Budget reform is not an option. It is an imperative.

In these challenging times, when we are facing both rising deficits and a sinking economy, budget reform is not an option. It is an imperative.

We must also restore the confidence of middle-class families that their government is on their side.

You can't sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness or exist solely because of the power of politicians, lobbyists or interest groups. We simply can't afford it.

I don't think that there's any question that we have a mandate to move the country in a new direction and not continue the same old practices that have gotten us in the fix that we're in.

There are just going to be some programs that simply don't work and we've got to eliminate.

If this is true and this was just a report this morning but if it's true, it is a prime example of the kind of waste that I intend to end as president.

There is only one president at a time. That president is George W. Bush, and he will be president until I'm sworn in on January 20.

But if it's true, it is a prime example of the kind of waste that I intend to end as president.

There is only one president at a time. Given the extraordinary circumstances that we find ourselves in, however, I think it is very important for the American people to understand that we are putting together a first class team, and for…

We are going to go through our federal budget, as I promised during the campaign, page by page, line by line, eliminating those programs we don't need.