|
The Scranton Times-Tribune editorial board is out with a new column excoriating increasingly vulnerable Rob Bresnahan for quickly turning his back on the voters who elected him.
Bresnahan was exposed for his lies and hypocrisy after breaking his campaign promise to refrain from stock trading if elected to Congress and instead becoming the most prolific stock trader among the Freshman class.
“Trading in any fashion, after running for Congress with a trading ban as a significant item on his platform, is a careless mistake at best,” the Editorial Board writes. “At worst, it plays as political pandering, an elect-me-for-what-I-promise, not-for-what-I-actually-do approach the likes of which Americans have grown rightfully tired.”
The new editorial follows new reporting from The New York Times over the weekend, which uncovered a letter to the editor Bresnahan wrote in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice while a candidate for Congress in which Bresnahan laid out policies he said would “restore trust in government and our political leaders.”
Read the new editorial from The Scranton Times-Tribune below.
The Scranton Times-Tribune: Our Opinion: Be leery of officials who promise one thing, do another
By Editorial Board | April 8, 2025
-
On March 30, 2024, in the early days of a Congressional campaign that led to the unseating of long-term incumbent Democrat Matt Cartwright last November, newspapers from MediaNews Group from around the region published a letter to the editor penned by then-candidate Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., railing against the legality of stock trading by elected members of Congress.
-
Back then, Bresnahan insisted the practice needed to end “immediately.” He promised that, if elected, he’d do something Cartwright never did: Co-sponsor a bill to ban it.
-
His words were inspiring and refreshing, easy ones for many area residents affiliated with both major political parties to get behind.
-
“Too often we hear about how politicians are making millions of dollars during their time in office, and it is sickening,” Bresnahan wrote. “If we want to restore trust in government and our political leaders, then Congress needs to lead with these policies.”
-
Now he is in Congress, and Bresnahan is not leading with these policies. In fact, he may be benefitting more than anybody representing Pennsylvanians from not changing them.
-
A New York Times report, guided by Capitol Trades — a website that tracks trading habits of Congress members — found that Bresnahan is among the most prolific freshmen stock traders in the legislative branch.
-
Less than three months after being sworn in, the site says Bresnahan reported 264 stock trades, bought up to $1.7 million in stock and has sold up to $3.03 million.
-
As one might expect, Bresnahan’s spokesperson insisted the congressman is crafting his own anti-trading bill and doesn’t handle his own trades, leaving decisions about buying and selling and what companies to trade on to his financial adviser. But trading in any fashion, after running for Congress with a trading ban as a significant item on his platform, is a careless mistake at best. At worst, it plays as political pandering, an elect-me-for-what-I-promise, not-for-what-I-actually-do approach the likes of which Americans have grown rightfully tired.
-
Remember, Bresnahan’s promise when he was running wasn’t to push his own bill, but to co-sponsor one. He hasn’t, and it’s not because there aren’t a handful of common-sense, bipartisan bills floating around the floor to support.
-
The headline on that letter to the editor from March 2024 says quite a bit: “Candidate offers policies to restore trust in Congress.”
-
In the opening months of his run as the district’s representative, Bresnahan seems full of offers. It’s about time the region he represents expects results on them. As important, it should demand its representatives traverse Washington with the same ethical compass they insist everyone else in their position should.
-
When it comes to stock trading, Rob Bresnahan isn’t.
|
