This was the lead editorial in Sunday's (Dec. 28) Chicago Sun-Times. Well put!

Quit whining, Chicago -- and start shoveling.

It's not popular to say, but enough is enough.

This page has been inundated with letters from Chicagoans outraged that the city has cut back on plowing and salting side streets this winter.

We understand your anger -- we've gotten stuck in the snow too. But cursing out Mayor Daley isn't going to help.

Instead, dig yourself out. And while you're at it, help a neighbor or a stranger or two. We've already seen lots of you doing it, happily.

Here's the reality: The city, confronted with a $469 million deficit, has had to make hard choices. Should the city further undercut its safety net for the poor, the hungry and the disabled, or should it reduce overtime for snowplow drivers?

It seems like an easy call.

The city, for example, wisely put away $100 million of the $1.16 billion it received in its parking meter privatization deal to support the neediest Chicagoans. Better that, we dare say, than more road salt.

Sure, the city wastes money through patronage and inefficiencies. And sure, the city doesn't always put the needs of the poor and disabled over other "needs," such as wooing the Olympics or planting pretty flowers.

But in this case, the city is making the tough -- and the right -- choice.

And remember, it snows in Chicago in the winter. The cutbacks have left us worse off this year. But when the city was flush with cash, drivers still got stuck and every street wasn't immediately plowed.

It's easy to lash out when our cars get stuck. We've all been there.

But that won't help the city magically come up with revenue it just doesn't have -- or get the car out of the snow.