The difficult, earnest approach (which the Treasury is keen to encourage) is to look for savings: cutting bloated programmes, firing staff, putting off big spending projects and the like.

最困难，也是最认真的方法(这也是财政部积极鼓励的方法)是想办法节省：删除雄心勃勃的项目，解聘员工，推迟特大支出计划的实施，等等。

youdao

The more we pay for highways with general revenues or by cutting other spending, the more transportation looks like any other government program.

FORBES: Time to End Washington's Trust-Fund Gimmicks

And even with those countries in the emergency ward - like Greece and Portugal - how will they climb back to financial health whilst they are cutting spending in the midst of a recession?

BBC: Deadlock in the eurozone