I thought I'd just toss this in here, just to show you how good you Yanks have it.
The ruling party in Canada (the Liberal Party) just added a new section to an existing bill working it's way through the Parliament (kind a House + Congress as Canada's Senate is nothing more then a rubber stamp) that does this:
Ministerial Exemption Powers: Section 12 of the Bill C-15 would allow a minister to exempt any individual, business, or organization from any law or regulation enacted by Parliament, with the exception of the Criminal Code, for up to six years. Unlike most orders and regulations that require timely publication in the Canada Gazette, the bill only requires the minister to notify the public "as soon as feasible" and allows them to keep "inappropriate" details secret.
Yup, Canadian federal politicians just gave themselves the power to exempt themselves or any party they want from legal standards for any reason and they don't even have to tell the Canadian public about it.
SO yah...when you bitch about your politicians, and you should, at least be thankful your populace isn't retarded enough vote in a ruling party who just gave themselves the largest tool for hiding corruption in Western history. Sure the US pols suck some serous ass but at least they're not as evil and corrupt as Canadian politicians. Your neighbour to the north is 1 last step away from becoming a full fledged banana republic. Whose ready for Prime Minister for Life Mark Carney!
Go Canada!