Declining calls to offset emergency funding with budget cuts, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay yesterday declared an "ongoing victory" in the battle against wasteful government spending. There's simply no fat left to cut, he said.

Heritage Foundation budget analyst Brian Riedl disagrees.

"With federal spending now topping $22,000 per household, the average American believes that about half of his or her tax dollars are wasted," writes Riedl.

And the average American is right. "There is so much fat in government spending--from $300 million bridges to islands with 50 residents in Alaska to billions of dollars in overpayments by federal departments--that it is hard to know where to begin cutting."

Still, DeLay says, "Bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it." Riedl offers some easy ways to start.

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Read A "Victory" Over Wasteful Spending? Hardly by Brian M. Riedl

Great disasters bring out the best and the worst in us humans. The international response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrates this fact, no less than reactions among those stricken all along the Gulf Coast. People around the world have expressed their sympathy, sent condolences, offered help, started collections to help the victims. Everybody from the Queen of England to Pope Benedict XVI sent their condolences...

Congress is tackling several significant and high-profile issues this month—such as how to best rebuild after Hurricane Katrina and the appointment of John Roberts to the Supreme Court—but one significant issue has fallen below the radar: whether America will continue to advance the cause of free trade and reap its benefits.