In my time on this little blue marble I've worked for a Fortune 100 company and now own and operate a small business.  While the former had a substantially larger budget, there are a few universal principles all business owners understand.

Keep your eye on the bottom line.

A few days ago President Obama directed his cabinet to find $100 million in spending cuts... from a $3.6 trillion budget. The result?  Seventy seven cost savings measures (.PDF) were identified totaling $102 million. That's a good start but really, $102 million in savings is all they could find?

Savings is good thing right?  I mean, the President is cutting expenses.

As a fiscal conservative I've operated under the belief that the private sector, with few exceptions, is more efficient and cost conscious than any government entity will ever be. Confirmation came again this morning in an article on CNBC.

While the President was lauding his cabinet members for diligently rooting out waste, Royal Dutch Shell announced that amid a 70% decrease in profit, the energy giant managed to achieve "$700 million in cost savings in the first half of the year..."

Shell reacts to a negative economic outlook by tightening its belt... while the US continues runaway Federal spending.  The sad part of course is despite an $11 trillion debt, there's still no real help on the horizon for American homeowners and small business owners.