LIKE governments everywhere, the Rome and Floyd County governments are cutting their budgets, mostly on the backs of schools, libraries and services for the poor. I am wondering just how much money was spent on Fourth of July fireworks and other entertainment and county salaries for this holiday.

There was a wonderful parade in Cave Spring to commemorate the day, and the Rome Braves offered fireworks on two different nights. (Oh yes, the privately-owned baseball team to which we gave tax money to build a stadium. I haven’t seen figures on how many jobs they’ve created, but I do know that most of them are part-time, seasonal, minimum-wage jobs.) Maybe the commissioners wanted to be able to see the fireworks from the fancy new footbridge funded by taxes that is only 1.5 blocks each way from an already existing river crossing.

I see that private donors have been recruited, but why not ask these supporters to help fund more important needs than fireworks? Do we really need to spend money we don’t have on a holiday party for ourselves?

At my house, austerity, personal responsibility and a reduced budget mean that I have to set my priorities and spend only on what is most important and necessary. I guess I could have a big party instead of paying my bills, and we would all feel better about our circumstances if we ate and drank and cheered enough.

Maybe I could get some politicians and business people to come who would be willing to sacrifice some of their profits to selflessly help with my finances.