Where would you cut government spending? Got any ideas?

That's what the British government is asking its citizens as it faces extreme spending cuts. The government is in trouble and needs to chop to the tune of $44 billion a year.

The suggestions have been pouring in, according to The Associated Press. Get rid of the queen, said one. Make convicts run on treadmills to produce power for the national electricity grid, said another.

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Other ideas are a little more sensible. How about requiring government workers to book hotel rooms online instead of using travel agents? Why not get corporate sponsors for the grand and elaborate parades that are military tradition?

One resident proposed building vegetable gardens on the rooftops of government buildings and selling the crops for profit. Others wanted to put prisoners to work cooking the meals for hospitals or for state-run homes for the elderly.

 

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In all, about 45,000 ideas came in and were posted on the government's website for discussion, according to the AP. It's a great idea to solicit ideas from the people, if only because it might make them more open to funding cuts in the future.

Britain is $1.4 trillion in debt, the AP reports, and its Treasury chief is developing a five-year austerity plan to rein in spending. He doesn't want to raise taxes and is trying to meet budget goals almost entirely through cost cuts.

The government has already announced some cuts, such as scrapping a program that paid pregnant women so they would eat healthier. About 700 new schools have also been scrapped.