Words are inadequate

Thing is, we cut the spending to various pet projects all the time. Money gets shuffled from one pet project to another. And spending has been cut in the past. Both cases just require the legislators to be magicians; "now, now, why worry about that drop in educational spending when we're spending more on the war on terrorism? I mean, c'mon, *terrorism*!"

Also, while I grant it's more akin to rats jumping off a sinking ship than anything else, I think it's fair to say that at the various caucases in the coming months to whittle down the line of heir apparents, Bush ain't exactly gonna be the guy anybody wants at their side, even in the primaries, to say, "I'm gonna be just like him when I get elected!"

Finally, while I certainly agree that taxes are necessary (and not particularly evil), level of taxation is another matter.
(Having said *that*, at no point in my life have I ever felt over-taxed, and I think the real solution to cutting the deficit isn't cutting spending, it's closing tax loopholes that are generally exploited by the rich on both the personal and corporate level.)