Regarding the sequester, where to start: 435 members of Congress, 100 senators, the president, the Supreme Court, congressional staff members — the list goes on and on. We could cut the salaries of these folks by a third and save more than $30 million per year. It is obvious to me that these officials are not doing their job; just look at the mess this country is in. Somebody is asleep at the switch.

Foreign aid accounts for 1 percent of the U.S. government’s overall budget, or $51.6 billion. If we cut foreign aid we would have nearly enough to avoid the sequester.

Let’s take a look at the cuts imposed by the sequester, $85 billion — just over 3 percent of the national budget. Nearly every government agency has said it will no longer be able to do its job. Well, the administration and Congress agreed to this nearly two years ago. They had the opportunity to fix it before it became a big political crisis. Now they are trying very hard to scare the people into believing that each of them is not to blame when they all are. This the good old Washington two-step — step back and point your finger at the other guy.

I am retired military and receiving Social Security from working the remainder of my working career for civilian companies. I am also over 65, so I get my medical insurance from Medicare. If Congress decides that they need to cut back on these “entitlements,” then I will have to adjust a little. I won’t be able to just keep on living this opulent lifestyle and borrowing money to do it.

If the people in our government can’t figure out how to get the job done, then maybe we have the wrong people in our government. Maybe we should change Congress more often. Maybe we should cut the length of time a person can be in Congress.

WILLIAM STINSON

Edenton