Maybe some are, but what makes me feel ill are those politicians and their advisers who KNOW that a course of action will not benefit the citizens of this country, and is entirely the result of their ideology. They want to put in place an ideology that is contraindicated for the welfare of the population.
I don't know if its due to ideology.
Quite a lot of politics seems to be driven to get votes, or simply work out a budget.
Ideology may get in the way, but it also leads to reduce funds to things like the NHS (or equivalent elsewhere) and increase defence expenditure. Or lowering taxes for businesses and higher incomes and reducing support for families. It gets in the way of the good of the people for the left as for the right.
I don't think it's a problem with any whizzkids, or any political side, or any system. It's almost inevitable. You have to make choices that will be informed by different aspects. Whether it benefits the population at large or not, is often a matter of perspective.
And it's probably true that many people, including many in government, fail to understand the complexities of government and economics.
It's inherently a chaotic system, in that small changes can produce huge effects, and our current models aren't good at predicting the effects. Not to mention that some events are basically unpredictable.
Even for the those with the best intentions, they can only do the best they can with the knowledge that they have. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.
Sadly, politics (and high finance) attract many people who are only after power or money. Take them all with a pinch of salt (or a truck load).
That includes Trump, btw. 