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INSIDER TRADING BY CONGRESS
Last updated on: 3/3/2009 8:45:00 AM PST Insider Trading by Congress Home Page > Source Biographies > >Sheila Kaplan, MA

Sheila Kaplan, MA Biography

Title: Lecturer in the Political Reporting Program at the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Position: Not Clearly Pro or Con to the question "Should Insider Trading by Congress Be Allowed?"
Reasoning:
"Federal agency officials are generally prohibited from buying and selling stock in the companies they oversee. But Congress long ago exempted itself from ethics rules regarding investments. At one time this exemption made sense: Farmers wanted to be able to serve on the Agriculture Committee without selling their farms, for example. But many lawmakers now interpret this exception as carte blanche to invest after taking office.

...Some members, seeking to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest, avoid buying stock or stow their assets in blind trusts. Others invest only in index funds or in diversified mutual funds. But a substantial share of House members and senators trade enthusiastically -- or, like Biggert [US Representative Judy Biggert (R-Ill)], permit their spouses and children to do so. An examination of the latest batch of financial disclosure reports, filed this summer for calendar year 2004, shows that dozens of lawmakers routinely buy and sell stock in industries they oversee, raising questions about whether they have an unfair advantage over the average investor."

"Trust Busters," Mother Jones, Sep./Oct. 2005
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:  Organizations/VIPs/Others
Individuals and organizations that do not fit into the other star categories.
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Lecturer, Political Reporting Program, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California at Berkeley
  • Freelance Producer, Dan Rather Reports, HDNet
  • Investigative Editor, Mother Jones
  • John S. Knight Fellow, Stanford University, 2001-2002
  • Awarded the Investigative Reporters and Editors Prize for Distinguished Reporting
  • Received the Lowell Mellett Award for Media Criticism (Bart Richards Prize)
  • Received several Emmy nominations and a Screenwriters Guild nomination
  • Former Senior Writer, Investigative Unit, US News & World Report
  • Former Producer, Investigative Team, ABC News, Washington, DC
  • Former Chief Political/Investigative Producer, MSNBC.com
  • Former Senior Writer, Legal Times
  • Former Senior Writer, Common Cause Magazine
  • Education:
  • MA, Journalism, University of California at Berkeley
  • BA, Urban Studies, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
  • Other: None found
    Quoted in:
    • 1. Is it legal for Congressional representatives to trade securities based on insider information?
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