I disagree. I think liberals simply trust government more than the free market, whereas conservatives trust the free market over the government.
So whatever happened to the conservative axiom, "markets regulate themselves"? If you believe in regulation, then you don't have full confidence in the free markets as you say. I can't think of any Liberal whose basic principle is that we should "trust government above all else." This is a weird way of framing the issue, and it is entirely a straw man when presented in these terms from folks on the Right.
My thinking is, don't trust anyone unless they give you a good reason to. Generally, there is more reason to trust government over corporations because we already know that by definition, a corporation is only interested in one thing: profits above all else. And corporations have perfected the art of turning a profit while screwing over the consumers. Government by its definition isn't interested in any of that at all, so when they act at the behest of the people, chances are their attempts are genuine. Except in the cases where politicians have been corrupted by lobbying, which is essentially a way in which corporate powers use the arm of government to their advantage. They do this to tilt the market in their favor by creating monopolies, hindering competition, etc.
A perfect example of this is the way in which the corn industry has lobbied Congress so that it would tax the hell out of imported sugar. This is why so much of our food has fake sugars and corn syrup instead of pure cane sugar from South America. It is why Coca Cola tastes so much better in Brazil and Mexico. Because the soft drink companies use corn syrup because government intervention has made cane sugar too expensive to use.
But who do I blame for this, government or the driving force that made government legislate this way, the capitalists? I blame the entire lobbying enterprise which is essentially legalized bribery. In Brazil, a third world country, people are constantly arrested by their FBI, for trying to corrupt public officials. But here it is completely legal. The more money you have, the more influence you have. It is why Pawlenty just ditched Romney to work for the banking industry. He was always in their back pocket as a politician and they reward politicians by giving them high paying jobs after their public tenure.
Legislative proposals are generally written not by elected officials, but by corporate lobbyists who are trying to get government to force legislation that would benefit their corporate interests. The Free market capitalists have used money to change government into their personal military against consumers. The problem isn't government, but rather human nature. Government is run by human beings, many of whom are susceptible to greed. The quick buck. And corporations figured this out, and realize that lobbying is by far their best investments. And of course, who supports this more? The Republicans do. Just look at where most of Romney's campaign contributions come from. They want him in office because they know he is going to bend government to their will, just like Reagan did. Just like George Bush did when he passed that ridiculous Prescription Drug Bill, that essentially said drug companies can now charge whatever they want for their drugs.
Former Congressman Billy Tauzin, R-La., who steered the bill through the House, retired soon after and took a $2 million a year job as president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the main industry lobbying group.
Medicare boss Thomas Scully, who threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he reported how much the bill would actually cost, was negotiating for a new job as a pharmaceutical lobbyist as the bill was working through Congress. A total of 14 congressional aides quit their jobs to work for the drug and medical lobbies immediately after the bill's passage.
Why is this legal?
The problem cannot be narrowed down to merely government vs. free market. You guys say the free market works well without government influence, but from my research, it is the other way around. Government works much better without the outside influence of corporate lobbyists because they have a vested interest in doing the bidding of those who put them in office, as opposed to those who can bribe them.
