Congress is heaping great praise on itself for passing a law banning insider trading and bringing more light to the financial transactions of federally elected officials.

It is about time this double standard will end.

What Congress has done to clean up its own behavior, however, doesn’t go far enough and more reforms are clearly necessary.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have now passed legislation clarifying that members of Congress are subject to federal anti-fraud laws covering stock trading. President Barack Obama signed it on Wednesday.

Congress took this action after the CBS “60 Minutes” news program revealed several disturbing examples — ranging from the actions of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — where lawmakers benefited financially by having knowledge of information before it became public.

With their public approval ratings already in the ditch, Congress had to do something.

— The Poughkeepsie Journal, New York, March 30