Jessica, on the broader point I agree that we'd be better off if the government operated like a responsible small business owner.  I'd just argue that in most cases, that's precisely what Obama has been doing.

Consider this:

1.) The economy goes through booms and busts just like we do here in the title industry.  Right now, both the economy and those of us in the title industry are in a bust period.  Many responsible business owners are running at a loss, and so is the government.  The government , fortunately, has a situation where it can borrow money at 2%-4% interest rates rather than shutting down operations.  What responsible small business owner would not take advantage of borrowing cheap money to get them through a bust period if they were given similar credit opportunities?

2.)  The very rich have gotten richer compared to the rest of us over the past few decades.  The top 1% of income earners earned about 8% of the total income of all Americans a few years ago; now the top 1% earns about 21% of the total income of all Americans.  A modest tax increase on this small portion of Americans is pretty obviously something that they can absorb, and is equivalent to a small business owner increasing prices on a product where the market can absorb it.  What responsible small business owner would not raise prices on a product if the market would nicely absorb the price increase?

3.)  Because of the nature of the government, laying off government workers during a bust period does not make as much sense as it might make for a small business owner to lay off workers during a bust period.  The conundrum for government is that if it lays off a government worker during a period of high unemployment, the government will likely still have to pay that former worker welfare benefits.  Would a responsible business owner lay off a good worker during a bust period if they still had to pay half their salary even if they did?

We do have a significant debt problem, no doubt about it, but just as it took a long time to get into this predicament, it's going to take a long time to get out of it.  Obama's administration is by and large making responsible choices during this national economic crisis.  The time to make budget cuts will come once the economy begins to really recover, and we will have to see if similarly responsible choices are made then.