Materials, machinery and manpower.According to the old-line economists, those are the areas that make up any business.Those are the areas where you can make cuts when the time comes that you must cut.And every long-term business will experience times when there must be cuts. Life is just that way.No business graph is just a solid, unchanging, up-hill line. While private enterprise understood that long ago, it seems like our government “leaders” are still trying to learn the lesson.Or are they?Maybe that is the problem.They are like kids who cover up their ears and go “la-la-la-la-la” loudly so they can’t hear the truth they don’t want to know.As has been obvious for years now, there is a huge difference between what local government has learned and what the “higher” levels are still ignoring.This past week, Sedgwick County officials have announced they get it, and they are putting money where their mouths are.