> can't we all go on to the House or Senate web sites and read the drafts of those bills and have the same "insider information" that they do?
The published drafts are days behind what's being circulated; you can see this every time there's an emergency bill, it's often voted on almost simultaneously with the final text being released. Sometimes, there's a reading of the bill, if people push the right procedural buttons.
Regardless, insider trading on delayed information isn't nearly as good as insider trading on current information (probably? I don't have experience with insider trading :)
This. When npr.org has more timely, relevant information than congress.gov--e.g. S.3548[1] wholesale pivots to H.R.748[2] with significant changes incorporated, and the latter isn't updated until days later--it leaves much for the general public to desire.
The published drafts are days behind what's being circulated; you can see this every time there's an emergency bill, it's often voted on almost simultaneously with the final text being released. Sometimes, there's a reading of the bill, if people push the right procedural buttons.
Regardless, insider trading on delayed information isn't nearly as good as insider trading on current information (probably? I don't have experience with insider trading :)