The tone by the administration is fine. In an election year you don't want to be the heartless party. It's the idea of compassionate conservatism that solidified our control in 2004. The silly argument is that a tiny amount of money given to Africa proves we're misgoverning as a whole, even though it may be an example of one mismanagement. And the reason they are cutting now is that an economic disaster is looming and there is a cry for a solution.
Yes, we all want to see DEEP cuts government. Realistically, though, we cannot cut government to the bone in a single year and an election year in particular. Lobby your congressman to get the best cuts we can year over year instead of complaining that the government doesn't run on a 2 dollar bill.