Why is it so hard to fix the economic problems we face in our country?

Every time a political official is forced to come up with a solution to an economic problem the answer is always to throw money at it. Like Obama's stimulus for example. However, anyone with a basic understanding of economics knows that pumping excessive amounts of money into a weak economy will lead to inflation, and in the long term, an even worse recession. However, politicians are only in it for the short term, and are only concerned with what makes them look good now and what will get them re elected and therefore they overlook the long term effects of their actions. In the end all political corruption boils down to the fact that political service is viewed as a career as opposed to a civil duty.