And the regulators obliged because they got to take a cut and control how it gets spent and they get to pick winners by exerting influence over the myriad of li

And the regulators obliged because they got to take a cut and control how it gets spent and they get to pick winners by exerting influence over the myriad of licensing and compliance stuff that legitimate business in this day and age. Win-win, so long as you don't care about the outcome for the peasants.