alt Hacker News> out of all the corruption you see from Washington this one seems the most benign
Lawmakers deciding what laws to argue against/for based on how much money it'll get them personally is a benign issue? It's a very hard problem to solve, when the people making the laws have to outlaw behavior that makes them rich, but it's a very worthwhile one if you manage to get it down, because then you'll again get politicians working for the people rather than against.
Trading on inside information has that causality going on the other direction. It's them picking what stocks to buy depending on what laws are being most argued for/against. Every stock looks the same from their POV, and there's no reliable mechanism for making them prefer one law over another.
The GP is right. It's campaign contributions, career rolling doors, and direct payments that make them pick one law over another. Inside trading only let them directly steal money from the population with no strings attached.