> To me it seems like PE has simply discovered a loophole in the system.
The fundamental loophole is that "the free market" is practically a religion in the United States (the so-called Invisible Hand taking the role of a god doling out rewards and punishments), and a significant portion of the population is vehemently opposed to any regulation of capital. You can even see this attitude in some of the comments here, where commenters are claiming that the problem is too much regulation rather than too little.
Moreover, political campaigns are financed by private "donations" (i.e., legal bribes), so the lawmakers themselves are practically indebted to wealthy interests who don't want to be regulated.
The fundamental loophole is that "the free market" is practically a religion in the United States (the so-called Invisible Hand taking the role of a god doling out rewards and punishments), and a significant portion of the population is vehemently opposed to any regulation of capital. You can even see this attitude in some of the comments here, where commenters are claiming that the problem is too much regulation rather than too little.
Moreover, political campaigns are financed by private "donations" (i.e., legal bribes), so the lawmakers themselves are practically indebted to wealthy interests who don't want to be regulated.