Some of them really would cut everything in sight for the sake of tax cuts or debt reduction. Others are more hypocritical in the way you imply.
> Mad Max Sawicky made some excellent points about the
congressional budget caps and it now appears the bipartisan
consensus is to raise them in accordance with inflation otherwise
distrastic cuts to both the military and social services will be
necessary. Plus, I bet they'll need more money to bail out
international investors some more. I don't think Rubin et. al.
have learned the lessons of the Asian crisis.>
Under their lunkhead definitions, a defense "increase" isn't necessarily an increase above inflation. Defense may not increase at all, so much as stay relatively level in inflation- adjusted terms.
The debt/bailout spending typically gets done outside the budget "rules." The caps and pay-as-you-go strictures do not apply.
mbs