The Federal Register, where bureaucratic control freaks publish their edicts, now runs over 69,000 pages. At the end of 1998, there were 2,188,647 civilian employees of the federal government, most dedicated to driving the rest of us nuts. An increase in government creates more of a demand for defensive lobbying and PAC contributions. Despite reformist-furor on the subject, there's good and bad lobbying. The bad lobbying is a quest for alms.
Businesses can be as rapacious as anyone else.
Some corporations or industry associations lobby for a wack at the pinata of government subsidies. Corporations that can't compete would like government to cripple their competition through the application of anti-trust laws. Others want the feds to front the costs of research and development on new products. Naturally, they will keep the resulting profits. The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union, lobbies against private-school alternatives and in favor of keeping teachers' hands sunk deep in taxpayers' pockets.