You make one very good point, in that industries and businesses often use the government's power of regulation to give themselves advantages or penalize competitors. Tax codes, too. This is not how a free market works either, and the practices should be exposed and condemned.

Where liberals become suckers is when they believe enormous government power will control, restrain, and tame giant corporations and unscrupulous businesses. If they would look away from their fantasies and back at the real world, they would understand that the real result will be a monstrous chimera of megabusinesses and government, with the power of the government gun to override market forces. This is the ONLY way a "mixed economy" can end up.

You really think the industries that make expensive mercury bulbs and even more expensive LED bulbs are crying in their beer over regulations outlawing cheap incandescents? Hell, they probably helped write them.

I happen to know a lot of the health insurance industry is getting real used to the idea of having a law that makes it a crime not to buy health insurance. For some industries, becoming an appendage of the State is not a bad tradeoff for guaranteed profits.