The military-industrial complex cares. And they are willing to spend endless time and money talking to politicians about their problems. Put yourself in the shoes of any legislator and ask yourself how easy it will be for you to remember the problems of ordinary people you don't hear from all that often, when you are in the daily company of people who understand you, support you, buy you lunch, donate money for your campaign, and tell you how important you are. Now that's an explanation, not an excuse. But if we do not involve ourselves with government, our voices and interests will always be drowned out by the voices of those with much to gain from government.
Any large institution becomes a machine that maintains order and stability.
The more we ask it to do, and the larger it becomes, the more it guides itself by formal rules and procedures. Thus there is a dead weight of resistant inertia inherent in any government or large business. The only way it will change is if it is forced to, by strong leadership, by competition, or by citizen revolt. That's why our founders deliberately created competing power centers in our government. It doesn't make for speed or efficiency, but while people are busy defending their turf, there is time for deliberation, and it is likely that a wider variety of views will be considered.