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By Michelle Cottle

Ms. Cottle is a member of the editorial board.

Most Americans believe that most politicians are corrupt. How depressing — not to mention how terrible for the health of democracy. After all, if the system is broken and everyone is a crook anyway, why not elect a reality TV grifter with a smashed ethical compass to be president?

Sensitive to this problem, Congress typically responds to scandals within its ranks with fits of reform fever. This is what we’re now seeing with bills — so many bills — aimed at restricting lawmakers from trading stock while in office.

The issue of how to prevent members of Congress from improperly profiting from their positions has long been a tricky one. Lawmakers have access to information unavailable to the general public and the power to shape policy in a direction that could prove personally lucrative. In 2012, Congress passed the Stock Act, which prohibits members from making trades based on their privileged information.

Progressives, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, have been arguing for years that much more needs to be done.

The issue grabbed renewed attention in the past two years after questions arose about whether certain lawmakers made stock trades based on their privileged knowledge about the Covid pandemic. Senator Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has earned himself extra close attention from the Securities and Exchange Commission for dumping a bunch of stocks in the hospitality industry in February 2020.

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