So, you said "anyone in government." Since we can likely agree that the President is someone in government, is it not fair to qualify the statement and ask, as Bob did, how the president can be in that group of "anyone in government", since the House starts the process?
So, let me qualify - what Bob said was not asking a question. Bob made a statement, a request if you will, for you to qualify your "anyone in government" statement to the House alone. He said for you to explain how the House was reckless, "since budgets begin life there, not in the Oval Office." You took that and explained how deficits were bad/reckless.
Since the president does not, in political reality, have the authority to veto line items or negotiate such things and is therefore held hostage to whatever makes it out of the House and Senate, Bob made an excellent point. To which you responded with a sideline part of the topic.
Edit: If your point is, by this quote above, that the president is not one of the anyones in government, then we have a whole different discussion. But, it's pretty hard not to say you were being critical of the president, too, when you said, "anyone in government".
