Lucas,Something Public Citizen and our supporters have been fighting for since 2006 is about to happen.
Your representative and senators, their staffs -- and even lobbyists -- are not currently prevented from making money in the stock market based on the privileged information they have access to while working in Washington, D.C.
But Congress is at last on the verge of passing the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, which would make "insider trading" by members of Congress and other people who work on Capitol Hill illegal.
There's just one snag.
As the bill was going through the Senate, Public Citizen worked hard to preserve a provision that would make the STOCK Act apply to lobbyists, stock market traders and hedge fund managers, who often have access to congressional insider information.
Wall Street -- you'll be shocked to learn, I'm sure -- hates this provision. So when they couldn't beat us in the Senate, they turned to their buddy in the House, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who dutifully stripped the provision, creating what we call the "Cantor loophole."
I need your help TODAY to make sure Public Citizen has the financial resources to bring the full force of public outrage to the House as we did in the Senate and close the Cantor loophole!
Please contribute as generously as you can right now. Make sure Eric Cantor hears us loud and clear.
The STOCK Act is emblematic of Public Citizen's tenacity and talent.
Public Citizen identified the scandal of insider trading in Congress long ago. For years, we persisted in fighting to do something about it, and we never gave up. We have consistently built momentum in Congress, in the media and among the public. The issue finally caught fire late last year following a very popular segment -- for which we provided background information -- about congressional insider trading that "60 Minutes" aired.
We were ready and able to capitalize. We were there to keep the bill strong despite many efforts to weaken it in the Senate. And we won't stand by while the Cantor loophole weakens it in the House.
Public Citizen is the leader in this fight and we'll be ratcheting up our pressure on Congress by mobilizing the public, building on press coverage and meeting with key legislators.
This all takes money. I urgently need committed Public Citizen supporters like you to help us carry through to final victory. Please donate right now.
The thing that's changed most in the five-plus years that we've been working on this issue is how many more people have become aware of and infuriated by congressional insider trading abuses.
We need to seize this opportunity and push to the finish line with everything we've got.
Wall Street is doing everything in its power to maintain its unfair advantage. And it has deep pockets.
It's up to Public Citizen and you to get the Cantor loophole out of the STOCK Act. You can make a real difference in the fight by rushing a contribution to Public Citizen today.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen