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It is excruciatingly difficult for anyone to cut down the size of government. Reagan campaigned on it and was, I think, perfectly sincere, but even he couldn't do it. Bush is simply not a small-government crusader - he's a lot of other good things, but he isn't that, and even if he were, he'd find out as Reagan did that foreign affairs take precedence, especially the sort that have enemies blowing up buildings.

The real problem is that Congress, who really does control the purse-strings, won't take action unless it is led by an executive that can take the heat for cutting their constituents' pork. If a minority of them try it on their own they'll only manage to kill their chances for re-election without accomplishing anything, and that's why they don't.

[Bush is simply not a small-government crusader - he's a lot of other good things, but he isn't that...]

While I support many of President Bush's policies, his "compassionate conservatism" ideology (which he ran on) was a tip off that he would be generous with federal handouts. But as disappointed as I am, it's a given that we got the much better deal than with Gore or Kerry.

[The real problem is that Congress, who really does control the purse-strings, won't take action unless it is led by an executive that can take the heat for cutting their constituents' pork. If a minority of them try it on their own they'll only manage to kill their chances for re-election without accomplishing anything, and that's why they don't.]

This whole paragraph is RIGHT ON TARGET, but the second sentence here actually tells me who's ultimately to blame for the problem of irresponsible congressional spending. The vast majority of voting Americans LIKE the idea of getting free s*** from the government, paid for by rich people who can afford to relinquish some of their dough, and legislators who see to it that that trend continues will get re-elected more often than someone who preaches about fiscal responsibility and the government living within its means.

Those of us who do value that ideology, can't hope to achieve success in this area from our elected officials until we can convince our fellow voters to support and reward such candidates both before and after they're elected to office.