A lot of policies are always going to be short sighted and misguided because they have to "be seen as doing something" in whatever terms they have with th sole hyperfocus is getting re-elected rather than actually being anything in the same universe as useful.
!BBH
It's the high time preference of modern politics. Gotta do stuff to sell to the base in order to be reelected, and/or gotta pass laws that enrich cronies and line your pockets with contributions. True statesmen are a dying breed because good people don't usually want that kind of power in the first place, and those who get elected are susceptible to corrupting influences.