Many frameworks seek to abstract away from HTML (custom tags, JSFs component system) in an effort to make dealing with that particular kettle of fish easier.
Is there an
@SCdF: I think your summary here is fair. But the argument that some people don't have the time to learn CSS is bogus - just think about for a second. Substitute a technology that you've mastered and you'll see why:
I. Hate. Java. Is there something out there that will just write it for me? Not everyone has the time to master Java.
CSS is certainly an imperfect technology - I have high hopes that 5 years from now we won't be dealing with browser incompatibilities any more (we're almost there), and that we'll have better author-side tools (I've written a Visual Studio macro for my own use that provides the the sort of variables and calculations that you describe, so it's not impossible) - but to insist that you should be able to use this technology effectively without really understanding it just isn't reasonable.