Of course you’re right, money has the last word in most every public policy decision. Even our elected officials often don’t completely know what’s really going on in their own house. I think earmark funding, and no-bid multibillion dollar contracts removes any reasonable accountability.
The pro-builders type people and other scam artists like to say, “You should have read the contract” when consumers gets ripped off now. They have several such standard statements, that make them very identifiable when they post in forums like this. Legalizing fraud through a contract doesn’t rectify the effects of scams. A free market economy can’t function without some trust, or as some might call it, consumer confidence. It’s short term thinking to operate that way, even if you bury your scams as long as possible. It’s made many millionaires, and many more homeless with little voice.
Since big American builders don’t compete directly in global markets, they seem oblivious to the fact we live in a global economy. What’s good for them is not always best for America. Granting them favoritism in legislation is part of what has made the U.S. dollars nearly worthless IMO. The legal lies and legal fraud may have worked in those “read the contract” scams, but still may send us all down the path of a deep recession when all is totaled.
It is very possible this purely greed based motivation that keeps the NAHB at Washington’s doorsteps will snap back on them, even without desperately needed consumer protection legislation. But that’s the hard painful way to correct the situation. As has happened, millions lose their homes, their life savings, and cracks in the economy become gaping holes.
Things will change, I have no doubt. It’s just which forces will cause change. As you say, there is no doubt few people understand what our government really does. I was once confident I had a handle on it, and after much research found I had misinterpreted so many things, in just they way they meant for me to. We all have our political views, but that's in some space where truth has become only relative.
Who was it that said, anybody willing to do the things necessary to become elected president of America, should automatically be disqualified for that job? That has never seemed so true.