> So what, exactly, is the answer? More funds for checks and balance. Laws that make it clear what transparency means and actual funds for enforcing these laws

> So what, exactly, is the answer? More funds for checks and balance. Laws that make it clear what transparency means and actual funds for enforcing these laws. In general the US seems to be stuck in a gordian self-fulfilling prophecy: many people in the US see government administrations evil or inefficient in all matters and they are enough to actually handicap the government administrations, and make them actually inefficient. I think that at one point US citizens have to come to terms with the idea that they need to be protected by efficient government administrations, and that regulations are actually what makes free market move in the direction of social progress. But seeing the resistance there was to Obamacare (which, seen from western Europe is really the bare minimum a civilized country should have) I am not holding my breath.