1) Reward criminals and incompetents, rather than punishing them, but only when lots of money is involved.
1) Pass legislation exempting some sectors of the economy (e.g. medical industry) from antitrust laws, and prohibit trade that would allow local prices to equilibrate with the global market. Make Americans pay 2x to 10x as much as anyone else for the same products and services!
1) Allow arbitrary “ChargeMaster” bills to be charged to customers who cannot even see the prices beforehand! Most healthcare expenses could be paid out of pocket if the bills actually reflected necessary costs rather than bloat.
1) Pass legislation that requires people to pay for services they do not need, or else pay taxes for being healthy instead. Thus forcing everyone to feed the insane insurance industry, creating insane incentives and tying up millions of people in paperwork jobs that add no economic value.
1) Pass legislation that no one even has time to read, let alone understand. Then fail to address legitimate issues arising from the unpalatable special-interest garbage that was in the bill.
1) Don’t pass a budget each year. Just let everything run on autopilot until something egregiously bad happens.
1) Each election cycle, reelect the same people who created the current problem. Keep them lying to us while failing to address crucial national issues, yet endlessly feathering their cronies’ nests at our expense.
1) Fail to protest when the government exceeds its constitutional authority.
We get the government we deserve. The Constitution will only live if those who believe in it stand up to defend it!
P.S. Yes, all ten of these are ranked #1. I couldn’t decide which of them made me feel most ashamed to be an American.
P.P.S. Yes, there are only 8 items on the list of “ten”. If you feel like protesting that, you might also consider protesting your local politicians, who routinely promise far more than they deliver, and whose decisions have a much greater impact on your life and your future than this blog comment!