Nope, it’s about survival. This is protection money.
Yes, it’s all a racket. People blame lobbyists and corporations, but the politicians are like the mafia. If these companies don’t pay up, then politicians target them. Example, Hillary used to rant and rave about big pharma, but when they started making campaign donations to her, she stopped. Ditto for Walmart. Hillary attacked them until they put her on their board. The problem is government that is too big and too powerful.