As a taxpayer, I am concerned with how much money is wanted or, the key word, needed.

We want and need many things. Given that most of us want, we are limited, and so needs usually win. I believe government needs to re-evaluate just what is want, and what is need.

The word budget, of late, seems to have just become a word, not an ideal. The word budget to the citizenry is a word, which must be recognized and adhered. Fluctuation is an occasional need, but needs to be adjusted in short order to maintain the budget. Income has a direct bearing on what can and cannot be done. The citizenry needs to adhere also to specific income which one earns. Raises are few and far between, and are quickly absorbed into the budget. Government, on the other hand, doesn’t consider limits of income, it simply raises taxes.

The scare tactics have come out of the closet again. Some fat definitely needs to be trimmed. In any case, change needs to come. Change is always difficult. I find it interesting that all we hear from our leaders are references to cuts, but no offers of solutions. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights may not be everything to everyone, but it strikes me as an important first step toward solving. The citizenry is tired of being considered as the ultimate cash cow, it only wants more control on how much milk it is going to give.

Marc A.J. Jalbert, Lewiston