This is a misconception. Those representatives were only supposed to vote on a few things. They certainly were not to be voting upon whether they think I should have energy efficient windows in my house regardless of the "will of their constituents."
ML/NJ
Indeed. The federal government is supposed to do precious little - and therefore does not need vast amounts of revenue. If citizens want something done, they should approach their local community, or perhaps their state government. If the state government does not have resources to make it happen, then it probably should not be done. Or you could consider moving to another state where the thing you seek is available.
But we stepped away from this sort of ideal a long, long time ago. Now, whatever I want should be available to me, courtesy of Uncle Sam, and I don't even have to pay for it, because some sucker in some other state is going to get stuck with the bill -- right??