Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post is very kind to notice that some House conservatives would like to trim spending, and that they’re currently sitting pretty due to Tom DeLay’s ethical squabbles. But after all this time, as the federal budget continues to grow by leaps and bounds, can we be a little bit more skeptical about the prospect of budget “cuts”? One, that the House conservatives’ proposals will be actual cuts instead of cuts in growth, and two, that these proposals would make it through the Senate? Our experience with public broadcasting this year would suggest it’s rough sledding to get a “cut” all the way through the budgeting process.