Ah, sweet summer time for D.C.'s hardworking politicians.

Our 13 city council members had their last public meeting of the season last week; now they can relax, if they are not running for re-election. How many other jobs pay $120,000 and give you the summer off?

Lest we forget, a seat on the city council is a part time gig, too. Not bad.

And here's what our legislators and mayor did for us when they were actually in session during the past four years: They spent our savings to the nub and borrowed more money that will mortgage us far into the future.

Wrap your mind around these numbers:

»  In 2007 D.C. had $1.5 billion in its general fund balance, the so-called rainy day fund. In the 2011 fiscal year that number could drop to $640 million. Do the arithmetic: The pols spent $860 million from our savings account. By law, they can use the remaining funds only for one-time emergencies -- and the money must be repaid in two years.

»  To pay for the government's ongoing services, such as trash collection and street repair, together with the wish list of spiffy new projects, such as street car lines and such, the government borrowed more money and refinanced its existing debt. We are now borrowed to the hilt. By law, the city can't borrow more than 12 percent of its local budget. We are there.

»  Each year the cost of running the government goes up $250 million. With revenues expected to stay flat or decline, with the rainy day fund locked up and the debt card maxed out, how will our spendthrift politicians pay for their programs and give their tax breaks and build their projects?

These questions were on the minds of Wall Street bond rating agencies when Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi made his regular pilgrimage to New York last week. Gandhi and D.C. have been the darlings of Wall Street for many years, and the city's bond rating is tops, AAA from one of the three rating agencies. That means we can borrow at very low rates.

This time there was much finger wagging by the MBA's who pass judgment on D.C.'s fiscal well-being. Why, they asked, was the city planning to sink $24 million into United Medical Center, suddenly a public hospital owned by D.C.?

Gandhi is generating a letter about his Wall Street visit to the mayor and the council. The good news is D.C. gets to keep its gold-plated rating for now; the bad news is that if our politicians add to the debt and keep dipping into the savings account, the ratings will go south and the cost of borrowing will go north and add millions more to the cost of government.

Gandhi has tried to be a reliable "Dr. No," forcing the pols to spend within their means. He needs help now from the only council member to veto the budget: Jack Evans, chair of the finance committee.

As a tag team, they might be able to rein in the pols freely spending our cash. Otherwise, the city goes broke -- or we pay higher taxes.