Ray, regarding:
"Until voters stop electing politicians who promise to spend on their favorite cause, that won't happen."
See, if this were possible... but let's face it, there are no politicians that won't spend money that they don't have (and therefore will gladly steal, yes steal, from the idiots that bought into their lies, and from everybody else besides) on projects that do absolutely no good to anyone (but they make the polit look good, which is all the bassard's worried about, because it makes it easier for the bassard to retain his bullshiat job) and will undoubtedly result in the polit getting paid (the other reason a polit is a polit).
There are no politicians in existence that work to serve the people anymore. They serve themselves and the expense of the people, and they laugh as they lie to the people about it.
So, in order for people to stop voting people in that won't do as you say, basically the capital cities (or at least those buildings tied to government "service) would have to be completely unoccupied.
Personally I like that idea. But then, I don't like people, humans being greedy bassards to a man, myself included, so that does skew my opinion a bit.