In a discussion group one post expresses the majority opinion regarding Democrats or Republicans doing things we disagree with: ” … It means that they’re sincere in their intentions… “.
This poster’s signature line was so appropriate I quoted it at the top of my response.
“What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know, it’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.” –Mark Twain
The system is simple enough that anyone can understand it with very little investigative effort. However, the information is not going to show up on your TV.
Your Secretary of State’s office has the data. Anyone who wants to can look at it. Most publish it on the Internet and make it easy to understand. Precious few of us look… probably because “Politics is like sausage: you don’t want to watch it being made.”
Nobody gets elected without serious money in their campaign.
Major campaign contributions go to the candidates who offer a return on the investment… call it “access”.
The bills are written by “experts in the field” who not coincidentally made major campaign contributions. Also not coincidentally, the laws favor existing businesses, make entry into established fields difficult, exclude competition, transfer taxpayer money to individuals, bestow power, etc.
The congressmen don’t read the bills because there is no personal advantage to reading them nor disadvantage to not. They really don’t care so long as they have plausible deniability – “Oh gee, I had no idea it would cause that“.
NO, the elected officials are not trying to control anybody. They simply like the trappings and side money that goes with their job. Those people who DO like control are listed at your Secretary of State’s website as “major campaign contributors”.
The fact that the elected ones aren’t bright enough nor devious enough to do the stuff they do on purpose does not mean that nobody is.