United States Constitution
Section 7 - Revenue Bills, Legislative Process, Presidential Veto
All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives;
The House controls the funding even for approved legislation such as health care.
The House can pass all the legislation it wants, but nothing happens unless it passes the Senate and is signed by the President.
Since the government has to be funded, a compromise will have to pass and it will not be pretty.
All we can do in the next two years is lay down markers for where we want to go. No substantive cuts will happen until 2013 at the earliest, and only if we beat Obama and can get a working 60 vote majority in the Senate. It’s a stand off until then. Both sides will chip away at the margins and try to get symbolic victories. But there will be no major changes until after Obama is out.