See, the thing is, this isn't an exception to the political process/system, this IS the system. American, British and to a lesser extent Canadian. This is ****, and Kerry also. Democrats, Republicans, they all feed from the same trough.
Whatever crap American (and British, French etc) companies subject the domestic markets to, they do it 1000x worse to foreign markets. If you're American, consider yourself lucky; you're only being ****ed. If you were say, Bolivian, you'de be getting ****ed, in the ass, with a dildo so large it would have to be constructed in space.
Every once in a while, they get caught and issued a little wrist-slap. This BST stuff is nothing. Read NoLogo or see The Corporation for some truly sick ****.