Actually, this has been a trend that has been around for ages in the US political system. Go back and look at the Indian Wars and you'll see the same thing from Congress. It's something of a constant in the political cycle.

But the link to this is that Congress' actions (or lack thereof, depending on the situation) should not come as a surprise to ANYONE. Ignoring that reality in the planning process is part of the problem. The only way around it is to mobilize the public, or at least get them educated and involved. Congress doesn't like that, but at the end of the day it's the only sort of pressure that they will respond to.