Quotes from Obama from today's press conference: "In these challenging times, when we are facing both rising deficits and a sinking economy, budget reform is not an option. It is an imperative." "We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness, or exist solely because of the power of a politician, lobbyist, or interest group." "We will go through our federal budget -- page by page, line by line -- eliminating those programs we don't need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." “I think what the American people want more than anything is just commonsense, smart government. They don’t want ideology, they don’t want bickering, sniping, they want action and effectiveness. When it comes to the budget, people don’t want to continue argument about big government or small government, they want smart government and effective government.” “We are going to have to jump-start the economy ... but we have to make sure that those investments are wise. We have to make sure we are not wasting money in every area.” ”We enter into the administration with a sense of humility and a recognition that wisdom is not the monopoly of any political party.”
Agreed - at this point, it's just words. But it would have been very easy to just ignore that aspect of it and just say "right now, the focus is just on reviving the economy - everything else can wait". The fact that he voluntarily brought it up is a really good sign that he at least intends to push down this road.
I wonder how he'll face against the multitudes of government entities that will fight tooth and nail for its right to live.
Good question - he'll get resistance there and in Congress. But he's loading up his cabinet with people who are known for being effective at getting things done and have lots of experience with Capitol Hill - so he may be positioning himself for lots of those fights.
I don't think they are mutually exclusive, in fact I think they go hand in hand. Smart responsible usage of American taxpayer money will only help the economy and foreign confidence.
There is a (slim?) chance that people are SO worried and watchful right now that they will follow the votes of their representatives. e.g. Obama proposes to eliminate X. It is sensible and most voters agree that X sucks ass. Congressperson Y votes to save X, because of lobbyists and backdoor blah blah blah (no, not that backdoor... or maybe, depending on the lobbying firm). Voters notice the vote, write angry letters/emails, and eventually get Y out of office in 2010.
