Spending: Having spent themselves into a hole, politicians are trying to make us feel sorry for them as they devise ways to climb out with anything but real cuts. Watch your wallet and listen up. The terms used as they work through their problems are right out of Alice in Wonderland. Herewith, a short though incomplete list. cuts, n. Reductions not in dollars spent but in the rate at which spending is allowed to increase. The University of California budget, up 68% in eight years, is said to face "extraordinarily significant cuts," though it's scheduled for a 4.9% increase. Draconian,...