The New York Times reported in September (this year) that stock-trading conflicts were rampant in Congress (that’s a shocker there). The Times exposed that — from 2019-2021 — 97 sitting senators and House members reported more than 3,700 trades by themselves or their family members in financial assets related to their committee assignments. Keep in mind, this was what was reported; how many transactions went unreported only God knows.

Congress has debated, for decades, tightening the rules for lawmaker investing. Let us pause while you pick yourself up off the floor from laughing and give you time to pour yourself another stiff one.

The New York Times highlighted several ethically (shall we say) dubious moves. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) traded contracts tied to cattle prices while his committee investigated cattle markets. Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) bought shares in a pharmaceutical firm while his committee investigated that firm’s high drug prices. The wife of Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-California) sold Boeing shares a day before his committee released damaging findings about the company’s two fatal crashes.

These rather questionable activities inside the United States Congress do manage to slip into the headlines from time to time. There are approximately 540 members of Congress at any given time so 97 would be, what, about 18 percent, and again, these are only the ones we know about.

This violation of what my generation regarded as principled ethical practices is likely (given the present-day political setting) not very high on any voter’s list of things to worry about. However, it is one of those pesky, persistent little items that stubbornly crawls across the pathway obstructing sound governance every now and again and causing those who are sworn to represent the people to forget why they’re there and who sent them.

Aside from the fact that congressional members are using their positions to acquire wealth, something else should disturb us even more. Men and women like Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ohio), and Rusty Bowers (R-Arizona), presently Speaker of the House in Arizona, are ostracized by their own party, beaten deliberately in their primaries and receive death threats, not because of wrongdoing but because they had the courage to stand tall and tell the truth, because they refused to grovel to a liar, conman and president who incited a deadly armed attack on his own Capitol.

These men and women were chastised for doing the right thing whereas those who violate ethical laws of the United States Congress, and their oath, go their merry way, unscathed. The moral decay of this once great nation is abominable and needs to be addressed.

David L. Snell  

Franklin