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I watched closely the recent debate in Congress regarding how to avoid a government shutdown. As a conservative, I would have liked to see more budget cuts in the agreement that was reached. But as a tactician and, more importantly, a strategist, I know that Speaker of the House John Boehner accomplished far more than mere budget cuts. He changed the policy trajectory from spending without care or limit to making small cuts, in preparation for much larger ones to come when the Congress considers both raising the debt ceiling and formulating the 2012 budget.