Giving dictation now...

This is just pathetic:

In remarks on his administration's proposed $17 billion in cuts from the 2010 budget this morning, President Obama was somewhat on the defensive against charges that his cuts don't amount to much considering that next year's total budget amounts to $3.4 trillion.

In his remarks today, the president sought to change that tenor of that coverage. He mocked the notion that smaller savings are considered "trivial" in Washington and stressed that "these savings, large and small, add up."

And he told journalists directly that they should stress the fact that the cuts are "significant" – a surprisingly direct appeal to reporters concerning which angle they should take in their coverage.

"It is important, though, for all of you, as you're writing up these stories, to recognize that $17 billion taken out of our discretionary, non-defense budget, as well as portions of our defense budget, are significant," he said. "They mean something."

It'll be interesting to see which outlets follow that, um, suggestion to "jump," and how high they go. Speaking of high, one would have to BE that in order to think $17 billion means anything in the context of a proposed $3.4 trillion (with a "t") budget. Don't get me wrong -- billions of dollars used to mean something. But they're now a rounding error given the incomprehensible amounts of money flowing through Washington, D.C. To add insult to injury, those charged with oversight of all that 'emergency' TARP spending can't be bothered to show up for their meetings, and now we're told that the "transparent administration" won't be able to account for all the spending on their much-touted website until sometime next year.

Makes sense... the carcass should be picked clean by then.