Yup, I loathe the deception involved in the interview-hire process. People lie to each other with smiling faces, from both sides.
Just once I'd like to walk into an interview and have them say 'We want to work you like a dog so that we can make a million dollars and then fire you', and be able to reply 'That's fine, I am more interested in the color of your money than your ideological purity'.
The line between contractors and regular employees is virtually nil, at least in technical jobs. In at-will states you have no protection at all, the only difference is who pays the taxes and benefits from the employer side.
That would be nice, but how many employees would they get that way. Thankfully, companies have ways they signal that they behave this way: if they focus a lot on "company mottos", if they deify their founder[s], if they start using words in a way that seems to be different than the English meaning (e.g. "Family" to mean "coworkers"), etc., etc. Basically if they try any brainwashing techniques and/or the people doing the interview seem to be a bit too "pro" for the company.
Just once I'd like to walk into an interview and have them say 'We want to work you like a dog so that we can make a million dollars and then fire you', and be able to reply 'That's fine, I am more interested in the color of your money than your ideological purity'.