PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Here’s a response from Congressman George Miller. His constituent is unsatisfied.

UPDATE: Investor’s Business Daily:

People worry: How do we repair hurricane damage, fund a war and expand domestic programs all at the same time? The answer: prioritize. Take a machete to the unnecessary stuff — which Congress should have done long ago.

We’ve come up with our own list (left), borrowing from various sources. All are programs or projects that could be deleted with little economic disruption but with maximum fiscal impact.

The typical family now spends $22,000 a year on federal government and has serious doubts about where it all goes. Seventy-one percent of Americans, according to budget analyst Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation, “are more bothered by how their taxes are spent than by the amount of taxes they pay.” . . .

Some in Congress are already starting to look more closely for savings in the $2.6 trillion budget for 2006. Other voices — including those of the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, Citizens Against Government Waste and a fast-growing blogger group called Porkbusters — have weighed in with many suggestions.

Don’t let Tom DeLay and other discombobulated politicians fool you. It can be done. If we can get out $200 billion without breaking a sweat, imagine what Congress can do if it rolls up its sleeves and really gets down to work.

Indeed.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “What happens here is important, not just for recovery efforts in the Gulf, but for the future of conservatism and the relationship of fiscal conservatives with the GOP. If the Republican majority can’t prioritize spending now, there is no reason to believe it ever will.”