Bootleggers & Baptists, Walmart and Healthcare

I recently stumbled across an illuminating anecdote about regulation, politics, and strange bedfellows. Also, an interview with the popularizer of the idea.

It strikes me that these sort of sort of stories are very common, and that the media plays right into the deceivers hands. The mass media usually just reports the surface impacts of a move. For example, why is Walmart supporting expensive health care reform? Their recognition of the rising tide of costs and its impact on their business is possible, but I tend to think that the opportunity to change the regulations (and hence the competitive landscape) of their industry is a bigger incentive.