Can't pay less, get more

It is unfortunate that too few people understand how our budget works. Oftentimes citizens support lower taxes or are against pension cuts such as those discussed in the article "Pension Ruling Will Hit Suburbs' Budgets, Too, Mayors Say," but they fail to realize that there is no utopian solution that allows everyone to get more money and pay less taxes. As a junior in high school, my government class has taught me that every action follows the law of unintended consequences.

Therefore, not cutting pensions can force the government to raise taxes in an effort to balance their budget.

My teacher, Mr. Kuhn, taught my class about the federal budget process through a game simulation on iCivics.org called "People's Pie," which puts the user in charge of balancing "the needs and wants of the United States public," (iCivics.org).

Through this game, I learned just how tricky it is to budget enough money for important issues while ensuring the happiness of citizens. I now realize that for every federal cut or raise in a tax rate, there are many layers of benefits and consequences.

I believe that I have gathered a deeper appreciation of the budget process by trying to understand its complexity, and more schools and classes should teach their students about federal fiscal policy so that more citizens are aware of the difficult positions mayors like Gayle Smolinski are put into and the citizens and lawmakers can fight together for the best compromise available.

Kyra Tessmann

Mundelein