Should is a subjective word.

Mom thinks son should make his bed. Son feels otherwise.

Boss thinks employee should take initiative. Employee doesn&8217;t see the point.

The Compensation Review Commission thinks Louisiana&8217;s elected officials should receive pay hikes. We think not. And hopefully the lawmakers do too.

The commission &8212; created to compare salaries to other states and make recommendations &8212; said this week that Louisiana&8217;s governor, representatives, secretary of state, treasurer and insurance commissioner should get between 12- and 37-percent raises.

The raises would take leaders from below the southern average to above it. But with what money?

Louisiana has a world of unexpected expenses to cover this year thanks to Katrina and Rita. The state still has public school teachers begging for raises. And it still has other worthy departments that are underfunded.

This is not the time or the place to worry about the southern average for salaries.

But it seems the lawmakers may know this. The salary review commission has made recommendations before to no avail. The last one was a 7-percent cost-of-living adjustment. None of the commission&8217;s ideas have been approved by lawmakers, dating back to the commission&8217;s inception in 2001.

The commission itself sees the fruitlessness in its existence and has said if its recommendations continue to be ignored, the commission needs to be dismantled.

Now that&8217;s something lawmakers should do.