I have written above defense industry parasites with their boondoggle weapon systems. And intercst has pointed out corporate parasites in the US health care system.
The above are parasites in the federal government.
But that is just one layer of corporate parasites. They have also invades state & cities governments.
Public Safety Equipment: Police and Fire Apparatus
Back in January, Basel Musharbash showed that the Los Angeles governance failure during the major wildfires may have been a result of monopoly. A few corporations, REV Group and Oshkosh, have made it extremely hard to repair fire trucks. Prices have gone over the last fifteen years, delivery times are such that it’s impossible to get a truck in a reasonable time frame. Some of these same companies might have market power over ambulances as well. The Senate held a hearing a few months ago and did an investigation, and now the Federal Trade Commission is investigating. Who buys fire trucks? Cities!
But that’s not all. There’s also police equipment, like body cameras, tasers, and squad surveillance equipment. Here’s Forbes:
Baltimore, Maryland; Augusta, Maine; and Howell, New Jersey have sued Axon, alleging that the company has committed antitrust violations, abused its market power, and forced cities to pay exorbitant fees for a basic, but crucial piece of law enforcement tech.
And a BIG reader involved with city government noted:
One big change in our public safety budget - Computer software increased from $175,000 in 2025 to $715,000 for 2026!
Our sheriff explained Axon, the company that initial made tasers, now does squad cameras, body cameras. You no longer purchase and own, you “subscribe” with a fee and it is $500,000 a year. He actually called it a “monopoly.”
Emergency Radios
The New York Times did an important story on the summer’s deadly flash floods in Texas, noting that one cause of the accidents was a $7 million contract for emergency radios, provided by monopolist Motorola Solutions. “The grueling job was made more difficult because the radio system they needed to coordinate the response was not up to the task,” wrote the Times.
Prices have increased dramatically over the last few years, “six-channel Motorola radio site could be put on the air seven years ago for $300,000, but now costs about $500,000.” Motorola has 70-80% of the market, and “expanded its offerings for emergency responders to include body-worn cameras, police drones and 911 call-center software.” The company’s stock has quadrupled since 2021.
Transit Buses
As with fire trucks, so too with buses. The median price of an electric bus in the U.S. is $1.1 million, vs $330,000 in Singapore or $350,000 in South Korea. Diesel buses have largely remained the same price over the past forty years, which is inconsistent with the broader trend of lower automotive prices.
a wave of mergers over the last decade, combined with bankruptcies, has turned commuter bus production into a duopoly of two firms, Gillig and New Flyer.
Concentration of business is not your or leads to lower prices.
Court and City Management Software
Tyler Technologies provides software that manages municipal functions, everything from “permitting, police dispatching, jail booking, property appraising, campground reservations, restaurant inspecting, cannabis licensing and school bus tracking. Customers range from the US’s second-largest state parks system (California’s) to its third-largest prison network (Florida’s).” And it’s widely disliked software that is also deeply entrenched.
Health Care Middlemen
Health care is probably the most significant area of direct power for cities and states, most of which manage large portions of our health bureaucracies. On a basic level, states and cities have large workforces which buy health care. New York City, for instance, just had an odd switch in benefits, where UnitedHealth Care somehow got a contract to provide insurance to city workers. That buying power is meaningful, and can be used in creative ways. (In Florida, one hotel chain simply contracts with providers for its employees, saving massive $$$. Why couldn’t a city?)
Some progress is being made in eliminating corporate middle men in state Medicaid programs.
Beyond having workforces who buy health care, every state has a Medicaid program, meaning that each state has direct authority over a large health insurance and pharmaceutical benefit for its poor and lower middle class residents. As I noted, Ohio, Kentucky, and New York have replaced their corporate pharmacy middlemen with public systems, saving money and helping patients and pharmacists. Oregon recently banned corporate ownership of medical practices, and Arkansas passed a law to break up insurers. California even contracted with a nonprofit manufacturer to produce its own $11 insulin pen.
The Monopolies Making Cities Ungovernable
And expensive
The above taken from:
Time for voters to take back their local, state, & federal governments by voting reformers. The depression caused a upheaval in governance. The working class has been in a decades long recession. And now the middle class has been impacted.
If enough “business as usual” pols are tossed out; methinks the remaining pols attention will be diverted from corporate paymasters back to the public.