Tale of two worlds

Coast to coast, jobs are being lost.

The stock market is floundering. Business isn't just stagnant; in many arenas, it's going backward.

The craziness doesn't merely extend to government. It's entirely possible that the craziness begins there - and must end there, too.

Because jobs in government now pay better, offer better benefits and all but guarantee that the most mediocre work performances will be rewarded, private sector employees are scrambling for those jobs. After all, what's so bad about getting mired in bureaucratic mud when you get paid well, have iron-clad job security and can retire early?

Here's what's so bad about it: The public-private disparity is growing. Our nation isn't just engaged in a race between the rich and the poor; it's a marathon in which governmental workers are leaving those from commerce and industry in the dust. When our nation's greatest product becomes governmental jobs, boy, are we all in big trouble.

That trend is occurring locally, as well. Kootenai County and the cities within it are grappling with budgets for the next fiscal year. On top of excellent benefits, most of them are including raises for their employees. Hikes of 1 percent, 2.8 percent, 3 percent, upward of 8 percent all are on the board.

We have a question for the business community: How many of you are planning pay raises this coming year, hikes of 1 percent to, say 8 percent? Please, stop laughing. We're serious. We'd like to know.

A couple of weeks ago, when the city of Coeur d'Alene proposed 3 percent across-the-board pay raises, with windfalls up to 8 percent for some, we contacted a person who has held administrative posts and elected office at the municipal level. This person would be able, we thought, to answer our question: Why would council members dole out that kind of cash when their constituents are having trouble putting enough gas in their tanks and food on their tables?

We wondered if council members were trying to buy votes. You know, keep your workforce happy, maybe even giddy, and between them, their spouses and their voting-age children, you end up with a voting bloc that could make all the difference in a sparsely attended election.

Don't think that's it, our source said. Instead, the source believes budget decision makers in cases like that are simply out of touch, and that those in administration should do a better job telling the elected folks what life is really like outside the walls of City Hall.

To all elected officials reading this, we encourage you to go back to Wednesday's front page. Check out the story on how desperate our food banks are, and what employees there are seeing. (They're seeing not just increasing demand and declining contributions, but, what we think is terrifyingly telling, more items being donated that are not allowed to be given away. The items are outdated or have been partly used. That tells us that the cupboards of many donors - the people who once had a little extra that they generously shared with the needy for years - are essentially bare, too.)

Someday soon, the only people able to donate will be those with plush government jobs.