Maybe you should read the book sometime. :)

I'm being quite consistent. A government that is prevented from interfering in the economy is basically useless as far "favoring business interests" goes.

Stop and think about it. What do lobbyists normally want the government to do? Give out tax privileges only to their clients, put onerous regulations only on their competition, create difficult licensing or permit requirement to hamper new startups in their industry, give them special trade barriers to keep cheaper products out, and figure out more ways to bring tax money into their client's coffers. These are ALL government interference with normal market forces.

To be fair, some lobbyists are there in self defense. The ones representing clients on the receiving end of these tactics. But if the tactics weren't being used, they wouldn't be necessary either.

What's sad about these discussions is that liberals are all about problems with the giant corporations and worried about them having too much power. A mixed economy selects for corporate power. Regulations and legal issues that corporations have whole divisions to handle will kill a small business. I've seen it happen around here with mom-and-pop gas stations, cleaners, small restaurants, and others.

And let's be sure to keep safety regulations separated out here. There's a big difference between auto mileage standards and rules keeping a factory from dumping mercury into a public river.