Why?
That is simple.
Politicians make promises, the more they make the more votes they get.
That is one reason I am so down on Obama, lots of promises and no way to make em happen.
Sometimes people vote against someone instead of voting for someone.
That has pretty much been the case for the last 25 years. The down side to that is you don't really know what your getting.
The other side is politicians get tunnel vision. They loose touch with what is really going on. We need term limits. Get the old and stale out and get people in that are fresh and ready to work. Too bad the current politicians have blocked every effert to do this. Unless the ENTIRE US votes in term limits it won't work.
That won't happen, why? People like Ted Kennedy have POWER. They get lots of government projects for their districts, the people like that and don't care what the politician is actually doing to the country.