[Monti Cello]

On the domestic side, I am resigned to the fact that Bush is trying to change the 'how' and not the 'what' when it comes to the federal role. I accept it as a first incremental step.

Bush has important battles to fight and limited political capital. 'Spending cuts' are a pretty effective club for Dems to bash a Republican president with, especially with media cooperation, and that bit of political theater keeps Republicans on the defensive.

There is more than one way to skin a cat. If Bush can transform some programs in a way that cuts Dems out of the loop, and makes people start to think about and appreciate autonomy, he may be planting a seed for later irrelevance of these programs. That's my theory anyway.

[schu]

You are probably right, besides it is nearly impossible to take "governement freebees" away given our present high standard of living and MSM.

The most important thing is to win, that is what its all about. Now make some more changes and sell the ideas to the electorate.