There is a saying that I truly believe in, "if you are dishonest in the small things it won't be long before you become dishonest in the larger things".

If you are willing to waste a little bit of money then why should I trust you not to waste a lot of money. Afterall, it is pretty common knowledge that earmarks are used as leverage to get other politicians to do things, that if not for the earmarks, they would not otherwise do. It is a small amount of money, but it is symptomatic of the culture that exits in D.C.

No, I don't believe our politicians from either side of the aisle will do anything significant to reduce the debt, and quite frankly I wouldn't put it at the top of the priority list and it's signifcance just makes for good campaign talk and a diversion from the more pressing problems in this country like record high unemployment, health care, and the housing market. Unless something is done in those three areas, talk about reducing the debt, is just that, talk. Get this economy back on track even if it means spending a lot more of our tax money is priority one right now, IMHO of course.