In his press conference today, Bush emphasized cutting mandatory spending. So what does mandatory spending include? Programs such as Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Unemployment, and interest payments on the debt.
Congress cannot actually cut these programs directly. They can, however, cut them indirectly. They can change eligibility requirements (for example raising the retirement age for Social Security) or they can cut the size of benefits paid out.
At a time when people from Katrina-ravaged areas are increasingly joining the rolls of these programs to help get back on their feet, it is neither prudent nor smart to cut these kinds of programs.
Ultimately, Bush's call for fiscal responsibility is nothing more than an attempt to dismantle the progressive programs of the American Welfare State. His call for cuts is ideologically-driven and has nothing to do with fiscal responsibility. As a community, we must realize this and fight to keep these American institutions in tact and safe from a conservative ideologue who wishes to take us back to the economic libertarianism of the 1920s.