I’ve been talking a lot about the parasite economy this week — like in my forthcoming book The Libertarian Mind and on STOSSEL this Friday night — and two stories in the Washington Post today illustrate the problem.

John Wagner reports that campaign contributions are now flowing to surprise Maryland gubernatorial winner Larry Hogan. Why would campaign contributions come in after the campaign is over?

“A lot of people speculatively invested in the Brown campaign and now realize they made the wrong choice,” said Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, a group that closely monitors campaign contributions. “Donors give because it gets them in the door, regardless of who’s in power.”

The reports show that Hogan raised nearly $1.4 million in the two months after the election — roughly the amount that Martin O’Malley (D) raised after he was elected governor in 2006.

When a state government hands out some $40 billion a year, lots of people want to get friendly with the people who will influence how that money is spent. Through regulations, the government influences billions more, and lobbyists don’t want to be left out of those discussions either.

Money flowed to Hogan from utilities, banks and health-care companies that are regulated by the state and from associations that represent businesses in Annapolis. Groups representing chiropractors, nurse practitioners, nursing homes and psychologists have all given since the election.…

Other donors include more than a dozen of the highest-paid lobbyists in Annapolis. 

Also in today’s Post, Mike DeBonis reports that council candidates backed by newly elected D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser are raking in cash for their upcoming special elections. People want a friend in city hall, too.

Why indeed do “chiropractors, nurse practitioners, nursing homes and psychologists” need lobbies, much less give campaign contributions? Because they want a piece of vast government expenditures on health care, they want regulatory protection from competition, or they want something else that government can deliver. 

I make no criticism here of Governor Hogan or Mayor Bowser. I have no reason to think that either of them has done anything inappropriate for a campaign contributor. This is a systemic problem.

It’s just part of the parasite economy, where you use the law to get something you couldn’t get voluntarily in the marketplace.