JOBS: The public's plight

Diane Burright’s anecdotal Sunday letter defending public pay abuse is myopic and misleading. I am doubling down that public pay practices are actually bankrupting our country. Here’s why:

1. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If the private sector enjoys only 401(k)’s, or no retirement at all beyond Social Security, then why must my taxes continue to go up for public pensions?

2. Neighboring governments affect us. To retain workers, we must raise public salaries along with pensions to remain competitive. Kellogg and Wallace lose good teachers to Coeur d’Alene or Post Falls because we have better retirement. Rathdrum’s former police chief moved to Washington for the same reason. Post Falls had a city councilman who works for Spokane County sheriff. They pay more.

3. Yes I am angry my taxes keep going up while I see more and more private sector workers living in squalor. And I get to compete as a contractor against double dipping early-retiring public pensioners while the occasional tax avoiding disability has become epidemic, even expected. My retirement doesn’t care if I am disabled so why should your pension?

4. Public service unions made some thin false promises in the late ’90s that assured taxpayers their pension funds were self-sustainable on overly optimistic investment returns while they lobbied for even higher pensions. A lie. Taxpayers now must ante up billions for federal, state and local retirees because their pension premiums do not come close to covering benefits. It has grown to 20 percent or more of too many big cities’ annual budgets that also receive our federal tax dollars.

5. Public pensioners bankrupted Greece. And they are bankrupting the U.S.

6. Three words: Cut. Cut. Cut.

It’s now or later.

MIKE RENO

Post Falls