As I chronicled over the weekend, Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is under scrutiny for asserting on national television last week she was not a wealthy individual. According to her Personal Financial Disclosure form, however, the erstwhile Harvard professor is worth at least $14.5 million and owns a $5 million home. Quite rightly, the Republican Party of Massachusetts has a released a devastating new campaign ad drawing attention to her asinine comments and reminding voters just how out-of-touch she is.
Incidentally, instead of lying to Bay State voters, Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) is actually introducing legislation on their behalf.
Joining a bipartisan group of lawmakers, Sen. Scott Brown today urged his colleagues to swiftly pass legislation that would make it a crime for members of Congress to use privileged information to make financial investments.The Massachusetts Republican has championed the so-called Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK Act, designed to address rising concerns that members of Congress may be engaging in insider trading while investing in the stock market and real estate deals.
“Members of Congress have to live by the same laws as everyone else,” Brown said at a Capitol Hill press conference this afternoon. “This is a good, strong start to closing our deficit of trust with the American people.”
Last week Brown took President Obama aside after the State of the Union address to ask him to intervene with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to give the bill a full vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber. The move seems to have paid off. Last night the Senate voted 93 to 2 to proceed to a full vote.
“I’m glad he was able to give the majority leader a little nudge,” Brown said today of his exchange with the president.
In remarks on the Senate floor last night, Brown explained why he believes the legislation is so important to rebuild the tattered reputation of Congress.
“The American people have lost faith,” Brown said. “They think too many members of Congress have come to Washington to make themselves rich.”