Democrats in Congress are urging still more aid to state and local governments to forestall cuts in personnel. But according to the latest figures from the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York, “overall state-local government employment is now 2 percent below its level at the start of the recession, while private employment is down 5.8 percent over the same period.”  Our president has rightly called for an equitable sharing of the pain caused by the economic downturn.  It is time for the public sector to step up.  If the right cuts are made, the public sector can remain equally effective but operate in a more efficient manner.

-Paul E. Peterson