This morning's Washington Post brings us yet another "do as we say, not as we do" story, courtesy of of The World's Greatest Deliberative Body (a.k.a The US Senate--specifically its Armed Services Committee). The source of the inconsistency is the panel's insistence that potential DoD nominees requiring Senate confirmation divest themselves of financial interest in companies that might profit from decisions they would make in office. No argument so far. The SASC also extends this requirement to SASC Staffers. Again--bully for them. But in the Bizzaro-world of the US Senate, it doesn't seem to strike Senators as odd that the actual VOTING MEMBERS of the committee have no such requirement to divest! That's right--the Senators themselves can buy and sell stock in defense contractors at will, from a position of exquisite, restricted access to major policy shifts that impact business decisions. On Wall Street--that's called "insider trading". In the Senate, it's called a "perq (or perk)".
Bryan McGrath
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