And use market pricing mechanisms? To what end? An efficient market? You madman! How will we be able to consolidate our power and command hefty campaign contributions if we cannot pick winners and losers, rewarding our supporters while meting out punishment to those who dare oppose us?
If we go down this road, moreover, we might then have to admit that, besides taxes, our regulations and our multi-decade environmental reviews are there to cause problems, not just to solve them — that safety, pollution, justice, are all well and good themselves, but even more importantly, they are tools for us to express political favor and disfavor, to bend society to our will, and our advantage.
No. We must feed the machine. Shakedowns today, shakedowns tomorrow; shakedowns forever.