may seem like just a formality, but they account for hundreds of millions of dollars in investments by sitting members of Congress, and are supposed to help prevent insider trading and conflicts of interest. 

A system of checks and balances that relies on a scrap of paper messier than my childhood math homework to prevent conflicts of interest for some of the most powerful people in America is clearly broken. If Congress can’t even enforce disclosure requirements, how can they ensure members aren’t using insider information to line their pockets? They can’t.

Help fix this broken system by sending a pre-written letter to the editor, calling on your legislators to ban members of Congress from trading stocks entirely. It’s a great way to make sure your representatives know where you stand and get the rest of your community on board with this legislation.

SEND A LETTER

We’ve talked about how the fine for declaring your stock transactions late is a mere $200 dollars (!). But is it really any better when you declare your stock transactions in the laziest way imaginable? 

Electeds on both sides of the aisle are guilty of submitting blurry, garbled, or otherwise haphazard disclosures—and considering the measly fine for disclosing late, it’s impossible to know how accurate these submissions even are. 

This “attempt” at transparency is laughable at best and at worst, a slap in the face for their constituents. Our lawmakers work for us, and we put them in office to serve our needs—not their bottom lines. 

Our bottom line? Existing ethics laws don’t go far enough to stop this bad behavior.

Enough is enough. Send a letter to the editor and tell your community why we need a full ban on congressional stock trading.

Thanks for taking action.

Sami Diaz
Digital Strategist, Stand Up America