Sure it would. Veto an entire bill laden with a bit of pork for every Congresscritter, and they'll band together to override it. Veto a few individual items of pork, and you only have two or three Congresscritters who want it overturned.

Pass the Patriot Act but veto the most controversial proposals, and you're unlikely to see Congress muster a 2/3 vote to restore them -- they were controversial proposals, after all. Veto the entire thing, and you might well find a 2/3 majority who think that, on balance, the bill helps more than it hurts.

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Man up.

Obviously raising taxes is the only serious way to pay off the debt. Thats how we do it in Canada, and its no surprise our debt is getting paid off at record levels.

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"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill

I think that Bush's tax cuts should be repealed (at least for the upper income bracket). I think that we need to cut spending much more, however, since many government programs are wasteful and inflationary. Once the debt was paid off (and I mean all $8 trillion of it), I would keep spending low and slash taxes for everyone. That is just me, though, and I still need more input on the complexities of fiscal policy.

Don't forget about paying off state debt too.

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"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill