I believe this is the longest title of all of our podisodes. But this is a legitimate question. In 2020, Haulin’ Josh Hawley tried to introduce a bill to limit the stocks that can be traded by members of congress. (Quick note that in 2012, the STOCK Act did make it into law, and from what I can tell, is pretty much ignored). This bill didn’t make it into law, but there’s currently buzz in some state legislatures trying to do something similar (notably New York) in order to stem corruption.

At the time of this writing, members of congress make more than double the median income for a family in the United States. And, any member of congress who last more than 5 years get retirement at the age of 62, and any who last longer than 20 years get a pension. It’s a pretty sweet retirement plan, when all is said and done. So why, oh why, the need for stock trading?

But, say what you will, there’s an underlying thread here that must be discussed: in what conditions and situations should the United States dictate what its private citizens may own? It seems easy enough to say “members of congress shouldn’t trade stocks”, but given that stocks are actually ownership, what does that say about the right to property?

We discuss all of this and more in our latest podcast episide: why gamble on stocks when you can legislate a sure thing?

Watching the January 6th hearings, we’ve all been convinced that Trump was culpable and was trying to get his enemies killed. He’ll say other things, of course, but nobody who sits there and does nothing while the threat of violence is imminent having already been informed about the situation and having the power to do something simply stands by. As we often say on this podcast: doing nothing is still doing something. And Donald J. Trump did a very large something with his inaction that day. Finally enough evidence has been uncovered to convince all members of the 1/6 committee that it’s worthwhile to subpoena him.

But if you’re like me, and are patiently awaiting the day when Donald J. Trump actually pays for his crimes, be aware that you’ll likely be waiting. We’re seeing a lot of hedging from the 1/6 committee to the point that we’re not convinced that they will even go far enough to hold him in contempt. That’s part 1 of our podcast episode, and the motivation for the title.

The second part is all about term limits. Do they work or just make corporate influence cheaper? We talk through the pros and cons of it and actually one of our members is convinced enough during the course to change their mind. Listen to find out who, and what the decision ultimately became!

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