Cursed, but not cursed at

I’m living with a curse. It dates back to my high school days when they made be take logic.

Another curse was growing up on a farm where I was instilled with a work ethic that I can’t shake.

So, during my time as The Gazette’s Des Moines bureau chief, I put in the shoe leather and time required to track the workings (or non-workings) of state government.

I was among a small band of journalists who doggedly tracked monthly reports on state finances, sat through (sometimes mind-numbing) state board meetings, legislative committees and news conferences, and reported the ups and downs of state budgeting.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit Iowa with full force in March 2020, I chronicled the temporary shutdown of Iowa schools, businesses, even the legislative session while everyone tried to assess the magnitude of the human, financial and social carnage that had beset us.

Many decisions followed that shaped the path that brought us to where we are today. I remember the uncertainty that political leaders faced as people lost jobs, the landscape was a ribbon of lonely streets and highways, and forecasters were starting to brace for the potential of draining unemployment trust funds, swelling welfare rolls and service cuts that would be needed to reflect the new financial reality.

Among the responses was a bipartisan (at times) federal relief effort to help Americans weather the calamity, to allow businesses stay afloat and reopen, and encourage people to return to a workforce short of human resources.

There also was a cavalcade of negatives too numerous to mention here but I’m sure people will be quick to fill in the blanks with their favorite grievances.

The Legislative Services Agency issued reports detailing billions of federal dollars in federal relief that kept state government afloat, funded myriad needs that would have gone unchecked, aided vital functions like education and transportation, supplemented income for people temporarily idled, prevented employers from paying higher jobless insurance rates, and even made possible massive state budget surpluses.

During that time, monthly state revenue reports seesawed so badly it became virtually impossible to draw any viable conclusions. There were months of records lows, then months of record highs as you compared data with those months of record lows and on and on.

We, as consumers, were sheltered for months with limited capacity to spend money. And after government relief checks arrived and the economy reopened, we went on a spending spree (look at the post-pandemic gambling and sports betting numbers for instance) that sent demand way outpacing supply and most of the worldwide infrastructure supply-chain could not keep up and still hasn’t fully recovered.

When people tell me who is to blame for inflation (in this feverish election environment), I feel an urge to point them to an appropriate LSA issues explanation (if they think government can be trusted) or maybe even to a mirror.

Given all that has transpired, I for one feel blessed but, like I say, I’m also cursed. But then I guess it’s better than being cursed at.

Rod Boshart worked as The Gazette’s Des Moines bureau chief for 32 years.