3 ms·

Per the article this is likely DoA: > Two bills on this matter — the TRUST in Congress Act and the PELOSI Act — have failed to move the needle this year, and i

Per the article this is likely DoA: > Two bills on this matter — the TRUST in Congress Act and the PELOSI Act — have failed to move the needle this year, and it’s unclear if or when the Ban Stock Trading for Government Officials Act will be debated and voted on.

jameslk 3y ago
If it's truly a democracy I'd expect otherwise given the polling on this issue: > Public support for a ban on stock trading among members of Congress is almost unanimous — with 86% in favor nationwide, according to a new survey by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation.
- phone8675309 3y ago
  The approval rating of Congress as a whole is 20% versus 76% disapproval rating. The pretense of this nation being a functional democratic republic has long been abandoned. We have merely the simulacrum of it now.
  - gottorf 3y ago
    > The pretense of this nation being a functional democratic republic has long been abandoned. We have merely the simulacrum of it now. The institutions of democracy in this country are challenged, but I'd say we are a long way from being a mere "simulacrum" of a functional democratic republic. I am confident that the populace and the institutions will rise up to the challenges. Popular policies or leaders aren't necessarily good, and vice versa. As an example, the president of El Salvador is wildly popular, with 80-90% approval ratings in polls; but critics also accuse him of being an authoritarian whose rule may well end up leaving El Salvador in a backslide into autocracy.
  - frumper 3y ago
    "But my rep is pretty good" says a majority of people as incumbents win.
    - Clubber 3y ago
      Yes, that's the issue. People generally like the people they elect, just not all the others. In a representative house, that's probably the way it should be, more or less.
- gottorf 3y ago
  A democracy doesn't mean that the representatives you elect must always and only follow the will of the constituency: "Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion." Of course, when it comes to this particular matter of insider trading, it would seem particularly self-serving for Congress to not pass such a law with such popular support. But I want to point out that there is no broad agreement that in a "true democracy", the will of the majority is always reflected in policy.
  - isaacremuant 3y ago
    If you're going to go down that route, democracy is a sham in that there's little to no incentive for an elected official at a high level to represent their constitutients since they do better by representing their donors/lobbyists/political partners and paying lip service right before election times. Accusing their opposition of "being terrible, so you have to vote me" work wonders too, if they're able to convince people that false dichotomies are real.

jameslk 3y ago

If it's truly a democracy I'd expect otherwise given the polling on this issue: > Public support for a ban on stock trading among members of Congress is almost unanimous — with 86% in favor nationwide, according to a new survey by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation.

phone8675309 3y ago
The approval rating of Congress as a whole is 20% versus 76% disapproval rating. The pretense of this nation being a functional democratic republic has long been abandoned. We have merely the simulacrum of it now.
- gottorf 3y ago
  > The pretense of this nation being a functional democratic republic has long been abandoned. We have merely the simulacrum of it now. The institutions of democracy in this country are challenged, but I'd say we are a long way from being a mere "simulacrum" of a functional democratic republic. I am confident that the populace and the institutions will rise up to the challenges. Popular policies or leaders aren't necessarily good, and vice versa. As an example, the president of El Salvador is wildly popular, with 80-90% approval ratings in polls; but critics also accuse him of being an authoritarian whose rule may well end up leaving El Salvador in a backslide into autocracy.
- frumper 3y ago
  "But my rep is pretty good" says a majority of people as incumbents win.
  - Clubber 3y ago
    Yes, that's the issue. People generally like the people they elect, just not all the others. In a representative house, that's probably the way it should be, more or less.
gottorf 3y ago
A democracy doesn't mean that the representatives you elect must always and only follow the will of the constituency: "Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion." Of course, when it comes to this particular matter of insider trading, it would seem particularly self-serving for Congress to not pass such a law with such popular support. But I want to point out that there is no broad agreement that in a "true democracy", the will of the majority is always reflected in policy.
- isaacremuant 3y ago
  If you're going to go down that route, democracy is a sham in that there's little to no incentive for an elected official at a high level to represent their constitutients since they do better by representing their donors/lobbyists/political partners and paying lip service right before election times. Accusing their opposition of "being terrible, so you have to vote me" work wonders too, if they're able to convince people that false dichotomies are real.