I am curious to see if there are others who feel as I do about how our country operates. After this last debacle in Washington, D.C., I feel stronger than ever that U.S. Congress members should live like the people they represent. They should have no perks that we do not have. If they shut down the government so that government employees do not get paid, they (the Congressmen and women) should also not get paid. If they do not want our citizens to have Affordable Health Care, then they should not have health benefits either. They could buy their own health insurance like many of the rest of us do.

After all, they are temporary employees who are subject to being let go after two or four years.

Serving in Congress should not entitle them to pensions for the rest of their lives. Congress is not a career; they are there to represent the average citizen and should be average citizens themselves. Any other criteria is not representative.

Members of Congress start out like us, but when they leave office, many of them are wealthier than they would have been if they had never gone to Washington. Isn’t it time to cut the fat for people who don’t know how to negotiate a budget, who would let our great nation default on its obligations, and who don’t apparently feel the pain they cause when they stop paying the people who work for our country?

Please send your thoughts to New Times so we can decide what, if anything, should be done to rein in over-enrichment and arrogance that appears to permeate the U.S. Congress. Or maybe I am the only one who thinks it is time for a change?

-- Carolyn Sokol - Templeton