Sounding off: Biden's dog, teacher shortage, politics among week's topics

Biden’s dog looking out for him

Recent news reports of President Biden’s German shepherd Commander biting Secret Service agents at least 10 times in the past year are troubling but not surprising. I have owned German shepherds for over 35 years and know them as a highly intelligent, loyal and protective breed.

I believe Commander was acting to protect his owner (Biden). We have all seen Biden stumbling and falling in public, and I’m fairly certain he’s frequently doing the same in the White House and at his Delaware vacation home, where he spends an inordinate amount of time. When a president stumbles, security personnel react and grab him. This would trigger the dog to protect his owner and bite the person he perceives as the threat.

If only Biden’s family and inner circle were equally protective of him, they would not have allowed him to run for office in 2020, due to his rapidly declining physical and cognitive health, and certainly wouldn’t allow him to run for reelection in 2024 for the same reasons.

Don’t blame the dog; he’s only doing what’s instinctive to him. In my opinion, it seems that Commander is the only one close to Biden with his best interests in mind.

Ed Davis

Greensburg

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Fixing the teacher shortage

I have a few suggestions on how to fix the national teacher shortage, since the teachers union and the government won’t do it.

Immediately raise the salaries of new teachers just out of college, $40,000 to $50,000 at least. I can hear the howls of school boards and taxpayers now. Also, put a salary cap on older teachers’ salaries; after so many years they should get no increase in pay.

Reduce the size of teachers’ pensions. I never met a poor retired school teacher. They have a very strong sense of self-preservation. The taxpayers suffer. No cost of living increases, either.

Adjust the term of teachers’ tenure. Too many teachers don’t care about their students and are waiting until they can retire. We don’t need that kind of teacher.

If these reforms did happen, there would be a stampede of older teachers retiring. However, two young, inspired teachers to replace an older teacher would save the taxpayers money and possibly help the students.

I realize that our educational system has many problems. This won’t solve all of them, but it is a start. Students, taxpayers and school boards shouldn’t be held hostage by the teachers union.

Kathleen Bollinger

Fawn

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Pittsburgh should be celebrating life

Oh, Pittsburgh City Council! The city authorities who allow our bridges to decay and fall down while protecting cats from declawing is at it again.

First, you encourage the shedding of the blood of innocents in the womb, proclaiming Pittsburgh to be a sanctuary for abortion. Now, you welcome the mutilation of our children’s bodies as a sanctuary for so called “gender-­affirming” care (“Pittsburgh to become sanctuary city for gender-affirming care,” Sept. 12, TribLIVE). (Another misnomer, like “planned parenthood.”)

Wouldn’t it be better to be known as a place where life is celebrated and every person valued, than a place where we’ll kill your future and join you in your confusion?

Meredith Parente

Penn Hills

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Vote for moderates

Most people are moderate.

Most people are in the middle.

Agreement is found in the middle among moderates.

Only disagreement is found in the extremes.

Extremism = repression.

Extremism breeds hate.

Extremism reflects lost perspective.

Extremism eliminates critical thinking.

Extremists are not concerned with the greater good.

Your vote is more important now than ever.

Vote for moderates. Vote for those who will protect democracy.

Moderation in everything — except moderation.

Timothy J. Kunselman

McCandless

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Consequences of electing liberal judges

What a surprise! A defendant with seven prior arrests, two misdemeanor convictions and two pending cases in New York — one for grand larceny and one for sexual assault — didn’t show up for a court hearing after he was released on nonmonetary bond thanks to District Judge Xander Orenstein, who campaigned on social justice issues, including stopping the use of cash bail (“Suspect in $1.6M fentanyl case fails to show for court hearing,” Sept. 11, TribLIVE). The judge said they would carefully consider a person’s history and characteristics before setting any bail condition.

Orenstein succeeded in putting a career criminal back on the street to continue his life of crime. I’m sure all the social liberals and criminals applauded this decision. I’m sure Pittsburgh will continue to vote for people like Orenstein, especially since these types of judges work out so well in New York. I seem to have missed Mayor Ed Gainey’s response to this.

Michael Easterbrook

Harrison

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Clean energy expansion a Pittsburgh climate win

Clean energy is something that we need more of in Western Pennsylvania. The announcement of the expansion of the Mon Valley Eos Energy facility (“Federal loan to support $500M expansion at Eos Energy’s Mon Valley facility,” Sept. 1, TribLIVE) is a step in the right direction. For too long, the Pittsburgh region has exploited its natural resources for energy. That legacy has shaped the image of the region and tainted it with outdated ideas about heavy pollution and poor regulations.

While that stereotype of the region isn’t true, we’re shaping our future now. Clean energy is essential in the region not only for jobs, but because Pittsburgh has always been a place for innovation. With this expansion, this region can be a leader and innovator in clean energy. We’re not shying away from the challenge to lower our dependence on fossil fuels. More than eight in 10 Pennsylvanians support climate and clean energy investments like those included in the Inflation Reduction Act, and this facility shows clean energy is a climate win for all Pennsylvanians.

I applaud the expansion of this facility. Let’s green our grid and make Pittsburgh a model city for a clean energy future.

Erin McClain Beck

Bethel Park

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Funding our public schools

There are three bills dealing with public school funding that the Pennsylvania Senate must address. Contact Sen. Kim Ward to let her know you support House Bill 1422, the cyber charter reform bill.

In 2021-22, these schools pulled $1 billion away from our public school districts. Almost one-half of that amount went for marketing and advertisement, such as sponsoring professional sports teams. That is how they are spending your tax dollars, your property tax. Forbes states that Pennsylvania has long been a wild west for cyber charter schools with overfunding, poor graduation rates and poor oversight. The Senate must ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely for the stated purpose and not to make CEOs richer.

Also, the General Assembly must release the money in Level Up funding to use for Pennsylvania’s most underfunded school districts. If the senators really want to help students in poorly performing schools, this is one way to do so.

In addition, the House must vote “no” on the PASS Scholarship (Lifeline Scholarship Vouchers). We taxpayers cannot be expected to additionally fund private and religious schools. The Commonwealth Foundation has raised millions to defeat any legislator who doesn’t vote for their voucher scheme. We must remain vigilant against “Big Money” that wants to use vouchers and school choice as a way to privatize education. Privatizing essential services always increases the cost and decreases the service.

And, by the way, the $100 million for private school vouchers could be used to bring the poor performing public schools up to standards.

Chris Baldonieri

Latrobe