4 ms·

Hmmm it’s as if those in power aren’t looking out for us, but only their wallets. On both the left and the right…

Uehreka 4y ago
I’m not gonna say that no Democrats do this (because it would be clearly untrue, see Nancy Pelosi). But I do think it’s pretty notable that this year a Democrat Senator proposed a bill to rein this in, and got 15 co-sponsors, all of whom were Democrats. As far as I can tell, the bill doesn’t seem to have any culture war or partisan poison pills, so it seems pretty odd that a big chunk of the Democrats are co-sponsors (many more may still vote for it if it comes to a vote) and zero Republicans are. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3494/cosponsors https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/349...
- MichaelCollins 4y ago
  I think this is because Democratic voters are more in tune to these issues than Republican voters. Not because Democratic politicians are intrinsically more honest, they're just responding to voter pressure. Get more Republican voters to recognize these issues and you may see more Republican politicians responding in kind. My reason to believe this is Democratic politicians weren't addressing these problems until after Democratic voters started to perceive the problem and apply pressure. The point being, politicians won't regulate themselves spontaneously; their feet need to be held to the fire by voters.
  - jokethrowaway 4y ago
    Conservatives and Libertarian circles consistently make fun of Nancy Pelosi's blatant insider trading so I wouldn't be so sure. It's basically a meme. That said, additional legislation is unlikely to fix the issue, I'm sure Nancy will find another way to bypass any kind of checks coming their way (eg. setting up a company wherever in the world and trading through that). No, legislating this kind of things can just create additional work for the accountants of the powerful but it will never fix the problem. The only real change can come from removing power from a few hands and decentralise, giving it back to the people.
    - MichaelCollins 4y ago
      I think conservatives see it either as a Nancy Pelosi problem, or a general government problem. Either way this doesn't apply pressure to their own Republican politicians. As a "Nancy problem", the incentive for Republican politicians is to let the problem continue because Nancy continuing to be contentious is politically advantageous for the Republican party. In the case of seeing this as a general government problem, their ideology says that the solution is less government. From this angle, Republican politicians still aren't incentivized to address this specific problem.

I’m not gonna say that no Democrats do this (because it would be clearly untrue, see Nancy Pelosi). But I do think it’s pretty notable that this year a Democrat Senator proposed a bill to rein this in, and got 15 co-sponsors, all of whom were Democrats. As far as I can tell, the bill doesn’t seem to have any culture war or partisan poison pills, so it seems pretty odd that a big chunk of the Democrats are co-sponsors (many more may still vote for it if it comes to a vote) and zero Republicans are. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3494/cosponsors https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/349...

MichaelCollins 4y ago
I think this is because Democratic voters are more in tune to these issues than Republican voters. Not because Democratic politicians are intrinsically more honest, they're just responding to voter pressure. Get more Republican voters to recognize these issues and you may see more Republican politicians responding in kind. My reason to believe this is Democratic politicians weren't addressing these problems until after Democratic voters started to perceive the problem and apply pressure. The point being, politicians won't regulate themselves spontaneously; their feet need to be held to the fire by voters.
- jokethrowaway 4y ago
  Conservatives and Libertarian circles consistently make fun of Nancy Pelosi's blatant insider trading so I wouldn't be so sure. It's basically a meme. That said, additional legislation is unlikely to fix the issue, I'm sure Nancy will find another way to bypass any kind of checks coming their way (eg. setting up a company wherever in the world and trading through that). No, legislating this kind of things can just create additional work for the accountants of the powerful but it will never fix the problem. The only real change can come from removing power from a few hands and decentralise, giving it back to the people.
  - MichaelCollins 4y ago
    I think conservatives see it either as a Nancy Pelosi problem, or a general government problem. Either way this doesn't apply pressure to their own Republican politicians. As a "Nancy problem", the incentive for Republican politicians is to let the problem continue because Nancy continuing to be contentious is politically advantageous for the Republican party. In the case of seeing this as a general government problem, their ideology says that the solution is less government. From this angle, Republican politicians still aren't incentivized to address this specific problem.