It's easy for all of us to demand government cut spending

It's easy for all of us to demand government cut spending. The much more difficult question is how we expect government to do that.

The Board of Regents raised tuition rates at our universities 6 percent for next year. Do we make deep cuts in programs that help give middle class people an opportunity to provide their children with a quality education?

Do we make deep cuts in spending to rebuild our aging roads, bridges, ports and overhead electrical grids?

We import about 70 percent of our fossil fuel from other countries, many of which simply do not like us. Do we cut spending on programs that encourage people and companies to develop renewable energies to reduce the need of fossil fuel, clean up our environment and create desperately needed jobs within U.S. borders that cannot be exported?

Do we cut funding for veterans' programs, hospitals and veterans who have done everything our nation has asked of them?

I would guess most people expect and demand better education, safer roads, more affordable and quality health care, a more secure nation, a cleaner environment, a decent job to provide for a family and a safe and reliable food production system. But few are willing to pay anything to secure and preserve these basic values.

It is so much easier to criticize government and elected officials. Maybe we the people have a critical role to play alongside our elected officials to help address the major issues that confront us.

Gary Lamb

Chelsea