I don't know about the Congresscritters, but there are a bunch of very smart, educated, informed people in Washington who have a lot of say over how the government spends its money. Whatever their flaws, people like Henry Paulson, Tim Geithner, and Larry Summers are not lacking the basic tools of economic analysis, and they have had more influence over the shape of our current recovery effort than almost(?) anyone in Congress. And there are also the bureaucrats - the people at the CBO who analyzed the stimulus package, and the staff at the various government agencies that are getting the stimulus money to spend - who have plenty of specialized expertise.

In other words, Washington is a mixture of hacks and wonks, and things won't go well unless the wonks have a substantial role in setting policy.