Our elected officials debating the budget, taxes and the debt ceiling and whether the nation should actually pay the bills and it all has been so nonproductive. The talk is about whether Social Security checks will be sent or whether our troops will be paid. I think that if the nation is going to not pay its bills it should start by not writing checks to those we have elected to work on this. Why are we going to punish the most vulnerable in our midst? Let's start the talk of cuts with the salaries and benefits of our elected officials. They are not really doing their job and I would bet if they thought this would happen they would probably work harder to find a solution.

Valerie Henderson

Bellingham