May 31, 2011
Tuesday

I'm astonished that Mr. Jaqua doesn't know that there's no such thing as a free lunch. The national debt is $14 trillion, a little over $42,000 for each of us. When you speak only of the local contribution and act like the federal contribution is pennies from heaven, you're forgetting something. As US citizens, we pay for everything, including the federal contribution to our schools and to schools across the nation. It's out of one pocket or another.

Those who argue that trimming our local budgets is not going to make any difference in the national debt should think about how we go about trimming our personal budgets. Do we cut out food? Or do we perhaps cut out going to the movies every week? We start small and look at the result. $50 here and $50 there. The same is true of unnecessary spending on local, state and federal programs. It's argued that we'd only save, say, $12 million if we cut a certain program. Well, a million here, a million there, and pretty soon you're talking real money. Mr. Jaqua's dog don't hunt.

Chris Elliott
Ketchikan, AK