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James Ledbetter on the spending cuts recently proposed by Republicans:

They are whacking weeds at the edge of a large field where they let sacred cows get fatter.

Exactly. All of the cuts discussed in the Republic "pledge" related to non-defense discretionary spending, which is less than 20% of the budget. They are up in arms about the auto industry bailout, which looks set to turn a profit, the Wall Street bailout, which will probably end up costing less than $50 billion, and a couple of hundred billion in temporary stimulus spending, while refusing to take on our real budgetary problems. There is no way to control federal spending without tackling the defense budget -- $538 billion this year, plus $130 billion more for our Middle East wars -- and health care spending. Obama and the Democrats passed a bill that tries to control health care spending and set limits on the growth of Medicare, and every Republican voted against it. A few Republicans have started to talk about the defense budget, but most still oppose any real cuts.