I don't get the context at all. Is the ELI5:
CA wanted to create their own tax return software. Intuit said no, and now they use Intuit or something?
Normally I understand context and such, but in this case: isn't it the obvious thing to do? Does the USA not have the back of their citizens?
I'm sorry to say it so charged but this seems desperately simple on what ought to be done here.
In the US, at least one party requires its members to have the party's back, but not the other way. Which is why we have mass delusions about vaccines being bad, or COVID-19 not being a big deal. The party has decided its members need to provide blood sacrifices and the party members obliged. This is the same party that says that government can do no good, then asks for your vote.
For a less partisan example, for the past ~3 years, people with US phone numbers have been bombarded by spam phone calls, making the phone system nearly useless, and congressional action has been nonexistent.
When I see what is going on with national media and with federal inaction, I feel that the US is far past its peak years. We have chosen bad governance, and if we can't get a majority of people to even want to advocate for themselves, there's no way to get that back.