Re: Let me get this straight
"What can be done about these politicians "
Given that in both the US and UK, the two main parties who alternate in office have broadly speaking identical policies, the answer is much not. If the current lot were turned out, their Republican and Labour replacements would pursue the same illiberal control freak policies, and continue to line their pockets and those of their friends.
It does suggest that Western democracy is fundamentally broken. It's easy to blame the politicians, but you also need to blame those who slavishly vote for one party of other without inspecting their policies and track record. An alternative explanantion is that democracy isn't broken, and the masses want high deficit spending, their communications monitoring.
What can you do about it? Easy - don't vote for the main parties,and be prepared to tolerate a bit of chaos if UKIP, Scots or Welsh Nationalists have control for a short period (and let's face it none of these parties could do worse than the charlatans who have thus far governed the land).