Totally. The problem is that both party's members only see the fault in their opponents. They never seem to hold their own team accountable. And this really allows for the uni-party (on many issues) to roll on.

The deeper issue is in the system itself. Politicians do not typically base principles. That is, besides re-election. Democracy is the base problem. Its not a good system for finding solutions to society's problems. The mistake is expecting voters to hold them accountable. Voters aren't qualified to vote and most of the time just vote for their own surface level interests.

On privacy. Its not a value even close to the top of mind for most people. So why would politicians really care? And even if they do care... they aren't the best. If we want privacy we have to do it ourselves and reject these clown's authority.