Life, liberty and the Web?

U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello announced last week that Mascoutah will get $650,000 in the next federal budget "to expand the city's fiber optic system Internet connectivity."

That's great for Mascoutah; if the government is going to spend money on fiber optics anyway, it might as well be in the metro-east.

But is this really an appropriate use of our tax dollars -- especially when our nation is trillions in debt? The U.S. Treasury listed the total public debt outstanding as of Thursday at $11,399,258,796,766. The deficit for this year's federal budget alone is expected to reach $1.8 trillion.

Taxpayers expect certain things from the federal government, but fiber optics shouldn't make the list even if the government were operating at a surplus. Unfortunately, the line is so blurred between essentials and extras that many people expect the government to be everything to everybody.

The Obama administration and Congress are trying to do it all, with the bills left for our children's children.