Every person currently in the U.S. Congress should voluntarily reduce their salaries by $50,000 per year, along with any other elected officials who wasted the nation’s money during the past 10 years. They could get their full salary back only after they got the national debt paid off and balanced the national budget each year.

Members of Congress have no incentive, except to do anything that will get themselves more votes or have their salaries increased. Taking a cut in salary might give them an incentive to move the U.S. toward solvency. Then, they could have their salaries returned.

If their salaries were reduced, most congresspeople would still receive some $124,000 in salary (plus perks) per year and the reduction in pay would produce about $70 million toward lowering the national deficit and balancing the budget.

There are other cuts that, with a little common sense, would save millions of dollars and help get the U.S. back on a road to solvency.

Elected officials could then be called patriots. That does not describe them, now.

Albert Murch, Greene