You don't follow worRAB very well do you?
Elected officials are certainly paid with tax money. You have firm grasp on the obvious.
My statement that I would would cut government departments in half would affect paid workers who are either hired or appointed. I did not address elected officials. Generally, they can't be fired and they will eventually be replaced because they hold an office, the filling of which is prescribed by the laws of the governing body that set up the position for which qualified candidates run in elections by which voters install these people to their respective elected positions of officialdom.
When I fire half the government employees, they won't be replaced.
Notwithstanding your previous density in this discussion, you still don't get it do you?
Getting rid of selected elective positions is second on my list of government parings. Firing half the existing employees is first.
You need to watch that strawman approach, too. Take a lot of lessons from the Velcro Twins, do you?