Reps. Lois Frankel (D., Fla.) and Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) / Getty ImagesWashington Free Beacon Staff
May 2, 2023
Florida Democratic representative Lois Frankel is capitalizing on First Republic Bank's collapse and subsequent buyout by JP Morgan Chase & Co, according to congressional financial disclosures reported on by Newsweek.
Frankel sold her stock in the San Francisco-based bank on March 16, weeks before the value of its shares dropped 75 percent and U.S. regulators seized the failing bank's assets, Newsweek reported. A few days later, on March 22, Frankel bought stock in JP Morgan Chase & Co, which on Monday bought most of First Republic Bank's assets. The exact amount of stock Frankel traded is unknown, but according to the filing, the value for each trade was between $1,001 and $15,000, Newsweek reported.
Frankel's shrewd trading fuels mounting criticism of members of Congress buying and selling stocks, which allows them to profit from industries they are supposed to regulate. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D., Ore.) and John Curtis (R., Utah) also reported trading First Republic Bank stocks before its collapse. Several members of Congress have introduced legislation to ban congressional stock trading.
"My account is managed independently by a money manager who buys and sells stocks at his discretion," Frankel said in a statement to Newsweek.
People incessantly talk about new laws as a "solution" to the problem. But what is the root cause? If we don't understand the root cause, then we can NEVER truly know the correct solution because unless the solution eliminates the root cause, something else will ALWAYS arise that enables this. The existence of the Federal Reserve is a root cause. They control the ENTIRE banking sector, and PREVENT honest, 100% reserve banks from operating, and create money out of thin air to prop up corrupt banks. THAT is why the Fed exists in the first place. Then there is Congress. Why should 535 people have the power over 330,000,000 to control EVERY aspect of their lives from birth to death, constantly picking winners and losers, regulating folks in and out of business and success, etc? If Congress had 0.1% of the power they have today, nobody would have ANY concern over their behavior. If the Fed was abolished, sound money was restored, and the fraudulent practice of fractional reserve banking was made illegal, NONE of this would happen again, or if there were "incidents," they would be so small as to only impact a few, with the market and competition ensuring that future "incidents" would become rarer and rarer.
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