There aren't going to be any spending cuts.

There is no political benefit to spending cuts for a politician. They get endless crap from those who are having their cash taken away (or in most cases, are not receiving as much cash as they think they need), and no credit from the rest of the population that has no idea that they've been saved some tax money.

The spending is politically focused. The benefits of smaller government are distributed across the electorate.

The system selects for big spenders. Both parties.

In addition, Obama and the Democratic leadership have big plans for a country made over in their own image. Taking over the health care system, a major goal, will eventually cost the government about a trillion dollars every year, even if our per-person health care costs are the same as those in Canada. There are huge spending programs planned across the board in other areas, too. You might have noticed the current blizzard of new spending only a month into the new administration--the "stimulus," the current $410 billion spending bill, and Obama's budget for next year (I don't have a total for that yet).

Almost none of this money is specifically directed at fixing the problems from last year.

A lot of noise will be made about reforming entitlements. Good luck on that one, too.

All this while systematically attacking those who create the wealth that supports government in the first place.