Having patience will give time to show this president's whole agenda. Every indicator (including his own words) shows he wants the spending down, particularly when it's on pork. As a business major and a former business man, he knows the bottom line. But he has to leverage things, keeping in mind the present state of the economy and the will of Congress.
Those who have fed on pork to get themselves re-elected for generations need to be weaned ... slowly. Give him enough time and he'll make a significant cut into their porker habits, which is a Herculean task and cannot be done without a vibrant economy and the will of Congress being changed by degrees. Members of Congress have to learn that they can cut pork and still get re-elected. This will take a few election cycles at the very least. The best W can do is get the ball rolling, and he is.
It's one of those tortoise-and-the-hare things.
Here's the transcript.