Putting Deficits in Context

As an indication of how substantial government deficits are at every level of government, consider this sobering Illinois stat:

The head count of state workers is 20 percent smaller than it was a decade ago. If the state payroll was magically purged of every single employee, the annual salary savings would amount to $4 billion, less than one-third of what is needed right now to dig out of the deficit hole.

HT Instapundit