Woo hoo! As of 2/2/12, Rep. Neal has (finally) signed on as the 280th House co-sponsor of the STOCK Act, a bill to make clear that members of Congress and their staff are subject to the same insider-trading laws as everyone else. The bill was introduced in its current form last March.

Now, at long last, all members of the Massachusetts delegation are on board with this still-too-modest but necessary reform that will help restore some confidence that everyone plays by the same rules. The version passed by the Senate adds a few worthwhile additions, including requiring members of Congress to include mortgages in their financial disclosure reports and adding some Executive Branch employees to the Act's disclosure requirements, too.

I favor requiring all members of Congress to, at minimum, transfer their securities holdings to a blind trust.

When I'm in the Congress, I'll aggressively introduce and co-sponsor necessary legislation and speak out boldly for the progressive change we need. I won't sit on the sidelines or wait to see what everyone else does before taking action. And that's a promise you know I'll keep, because it's the reason I'm running.