Tennessee lawmaker blasts DC ‘sewer’ for out-of-control stock trading, claims Congress is scamming taxpayers to get rich

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Public frustration over members of Congress trading stocks has been building for years and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) says the answer is simple: shut it down.

Speaking at a press conference before a hearing on a proposal to ban stock trading for lawmakers, Burchett didn’t mince words about what he sees in Washington (1).

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“Everybody talks about this place being a dadgum swamp. It's not a swamp. A swamp is something cool God created. It filters water; animal life lives and flourishes around it,” he said (2). “This is a sewer. This is created by man and it needs to stop.”

Burchett argued that Congress has been “enriching itself on the taxpayers’ dime for too dadgum long,” calling the entire system “as crooked as a dog’s leg.” And while critics often single out former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her lucrative disclosures, Burchett said she’s hardly the worst offender.

“Everybody wants to knock Pelosi. Heck, she's not even in the top 10. Get on that Unusual Whale site … This is pathetic, folks,” he said.

Unusual Whales is a financial data platform that tracks options flow and congressional trading activity. Its listings show that numerous lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans alike — have made hundreds of trades in recent years (3).

“When you see a member of this body making four, five, 600 trades a year, you know something's wrong,” Burchett said. “This is a scam that's being played on the American public and it needs to stop (2).”

Burchett isn’t the only one sounding the alarm. Lawmakers across the political spectrum have criticized stock trading on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) famously told Jon Stewart that insider trading in Congress “explodes the cynicism” many Americans already feel toward Washington.

“I think sometimes what my colleagues and other people in the party don't understand, is that the insider trading that happens in Congress — it explodes the cynicism that fuels the right. It doesn't benefit us,” said Ocasio-Cortez.

Members of Congress are legally allowed to trade stocks, but regulations exist to prevent conflicts of interest. In 2012, former President Barack Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which prohibits lawmakers from using non-public information to gain an unfair advantage in the market and requires them to disclose stock trades within 45 days. Critics, however, say the law is largely toothless — enforcement is weak and violations often result in nothing more than small fines (4).

The frustration voiced by both Burchett and Ocasio-Cortez reflects a broader distrust in the system. However, while everyday investors don’t have the advantage of sitting in committee rooms or shaping legislation that can move markets, there are still ways to build wealth in America. Here’s a look at three of them.

“The best thing to do,” according to Warren Buffett

It’s no surprise that members of Congress gravitate toward stock trading — the U.S. stock market has created enormous wealth for investors. But picking individual stocks isn’t easy and figuring out when to buy or sell can be just as tough.

The good news? You don’t need to be a stock-picking expert — or have insider access — to benefit from the market’s growth. Legendary investor Warren Buffett has long championed a remarkably simple but effective strategy: own an S&P 500 index fund.

“In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is own the S&P 500 index fund,” Buffett has famously stated (5).

This approach gives investors exposure to 500 of America’s largest companies across a wide range of industries, providing instant diversification without the need for constant monitoring or active trading.

The beauty of this approach is its accessibility — anyone, regardless of wealth, can take advantage of it. Even small amounts can grow over time with tools like Acorns, a popular app that automatically invests your spare change.

Signing up for Acorns takes just minutes: link your cards and Acorns will round up each purchase to the nearest dollar, investing the difference — your spare change — into a diversified portfolio.

With Acorns, you can invest in an S&P 500 ETF with as little as $5 — and, if you sign up today, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to help you begin your investment journey.

Trending: Robert Kiyosaki says this 1 asset will surge 400% in a year — and he begs investors not to miss its ‘explosion’

Build wealth through US real estate

Beyond stocks, real estate has long been another cornerstone of wealth-building in America.

In fact, Buffett often points to real estate when explaining what a productive, income-generating asset looks like. In 2022, Buffett stated that if you offered him “1% of all the apartment houses in the country” for $25 billion, he would “write you a check (6).”

Why? Because regardless of what’s happening in the broader economy, people still need a place to live and apartments can consistently produce rent money.

Real estate also offers a built-in hedge against inflation. When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts with inflation.

Of course, you don’t need $25 billion — or even to buy a single property outright — to invest in real estate. Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.

Backed by world class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of rental homes with as little as $100, all without the hassle of mowing lawns, fixing leaky faucets or handling difficult tenants.

The process is simple: browse a curated selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you’d like to purchase and then sit back as you start receiving any positive rental income distributions from your investment.

A timeless safe haven

Stocks and real estate can offer growth and income, but many prominent investors say every portfolio also needs a true safe haven — and for thousands of years, that role has belonged to gold.

Gold has long been a trusted store of value. It can’t be printed by central banks like fiat money, making it a natural hedge against inflation and currency erosion. It’s also widely viewed as the ultimate safe haven asset, not tied to any single country, currency or economy. When markets turn volatile or geopolitical tensions flare, investors often flock to it, driving prices higher.

Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, told CNBC earlier this year that “people don't have, typically, an adequate amount of gold in their portfolio,” adding that “when bad times come, gold is a very effective diversifier.”

Jeffrey Gundlach, founder of DoubleLine Capital and widely known as the “Bond King,” echoed that sentiment. He recently said that a 25% portfolio allocation to gold “is not excessive,” calling the metal “an insurance policy” that’s likely to remain “in a winning mode” amid ongoing dollar weakness.

Over the past 12 months, gold prices have surged by more than 45%.

One way to invest in gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Thor Metals.

Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an attractive option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.

To learn more, you can get a free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $20,000 in free metals on qualifying purchases.

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Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

C-SPAN (1); @CSPAN (2); Unusual Wales (3); Cornell University Blog (4); CNBC (5), 6)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.