Watered-Down Insider Trading Bill Passes House (For 2/13/12)

Eric Cantor's efforts to water down the STOCK Act have proven successful. Congress easily passed the weakened STOCK Act last week, with 417 votes for and only two against, to ban insider trading among members of Congress. As the bill's author, Cantor left in the loophole that allows individuals who "sell information they learn from Congress to corporations to not register as lobbyists." Therefore, Cantor wants to hide these individuals, who may be his big campaign contributors, from public scrutiny. Perhaps the only thing that will work to prevent insider trading on the basis of Congressional dealings will be a strong Constitutional amendment to hold Congress members accountable. An amendment to get money put of politics will help, but may be difficult to pass. With Cantor's actions on this bill and Congressional approval at an all-time low, it may be much easier to first pass an amendment more narrow in scope that regulates the behavior of members of Congress. http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/09/422050/house-passes-stock-ac/