Latest news with #StopPoliticiansProfitingfromWarAct
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rashida Tlaib blasts Congress for ‘disgusting' way they ‘benefit financially' from war funding
Rep. Rashida Tlaib finds Congress's priorities 'disturbing.' The member of Congress from Michigan recently put her colleagues on blast in an op-ed for the Detroit Free Press. Writing shortly after the House of Commons approved a $895.2 billion defense budget, Tlaib pointed out that at least 50 members of Congress owned stock in defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Honeywell and RTX (formerly Raytheon). I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) A near-record number of Americans are grappling with $1,000 car payments and many drivers can't keep up. Here are 3 ways to stay ahead Protect your retirement savings with these 5 essential money moves — most of which you can complete in just minutes 'It is disgusting that members of Congress benefit financially when they vote to pass more funding for war,' Tlaib added in a post on X sharing the piece. 'This is corruption. They should not be able to profit off death.' The issue has been on Tlaib's radar for a while — she introduced the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act in February 2024. And she's not the only lawmaker who's growing increasingly concerned about other lawmakers profiting from the power and influence their office lends them. In her op-ed, Tlaib writes that she finds it 'incredibly disturbing' there are children in the U.S. who are drinking lead-contaminated water while, at the same time, Congress passed a record-breaking $895.2 billion defense budget. But, more troubling, she says, is the fact that many of the lawmakers who voted on that near-trillion-dollar budget own stock in the very war manufacturers that stand to benefit financially from this decision. 'Year after year, members of Congress continue to funnel billions of our tax dollars to the same defense contractors that some of them are invested in and take campaign donations from — while our communities are neglected,' she wrote. She points to analysis done by Sludge, which identified more than 50 members of Congress who own stock in defense contractors that are benefiting from the increased Pentagon spending. The total value of these stock holdings could be as much as $10.9 million as of 2023, according to Sludge analysis. 'Our elected officials should not be able to profit off death,' Tlaib concluded. 'They should not be able to use their positions of power to get rich from defense contractors while voting to pass more funding to bomb people. The American people deserve better.' Read more: Home prices in America could fly through the roof in 2025 — here's the big reason why and how to take full advantage (with as little as $10) Lawmakers and watchdogs have been debating the issue of whether Washington insiders (and their families) should be allowed to trade stocks for over a decade. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act was signed by President Barack Obama on April 4, 2012. However, as Sludge's investigation found, several lawmakers have violated this act in recent years. Some critics argue the $200 penalty fee for violating the act is simply too low to deter stock trading based on privileged information. And it's not just defense spending that concerns watchdogs. Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul, an investment banker, came under sharp criticism for his sale of shares of tech company NVIDIA just weeks before a Chinese rival caused a blowout. Meanwhile, Rep. Michael McCaul has been pushing for a new cybersecurity bill called the PIVOTT Act while recently purchasing shares of Fortinet, a cybersecurity firm that lobbied for the bill, according to Quiver Quantitative. These conflicts of interest were recently highlighted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called congressional stock trading a glaring and 'insane' problem on an episode of 'The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart.' Meanwhile, 67% of Americans support a ban on stock trading from members of Congress, according to Data for Progress. With this in mind, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Rep. Zach Nunn, introduced the bipartisan No Corruption in Government Act to block members of Congress and their spouses from holding or trading individual stocks. Jamie Dimon issues a warning about the US stock market — says prices are 'kind of inflated.' Crashproof your portfolio with these 3 rock-solid strategies This self-made $500M real estate mogul reveals his 'essential' US portfolio that he says Amazon 'can't hurt' — here's how everyday investors can copy his secret formula Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rashida Tlaib: Politicians should not be allowed to profit from war
It's incredibly disturbing that children in our country are drinking lead-contaminated water — while the U.S. Congress passed another record-breaking military budget of $895.2 billion. That's nearly a trillion dollars going to weapons and war, and the Department of Defense can't even keep track of where it's all going. The Pentagon just failed its seventh audit in a row. Even more disturbing is the fact that some members of Congress who own stock in war manufacturers benefit financially when they vote to pass funding for war. When it comes to the Pentagon budget, I never hear my colleagues ask, 'How are we going to pay for it?' But when it comes to addressing critical issues here at home, like ensuring every American has clean drinking water, fighting the climate crisis, providing universal school meals to every hungry child, ensuring quality childcare for every family or guaranteeing health care as a human right, my colleagues tell me that we just don't have the money. More from Freep Opinion: Trump's anti-trans executive order is breathtaking cruelty Year after year, members of Congress continue to funnel billions of our tax dollars to the same defense contractors that some of them are invested in and take campaign donations from — while our communities are neglected. According to a recent Sludge analysis, as of last year, more than 50 members of Congress owned stock in defense contractors — even when their committee assignments and access to information as elected officials stood to give them insider knowledge. I introduced the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act to ban members of Congress and their families from owning defense stocks. In the last three years, defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, RTX (formerly Raytheon), Honeywell, General Dynamics, Boeing and Northrop Grumman have taken over $380 billion in taxpayer money, according to data from Defense News and Forecast International, and made over $85 billion in profits, according to annual reports of the six firms. These six firms alone also spent a combined $263 million on lobbying and donated over $48 million to candidates during the past two election cycles, according to annual lobbying data listed at So I'm not surprised when my colleagues turn around and pass another record-breaking Pentagon budget and supplemental weapons packages — no questions asked. No wonder so many Americans have lost faith in their representatives to actually represent them. Our elected officials should not be able to profit off death. They should not be able to use their positions of power to get rich from defense contractors while voting to pass more funding to bomb people. The American people deserve better. We are sick of politicians profiting from endless wars. Rashida Tlaib represents Michigan's 13th District in U.S. Congress. Submit a letter to the editor at and we may publish it online and in print. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rashida Tlaib: War profiteering in Congress must stop | Opinion
