Congressional Candidate Frank Pallotta (NJ-05): De Gregorio’s Inexperience, Like Josh Gottheimer’s, is a big Problem For New Jersey

Ramsey NJ,  Congressional Candidate Frank Pallotta (NJ-05) responded to opponent Nick De Gregorio’s ludicrous “divestment pledge”. “It’s embarrassing that someone with barely 36 months experience in the financial services industry, would have the gall, to come up with a solution that solves nothing except to prove that he has neither the knowledge nor the simplest understanding of an industry he claims to be a part of. His ridiculous pledge would “mandate” all seated and new congressional members to sell all of their stock holdings before taking office. The first public unveiling of his “pledge” at a Fort Lee Republican Club meeting last month, was met with bewilderment from the audience when it was made clear that his solution solved exactly nothing.

Creating a pledge to divest oneself of a lifetime of investment work, proves that he is not only unfit to serve in Congress, but unprepared to even run for the office. The solution needed to prevent insider trading is about creating a series of disincentives designed to prevent (and punish) those who violate the public trust. My T.R.U.S.T. Act, released last month called for – among other things – all seated and new congressional members to place their entire investment portfolio in a “qualified blind trust”, allowing the congressional members (and their families) of modest means, to continue to live off their investments without violating the public trust. It also shields the member from having any involvement whatsoever in investment decisions. Currently, Josh Gottheimer allows a third party to execute his trades, but there in no restriction on the amount of interaction the Congressman can have with his third-party investment advisor, creating a conflict of interest and the appearance of impropriety.

“De Gregorio’s inability to understand the obvious difference between “investing” and “trading” is shocking. We have an trading problem, not an investment problem”. Finally, in response to my opponent’s request to sign his childish pledge, I would only say that he might want to re-take the qualification exam his employer made him take before he was initially hired. Finally, in a State where taxes are excruciatingly high, instead of pushing unconstitutional mandates that solve exactly nothing, my opponent should focus on signing both Tax Pledges I signed months ago promising not to raise taxes. It appears that my opponent and Congressman Gottheimer may actually be aligned in raising taxes on the middle class.