Balancing the budget (n.) is promised in totals and broken in line items.
Balancing the budget (n.) is like tidying by moving everything into the room you do not show guests.
Balancing the budget (n.) is reached by cutting whichever programme has the fewest voters attached to it.
Balancing the budget (n.) is like tidying a room by carrying everything into the room next door.
Defense spending (n.) is like fire insurance bought from the company that also sells matches.
Defense spending (n.) is justified by an enemy it would be awkward to lose.
Defense spending (n.) creates jobs, as is often argued, but so do pornography, prostitution, and narcotics.
Defense spending (n.) is expensive but what's more expensive is not defending it.
An Expense account (n.) changes the question from what it costs to who is going to see the receipt
An Expense account (n.) is generosity billed to somebody who is not at the table
An Expense account (n.) is why a man who splits the bill with his wife will order the second bottle for a stranger
An Expense account (n.) allows us to squander our money instead of letting the government do it for us.
A Family budget (n.) is a spreadsheet that loses every argument with a child.
A Family budget (n.) lasts exactly until a tooth breaks.
A Family budget (n.) is not a plan for the money, it is a plan for the argument.
A Family budget (n.) is agreed on by two people and tested by one.