...because most of them aren't working for you anymore. In fact, about half of them haven't been for quite some time. Former White House Counsel John Dean takes a look at this ominous trend in his latest FindLaw column:

Friends working on the Capitol Hill, and doing business there, have been telling me for months they have never seen it so bad. More than ever, business is being done behind closed doors, and dubious deal making -- you give me this and I'll vote for that sort of arrangements -- is going on. Members of Congress are using one legislative ploy after another to write laws for the few, at the expense of the many, and much of it has been proceeding unnoticed by anyone -- especially the press.

[....]

In addition, the Republican leadership, in a remarkable in-your-face partisan move, denied Democrats the right to participate on conference committees, and cut them out of the debate on the House rules for the spending bills and floor activity, which certainly did not create a sprit of goodwill. Shockingly, not only was the House GOP leadership unwilling to compromise with House Democrats, they also refused to compromise with Senate Republicans.

[....]

Daschle then made a much needed statement: "In fact," he pointed out, "the process broke down to an extent never seen before, opening the door to the worst kind of legislative abuses and special interest giveaways." Daschle explained that the appropriations process had become "an abomination, closed largely to Democrats, hidden from the light of day, written to satisfy nothing more than special interest wish lists." And how had this all happened?

Daschle further explained that notwithstanding the objections of the Senate leadership, "they were overruled by the White House and Republican leadership," opening "the door to the most ludicrous example of pork spending [for the benefit of particular legislators and their special interests], which has contributed to citizens' loss of faith in the process itself."

Out of several dozen potential examples, Daschle plucked a few to make his point: "you will find $2 million to encourage young people to play golf; a half a million dollars for halibut data collection; [and] money for a replica mule barn in LaSalle, IL." On the other hand, the conference report "cuts will result in 24,000 fewer children who will be served by title I educational programs; 5,500 fewer kids will be able to attend Head Start; [and] 26,500 fewer veterans will receive medical care."

What appears to have irritated Daschle most was "the fact that some of the most egregious provisions that were sneaked into this bill at the last minute had already been rejected by one or both House of Congress. The fact that the White House directed conferees to include them shows a contempt both for the procedures of Congress and the citizens they were designed to protect." [emphasis mine]

[....]

After detailing many of the excesses, Senator Byrd asked, "What is the use of having elections if the voters are prevented from knowing how their Senators voted on investing $328 billion of the people's money? This is wrong.The people have a right to know how their elected representatives stand on this legislation, which will affect the lives of so many. I am saddened by the Majority Leader's decision to postpone a vote on this legislation until January 20. That is no way to govern. That is no way to serve the American people."