Via a comment at Balloon Juice, a column from Bruce Bartlett at Forbes in which he tells his fellow Republicans that budget cuts won’t fix the deficit:

. . .there is no evidence that it is politically possible to cut spending enough to make more than a trivial difference in our nation’s fiscal problems. The votes aren’t there and never will be. Those who continue to insist otherwise are living in a dream world and deserve no attention from serious people.

He cites chapter and verse. It’s worth a read for background info when you’re next forced to argue with one of the “If we just cut foreign aid we could balance the budget!” crowd.