text: Congress's last serious attempt to reduce wasteful spending occurred in 1995 and 1996, when the 104th Congress terminated several programs whose irrelevance was proven by how quickly they were forgotten. But Congress then committed several strategic errors, such as overreaching and shutting down the federal government in 1995. After President Bill Clinton deftly exploited theses mistakes, budget cutters overreacted to Clinton's tactics by completely abandoning the mission of smaller government. Federal spending subsequently skyrocketed as a paralyzed Congress decided that budget confrontations with the Clinton White House could never be won and should be avoided at all costs.\n\nIn 2003, reducing wasteful spending is more important than ever. Defense, homeland security, and expensive entitlements are stretching the federal government thin while a high tax burden is weighing down the economy. Yet, although President Clinton is no longer in office and budget-cutting strategies have improved, Congress and (albeit to a lesser extent) President Bush still maintain a reflexive fear of attacking wasteful spending.\n\nIt is time to step back and think about the role of government, the obligations of the private sector, and the delineation between federal and state responsibilities.