Our Government Dollars Hard at Work

OK, I get that the Census is a big deal, but I have to wonder, exactly how much did the government spend on printing/supplies/postage to send me a letter letting me know that the Census questionnaire will be arriving next week? Is this a practical use of gov't funds when they're talking about a 9 *trillion* dollar deficit?

As I sit here listening to all the dire predictions coming out of Springfield about how they're cutting teachers and social services, etc., how they're going to borrow millions of dollars to pay past due bills, and let the new bills just pile up, it occurred to me that perhaps the most useful budget tool might be to cut the salaries of our illustrious legislators by three-quarters. I mean, come on - they get paid more than probably 90% of the population of the state of IL. I don't know about most people, but when things are tight in my household, we tighten our belts. Perhaps the legislators might learn to be more fiscally responsible with public money when they have to live on the average salary in IL, rather than whatever they are paid. God knows, I can't just go take out a loan when I'm running short - nor would I if I could, because it's flat out irresponsible.

Perhaps we should have an income cap on our legislators, both state and federal. Only people who have actually worked for a living and managed to be fiscally responsible (on a real-world salary) in their personal lives can run for office.

The *last* thing we should be cutting is education funding.