Page by Page and Line by Line

That is indeed true. However, at this point I don't care who does it as long as it gets done and somebody really puts an end to the wasteful spending. Unfortunately, it's probably mostly talk again. I'm not holding my breath that anything really gets done.

Actually, Obama did say exactly that during the campaign. McCain said that he'd blanket veto any "porkbarrel spending". Obama said that he'd go through the budget line by line, check programs to see what's working and what's not working, and eliminate programs and appropriations for programs that are wasteful, or just aren't working. Part of the reason that I supported Obama over McCain is that that approach makes a lot more sense to me than a blanket promise to veto any earmarked spending whatsoever - that's an approach that's sure to throw out the baby with the bathwater - and doesn't necessarily eliminate government waste in established programs. If you're interested, newtondak, drop me a private message and after I get things settled with my internet access (I have heat back and I get to stay in my current apartment yay!), I'll send you the xls file I have of every earmark request submitted by Obama in his tenure as a US senator. They're an interesting study in how earmarks can work, not only for the region affected, but to the benefit of much larger areas.