According to a Dallas Morning News report "While Congress prescribed a strict conflict-of-interest law for the judiciary, which prompted Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to remove himself from a punitive-damages case involving Exxon Mobil, it didn't apply the same test to lawmakers. "

While the President generally puts his holdings into a blind trust there is no such law that demands it for Senators or House Representatives.  This means that while Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison blocks legislation that would remove tax breaks for oil companies, she continues to profit from her massive holdings in both Exxon (estimated to be between $100,000 and $250,000) and Chevron (estimated holdings to be between $50,000 and $100,000).

According to the DMN "In December, Ms. Hutchison put a "hold" on a bill – a tactic that allows one senator to stop legislation – that would have repealed tax breaks for Exxon, Chevron and three other major oil companies. The measure would have raised $9.4 billion for the U.S. Treasury over 10 years. "

Don't think this is just a Republican problem.  According to the DMN report "Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Democratic chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over energy policy, and his wife reported owning Exxon stock worth between $51,000 and $115,000 in last year's report."

Check out the entire article on this obvious conflict of interest:  http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/051608dnbuxexxonstock.39996d3.html

Time to vote out the Chickencrats and pass some new laws.