On Deficit Reduction

(HT Drudge and Cafe Hayek).  President Obama has proposed cutting $17 billion from the $3.6 trillion budget.  That is less than one half of one percent of the proposed budget and one and a half percent of the projected deficit.  As small as the cuts are, Democrats in the House and Senate are vowing to fight the cuts.  Lori Montgomery and Amy Goldstein writing for the Washington Post in "Democrats Assail Obama's Hit List," quote one senator and three congressmen who oppose cuts in their districts. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she is "committed" to keeping a $400 million program that reimburses states for jailing illegal immigrants, a task she called "a total federal responsibility."

Rep. Mike Ross said he would oppose "any cuts" in agriculture subsidies because "farmers and farm families depend on this federal assistance."

And Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey vowed to force the White House to accept delivery of a new presidential helicopter Obama says he doesn't need and doesn't want. The helicopter program, which cost $835 million this year, supports 800 jobs in Hinchey's district. "I do think there's a good chance we can save it," he said.

Reducing the size of the deficit will be extraordinarily difficult, and projections showing cuts are probably optimistic.