[Vince Ferrer]

I really liked these calls and Rush's response (in that he didn't defend the Republicans) The important thing is that the Democrats are not an obstacle, they are just an excuse. Besides spending cuts, which would be fought loudly by Democrats, there are two other ways Republicans can reduce government.

The first is unfunded mandates, which was a big part of the Contract with America. Unfunded mandates are obligations on businesses, but not paid for by government. If no money is spent by government, eliminating them doesn't cost the governemnt revenue, but reduces the burden on business.

The second is the regulations in the federal register, which isn't even voted on by congress, they are entirely part of the executive branch. "Stroke of the eraser, law of the land gone. Kind cool." should be Bush's motto.

[Princeliberty]

Actually there are a lot of spending cuts
that Democrats would hard pressed to fight
and if they did it would undermine them.

All the government money that goes to big business
like the Department of Commerce and
the part of Farm subsidies that go to big corporations.
Which happens to be the vast majority of the Farm bill.

But Republicans not even considering cutting anything
anywere but instead are fighting for massive
new spending.