Bought up to $250,000 of stock in companies that received one-time tax break
For the second time in less than a year, Congressman Tom MacArthur has been caught trading stocks in the lead up to House Republicans passing major legislation. In both cases, MacArthur invested in companies that stood to directly benefit from the new laws.
The NJ Globe reported this weekend that MacArthur “bought thousands of dollars’ worth of securities in gas and oil companies weeks before he voted in favor of a tax bill that would give companies in the industry a direct, one-time tax break worth up to $25 billion.” The investments included stock in Chevron, which received a tax benefit of more than $2 billion from the Tax Scam.
It’s part of a pattern for MacArthur. Last year, prior to authoring the Republican health care repeal bill, MacArthur purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care stocks. At the time, an ethics watchdog said MacArthur’s actions “raised red flags” and that “it’s always concerning to see lawmakers explicitly participating in the marketplace while simultaneously making policy choices that could impact those markets.”
“Prior to both the health care repeal bill and Tax Scam, Congressman MacArthur invested in companies that stood to benefit financially from the legislation—this disturbing patternmust be addressed,” said DCCC Spokesman Evan Lukaske. “The Republican agenda has led to increased health care premiums and higher taxes for many of his constituents, but rather than help them, MacArthur is looking to game the stock market and pad his pockets. It’s wrong, and shows why MacArthur needs to be replaced with someone who will put their constituents’ interests first, instead of their own.”
###