A study by Professor Alan Ziobrowski at Georgia State University concluded legislators in Congress make "significant abnormal returns." Moreover, active traders outperform corporate executives. "We have every reason to believe they are trading on information that the rest of us don't have," reports Ziobrowski.
Here's an interesting 60 Minutes investigation which aired last night:
How is this BS going on? Craig Holman at consumer watchdog organization Public Citizen notes, "The Securities and Exchange Act does not apply to members of Congress, congressional staff, or even lobbyists." Outraged?
If you are a voting citizen, your public representatives can legally trade investment vehicles based on information received at work. And much information is gleaned long before trickling down to the good 'ole People. Thus, as you already deduced, a major conflict of interest exists when your political representative must choose between your needs and those of his/her portfolio.
but is this REALLY surprising to anyone?