Trying to keep the "glass half full"...actually, it's always more than half full here in The Villages!...today's news summaries are encouraging.

Whichever way you look, at the federal, state and even city levels, the subject of the day is cutting spending. When did that happen last?

There's still a long way between nice-sounding words and actual cuts in government spending, but maybe there's some hope. We will certainly hear some members of Congress trying to politicize the efforts, but maybe there are enough who have heard the public's demands for less spending to actually get something done.

I'm particularly encouraged by news coming from the Senate. The bi-partisan plan that's developing to cap spending and/or initiate automatic tax increases if deficits are not controlled is particularly encouraging. If the "formula" for balancing the budget and beginning to beginning to make payments on our national debt can be made automatic, there'll be a lot less room for politicizing every single line item in the bigger-than-phonebook-sized federal budget.

I'm hoping for the best.