Stop the battles over benefits

Does it appear to you lately that certain media sources seem to be trying to pit the private sector against the public sector? I was watching the "Your World w/ Neil Cavuto" show on Aug. 27, and a representative from the teachers union in Michigan was being asked to explain the difficulties the union was having with the state over health care coverage. It was claimed that the private sector paid 20 percent of their income toward their benefits package and that the public sector paid only 11 percent. Does anyone know the basis for these numbers?

Also, the guest stated that the private sector was angry with the public sector since the benefits were better in the public sector. Is this true for most cases? There seems to be an effort by some to pit the private sector against the public sector to make them battle each other over pension and health benefits. After all, both pay taxes, and although the public sector often pays into Social Security, they are often not eligible to reap the benefits except to maybe be eligible for Medicare. Doesn't all money ultimately come out of the same pie?

My opinion is that these are all working people and they should stand together to ensure that they receive the benefits promised to them. The only people who seem to gain from this slugfest are the ones who hold the purse strings. In other words, banks, corporations and government agencies who have received billions of public dollars to bail themselves out of difficulty have done so in spite of the taxpayers.

Very clever of those that have it all to deflect their responsibilities by creating a situation where the middle class is battling each other over what remains.

William Kopp

Rolling Meadows