Our elected representatives in Washington have created a double standard—one for themselves and one for all other Americans. Members of Congress have been convicted of offenses ranging from parking tickets to more serious crimes. Sometimes they pay the penalty. Sometimes they don’t.

In a show of arrogance, Rep. Eric Cantor stripped the “political intelligence” language from the insider trading legislation (STOCK Act) recently signed by President Obama. Political intelligence is a term applied to insider information that is obtained from a member or employee of Congress. The person seeking the inside information intends to use it to make an informed decision on the stock market. The insider information is provided by the member of Congress in exchange for financial compensation. The person seeking the insider information then uses it to his advantage on the stock market. This political intelligence industry, which is worth $402 million a year to members of Congress, has been labeled “unregulated political espionage” by Senator Grassley.