This just in: politics is about money and power!
This has been true for a few thousand years.
What I find weird is that, given this, there is such a strong tendency for people to demand that the government become ever more powerful and have more control over our lives. You would think the nature of government would get people to demand more limits and less power instead.
Of course, this gets back to my theory of politics: nobody really minds gross authoritarianism if it's aligned with their interests.
You can tell an authentic small-government person by what they say when you want to cut their favorite program.