Run away spending is not a problem. It is... a symptom. It is a symptom of the kind of stupid, pay-to-play, corrupt, small interest serving monolith our government has become. We are currently spending six tons of money on non-essential military items, such as acquisition of defense equipment clearly designed to protect us from the Soviet Union.
Clearly, we need not defend ourselves from a military power that ceased to exist 20 years ago. The only other enemy that the kind of large scale weapons we are acquiring would be useful against is China, who seems quite content taking us over economically, and seems disinterested in using such crude methods of dominance. The weapons we are trying to acquire are not needed, as such military battles are a thing of the past.
Next, taxes in this country are too damned low. Our citizens want services, and most governments are capable of providing these same services without going bankrupt. But our citizens don't wish to pay for them. Well, if I go to the supermarket and acquire a loaf of bread, I have to pay money. I don't want to, but my want on this issue is a moot point. I have to pay, want or no want. Our taxes must be raised. Period, end of discussion.
We have a problem. We have a tool box to solve it, but the idiots we have in office took the two most powerful tools in it (major cuts to things we don't presently need, and raising taxes) and summarily dismissed them. Then they decided to (both sides) make a show about cutting or stopping cuts to tiny, unimportant budgetary, and practically useful things. Much like the DHS, it is more about putting on a show, fooling the public into thinking motion is accomplishment.