The federal government is living too high on the hog. We are all drinking Dom Perignon on a Schlitz budget. Now that the 2004 elections are settled, will we see a continuation of the budget busting policies of the past four years, or will our elected leaders start to make the tough fiscal choices we need them to? The enormity of our deficit places a giant question mark on the new agenda President Bush outlined last week.

The President needs to stop pandering to his base and acting like he's been left alone at the mall with his mom's credit card. Instead, he should start small, get the nation's fiscal ship in shape, and only then start dealing with larger, more expensive legislative proposals.

Here are some common sense suggestions for the President as he enters his second term:

Use the Veto Pen. In 2000, President Bush inherited a $236 billion surplus. According to the Congressional Budget Office, we now have a $422 billion deficit. This $658 billion swing in federal fiscal fortune is the largest in history. One reason for the swing is that the President signed into law every single spending bill that crossed his desk. Not once in his term has he put his foot down on spending and kept congressional hogs in their pens. The President needs to hit Congress over the head a few times with his big veto stick if he ever wants to stop the congressional pork express in its tracks.

Just Say No. Every lobbyist and special interest with a pulse will now come a calling for paybacks on the campaign “investments” they all made to President Bush. Big Energy, for example, wants billions in subsidies in a new energy bill. Defense contractors will demand still more. The only way to keep the federal spending floodgates closed is for the President to hang a 'no soliciting' sign on the White House doors and give K Street the cold shoulder.

Bring Back PAYGO. One of the best ways for us to keep Congress's spending addiction in check is to bring back the pay-as-you-go rules for the budget. It's simple: if you propose a tax cut or spending increase, you have to find a way to pay for your proposal. PAYGO is the main ingredient for any recipe to get the federal budget in balance.

Defense Spending, Stupid! The military eats up more than half of all federal discretionary spending. It is often assumed, erroneously, that the more national security dollars we spend, the safer we will be. The growth in military spending needs to be reined in. If it isn't, there is little hope for a balanced budget in our lifetimes. The President can lead the way by cutting obsolete weapon systems that do very little in assisting our troops in the war on terror.

The time to deal with deficits is now. It is no longer acceptable to use recessions, Iraq, or homeland security as excuses for our fiscal indiscretions. Nor is it acceptable to fool ourselves into thinking that the deficit will go away as the economy picks up and tax returns increase. Finally, we can no longer pretend that the deficit is irrelevant simply because interest rates have not risen.

Deficits do matter. Our President publicly needs to say it and then write it a thousand times on the White House chalkboard to prove that he means it. A simple plan that just says no to deficits won't solve all our nation's problems, but at least it will be a start.