Yea, but your initial post to get a reaction was attributed to it being an 'Obama' thing with the programs listed (though the bailouts were signed under Bush Jr.). Bush entered office with a surplus, and Obama inherited a crumbling economy and a deficit. So, yea... the money has to come from somewhere, too bad the guy before Obama spent it all without replacing it. Now everyone wants to go back to the stereotypical-Democrat argument that they raise taxes. Well, you can't have a balanced budget and not pay for it somewhere. But that's the card "fiscal conservatives" want to play. They want reduced taxes, they want balanced budgets, and depending on their audience they'll flip flop on what programs they want to cut and blame the 'other side' that the programs were being cut. There are numerous examples (if you'd like to see them) of Republicans that spoke out against TARP money, but then would go to ribbon cutting ceremonies for projects paid for by TARP money in their districts. So, "TARP money is bad, unless it directly affects me - then I'll take it, but it's still bad"... So, I dunno how you can maintain programs at their current levels AND cut taxes. That's in direct opposition. They're talking out of both sides of their mouth. Not only that, but on the tax thing... I don't know anyone on this board that's affected by any tax increase directly because of Obama. In fact, I'd wager that 95% of the members on here, all else equal, actually had increased take-home pay when Obama took office. Unless there's WAY more people in a higher tax bracket on here than let on - $250k and above.