Why go political by bringing up healthcare? I'd love to respond, but no politics here.
But tell me, how did the FCC unwittingly screw the public again? Without any requirements, Dish wouldn't have to ever offer all the HD locals in any given DMA. With the percentage mandates Dish is forced to start offering them. Would your preference have been no mandate and therefore no requirement for the satellite companies to carry all HD locals in a DMA?
Dish has chosen to meet the requirements as cheaply as possible. But how is this the FCC's fault? Should they have written the rules to require that the biggest DMAs be added first? Specifying that would have pissed off those in the smaller DMAs.
If you want to blame anyone, the entity to blame here is Dish. They have chosen which DMAs to fill out to meet the rule requirements. If you're not happy with their choices, complain to them, don't bad mouth the FCC rule that means that eventually HD locals in DMAs will be complete.
I should also add that I only know about the rule based on what I've read here. It sounds like your complaint has more to do with there not being a mandate for Dish to offer all DMAs in HD by a given point; is that correct?