Live in our shoes for a month

To the editor:

I would like to issue a challenge to President Bush, Congress and other federal government officials. I would appreciate it if they would take one month and live on the budget of an average American. I would like them to have to budget and pay an average house payment, spend money at the grocery store and fill up and average-size vehicle with extremely high-price gas every week to drive back and forth to work that only pays an average salary. If they would do this for one month, they would feel the crunch that the average American is feeling, and we might see results instead of just sympathy.

BECKY ENGLEHART, Jackson