Budgeting is an important topic for government

President Obama has made clear he will insist on economic and political/social policies, which will have destructive results. No, he does not say his policies will be destructive but the consequences of his policies can be nothing but destructive. The voters of our state have elected a governor every bit as insensible in this regard as President Obama. We can expect no relief from the governor of our state but instead, more economic hardship.

The county commissioners, we read in this newspaper last week, anguished over their budget. The commissioners recognized that revenues to the county cannot be expected to rise, so the commissioners have dipped into savings to make ends meet.

Our city council behaves more like our president and our governor. They are busy borrowing and spending money. They raise fees on the citizenry, as if there is no tomorrow. Whereas, the county commissioners apparently discussed the difficulty of funding county government, very little of that has happened during city council meetings. The mayor will not allow public discussions of the economic welfare of the community. Can the citizens pay for the projects the council contracts? You have not heard a discussion at a city council meeting.

Ask the mayor, ask a council member: Has there been discussion during a council meeting regarding the ability of the citizens to pay the city bills? Has there been a discussion, during a city council meeting, regarding the opportunity costs of increases in any fees authorized by the council?

You may attempt to read online the minutes of city council meetings to discover any such discussion took place. Alas, the most recent city council minutes available online are from June 2011.

Barry Boyer, Ritzville