[TheBigB]

I'll bet the phrases "2.57 trillion" and "austere" have never before appeared in the same story.

[malakhi]

If 'conservatism' is no longer about fiscal restraint, then what is left?

[jpl]

I'll bet the phrases "2.57 trillion" and "austere" have never before appeared in the same story.

By my calculations, $2.57 trillion comes out to roughly $8,500 for every man, woman, and child in America.

And I love how budgetary increases below the rate of inflation always qualify as "deep spending cuts".

[Zack Nguyen]

$2.57 trillion dollars and the press is going to complain that it is cruel and miserly.

[DennisR]

Hey, it's only about $10,000 dollars per capita. But it will definitely cost more before these nitwits can create Utopia as they see it. The problem with politicians is that most of them are not scientists/mathematicans/engineers. In other words, when they see "2.57 trillion," they just see the "2.57." They ignore the fact that there are a dozen zeroes behind it. "Oh, well," they reason, "there are a lot of people in the United States. We can just all pitch in...blah, blah, blah."

These people - from the President on down - are absolutely clueless when it comes to fiscal responsibility.