Dear Sir,

These are hard economic times. Most of the private sector has had to make difficult decisions to trim expenses as revenues decline. Why not government?

The trickle-down effect on the current financial situation of raising fees without cutting expenses will have the same effect as putting a band-aid on a wound without treating it first. The underlying infection will remain, but the wound will look a lot prettier.

Let’s put politics aside and do what’s best for the country - take a hard look, and put some real government cuts on the table. Pension, health insurance, salaries, as well as numbers of government workers, needs to be addressed before one more cent is added to the backs of local businesses.

Remember; it’s business that drives the economy - not government.

Inefficiencies exist in business as well as government. The only difference is that profit dictates that business clean up its act. No sensible business would raise prices when sales are falling. Government needs to be run like a sensible business.

Dennis Verhoeven