Democrats should question spending

At a recent North West Neighborhood Association candidate forum in Elgin, State Sen. Michael Noland took questions from the audience. I rose and told Sen. Noland that I am one of those millions of angry citizens across this nation that are going to have to make hard decisions about our budgets because our government and corruption on Wall Street have led us into the worst economic crisis of the last half century.

I asked the senator what tough choices he and his majority Democratic party are going to have to make to stop out of control spending, to which he in turn responded by asking me where they should start. Should it be the disabled, the mentally ill, schoolchildren, roads and bridges? How disgusting. In response to a serious question in serious times, Sen. Noland turns on me, a citizen, and implies that I am uncompassionate, uncaring and ignorant of those in need and would advocate the taking of food from the mouths of babies and letting our bridges fall down.

I do not need a lesson in fiscal responsibility from you, Sen. Noland. I have to practice it every day or I don't eat. But you, sir, and the Democratically controlled Senate, House and governor's mansion had better wake up to the cold stone reality that this economy is in crisis. It's not your money that you are spending; it's mine, and Jane's and Joe the Plumber's. If you and your party don't start making the difficult decisions that must be made to balance the budget and stop run away spending there won't be an issue with your perception of the worn out class divide between the "haves" and the "have nots," because we'll all be the "have nots." Or is that your intention, sir?

Julie Schmidt

Elgin