I misspoke

No I didn't.  I babbled.  At tonight's city budget hearing I wanted to make a point about concentrating on budget line items that carry the highest cost.  What I said was "Duh...".

Here's what I sent to citybudget@killeentexas.gov after the meeting:

I didn't say what I wanted to say at tonight's city budget meeting when i talked about focus on big-ticket items in the budget.  What I meant to say is that we tend to argue a lot about line items without always weighing their importance in the overall budget; and that (at least during public budget discussions) I've rarely seen discussions below the level of line items.

There are a few high-dollar line items that dominate the budget.  I would like the city and the city council to pay particular attention to these high-impact items, looking closely at the expenditures they comprise.  The impact of reducing a $1 million line item by 10% is the same as eliminating a $100,000 line item.

I am certain that this kind of analysis is frequent in the budget process, but it is rarely discussed publicly.  It would be good if I as a public "budget reviewer" could see that the $1 million plan was preferred over the $900,000 alternative for reasons x, y and z.