Members Of Congress Should Be Banned From Buying Stocks
“Rand Paul discloses 16 months late that his wife bought stock in a company behind coronavirus treatment” ran a headline from The Washington Post on 8/11/2021. Of course, Rand Paul is the same Senator who got into an argument with Anthony Fauci in two different Senate hearings this year. Paul also claimed on his YouTube channel that masks had no effect at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Mind you, the exact details of what Rand Paul knew and didn’t knew remain fuzzy at the time of writing. According to The Washington Post, Paul says he did not know about the transaction — which was done by his wife — until over a year after it took place. However, even giving Paul the benefit of the doubt, this certainly does not look good for him.
The exact company Paul invested in is called Gilead Sciences, according to their Wikipedia page:
Am I the only one who sees an issue with a congressman having stock in a company that makes medication? Let’s say an HIV epidemic breaks out — as one did in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s — because a company Paul owns stocks in makes an HIV drug, that means it would be in his best interest for the company to sell that drug to as many people as possible. Basically, it would be in Senator Paul’s own finical interest for more people to get HIV. This is especially concerning considering Paul, as a Senator, has direct same over what public health policies are implemented in the United States.
Now, I’m not accusing Senator Paul of intentionally giving people bad health advice, or even doing things that harm public health policy, specifically for the purpose of enriching himself — I do not have evidence that he has done that so accusing him of doing so would be unfair. I will say that the fact that Senator Paul would be enriched if he did such a thing is concerning, and it’s definitely the kind of information that harms the reputation of not just Senator Paul, but of all our institutions.
