Budget Deficits and the unfairness of government

I was reading a Peter Oborne column about the challenge that the new government faced. Well a challenge would be walking up Kilmanjiro while this is more like the north face of the Eiger in pyjamas.
He said that the current amount that was being overspent was equivalent to around £500 million per DAY. Yes, every day, we are spending around £500M more than we get into government coffers. This equates to around £600B per year and how does anyone reduce that? Well the government have already announced £6B worth of savings but incredibly, despite this being a huge amount, it doesn't sound much compared to £600B but presumably some of that must be projected and could be removed on paper before any money is spent but still.
That makes me then realise how unfair government is. A government can basically run up a massive bill by spending too much, grabbing all the "look at us supporting the NHS/education" headlines and then leave the next government to have to clear up all the mess. The amount we spend on interest every year could replace the whole rail network practically! They then suffer the childishly ignorant headlines of some of the media such as the Daily Mirror whose headline was basically, "vote for the Tories and they will cut all the important spending" as if that decision was taken for no other reason than presumably to give money to rich people! Probably my biggest regret of the recent election was that many people in the country still either believed the half-truths of the Mirror or simply decided that it is only worth voting for people who will give you the benefits you want regardless of the knock-on effect.
Whether you like the Tory-Lib-Dem coalition or not, at least they understand that we need to reduce wasteful government spending that ballooned under Labour and encourage businesses so that they can employ all these people who bemoan the lack of jobs. They have an impossible task and possibly will need to raise income tax but then alas, after 5 years, no doubt everyone will accuse them or incompetence and Labour will be handed another clean set of finances to go and spend again grabbing all the headlines.
What can be done? No idea but I would like some regulations that can legally prevent government from borrowing when the economy is strong and from creative accounting that would be illegal in the real world. hmm

Government's Challenge or Government's Making?

I read the following on the BBC News today: "He added that the deterioration emphasised the scale of the fiscal challenge still facing the government, with Chancellor Alistair Darling facing growing calls to act more quickly to tackle the deficit."
Interesting how people can put a spin on things. When you read this, you think that somehow a financial problem jumped onto the government without warning and they face a challenge to deal with it. However, most people know that the government have been spending more than they have for years and years and the so-called 'challenge' is simply the rod that the government made for its own back. I never really understand how this is allowed to continue and then left for the next government to deal with. Isn't there a point at which someone has the power to order the government to cut spending?
It all seems unfair, any new government will have to cut spending massively to keep things afloat and they will of course be accused of being a government that doesn't care about things like the welfare system, education and the NHS (the big money 3). So Labour gets all the "we spent loads on important systems" headlines and the next government inherits austerity.
Typical isn't it!