I do not mean an absence of regulation, I mean limits on regulation, regulation as nothing more than the rule of law, and far less excessive government spending and "earmarks". A company should properly be concerned with whether or not it is complying with the law, and that should be an existential concern especially when it comes to significant externalities.

A company should not be concerned with whether or not it has enough influence in Washington relative to its competitors.

I'd speculate that for most industries the latter tends to be a higher level of concern than the former, and that is not in any way ok.