Lifeguard at the Stupid Pond: Bush and Fiscal Reality

You have just won a presidential election. You are a Republican, scion of Christian virtue, champion of fiscal conservatism. What is your first policy move? How do you spend your new found political capital? What is a 3% mandate worth? From ABC News:

The government hit the current debt ceiling of $7.384 trillion on Oct. 14, forcing Treasury to begin a series of bookkeeping maneuvers to keep financing the government's normal operations without breaching the debt ceiling. But Treasury Secretary John Snow has warned that those special measures would last only until mid-November.

But there's more

Republicans have proposed that the debt ceiling be raised by $690 billion to $8.074 trillion, an amount that would get the government through next September, when the 2005 budget year ends.

A 3% mandate equals $690 Billion. I hope W. has a Capital One card.