The other day on Sirius satellite radio, Howard Stern was complaining about the fact that the merger between XM and Sirius has not yet been approved by US government regulators. The National Association of Broadcasters, which is made up of companies such as Clear Channel who compete against satellite radio, has been lobbying against the merger. Stern was indignant that his competitors would blatantly use the government to harm their competition. It’s hard for me to believe that this was a new revelation for a man over the age of 50, especially one who has been the focus of so much government scrutiny. Maybe he was feigning surprise for his show.

The US government has two things people want – money, which comes from taxes, and power, which comes from the ability to change the laws of the entire country. Both of these products are up for sale by members of the legislative and executive branches of government. The importance of getting a piece of this money and power has given rise to a career – the lobbyist. In fact, many former members of the government become high-paid lobbyists because of their relationships with those still in positions of power.

The US has a long history of people using government power to help themselves and harm others. In the 1800s, private railroads used eminent domain to take property against the will of the owners. For 70 years the federal government has run a milk cartel system with the direct goal of raising milk prices. The sugar industry made more than 900 separate political contributions in 2007 alone (mostly to Democrats) to keep sugar subsidies in the latest farm bill. Thousands of people make their living fighting for a piece of your money and sometimes your property.

Aside from taking tax money directly (through subsidies), taking property directly (through eminent domain), and protecting themselves from competition (through tariffs and other barriers), companies routinely use government regulators to harm their competitors. Last year Microsoft delayed Google’s bid for DoubleClick by testifying against it before Congress. Now Google is trying to derail Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo by appealing to regulators. The resulting political battle will generate thousands if not millions in lobbyist fees and political contributions. The same thing is happening between the satellite radio and terrestrial radio companies.  Politicians love this stuff.

It doesn’t really matter whether there are Democrats or Republicans in power. They both cater to special interests. Some, like the sugar industry, are protected by both parties, while other special interests rely more on one party  than the other. This is the nature of American democracy, and I doubt that any lobbyist reform or campaign finance reform is going to change it. As long as there’s such a huge reward for having politicians on your side, people are going to fight to have the politicians on their side – and that means more lobbyists and more money flowing to Washington, D.C.

This is what I think about when I work on my tax return – all my money that’s going into a big pot for people to fight over. Maybe I’m a cynic, but I don’t see the federal government as well-intentioned visionaries using my money to do things they see as noble. I see them as vultures feeding on the carcasses of productive people. If you can really believe that any of the presidential front-runners have your best interests in mind, then I envy your optimism.