Sunday’s Letters to the Editor

Driving away teachers

EDITOR: As I read that there is a teacher shortage, not only in California but all over the country, I am not surprised. Sadly, teaching has become an occupation that a lot of young folks can’t afford to enter. Teachers are seriously underpaid. I taught school for 32 years in a district, and it took me all those years to make more than $50,000. Why would anyone choose teaching as a profession based on salary?

Teaching also has become a somewhat dangerous job. Classroom shootings have become common news. I cannot imagine being told I had to have a gun in my classroom. Scary!

Times have definitely changed during my 23 years of retirement. Violence and guns have become the main attraction for far too many folks and, unfortunately, our highly paid politicians do little to address the problem. Teaching is a worthwhile profession that deserves respect, a decent salary and a safe classroom.

LINDA ELLIOTT

Cloverdale

Dubious inflation claims

EDITOR: Robert D. Shoptaw talks about “informed voters,” all while putting forth dubious claims (“Economy destroyed,” Letters, Monday). I hope he realizes that inflation is worldwide and isn’t just affecting us here in the United States. Most economists point to supply shortages related to the COVID shutdown, crops ruined by storms, droughts that resulted in higher food costs and high demand for goods now in short supply. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco recently concluded that the COVID relief money we received created high demand and can account for at least 3 percentage points of the rise in inflation last year.

To further his dubious claims, Shoptaw references the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. This organization is part of the Cooler Heads Coalition, one of the main groups behind former President Donald Trump’s exit from the Paris climate accord. They have been the recipients of more than $11 million from coal and oil companies. Are we surprised they’re climate change deniers? I fail to see how our republic, or even our grandchildren, will flourish listening to these folks.

LAURA GONZALEZ

Santa Rosa

No second term

EDITOR: I have to agree with columnist Maureen Dowd that President Joe Biden should announce that he will not run (“Hey, Joe, don’t give a go for second Oval Office term,” Monday). Many oppose that because announcing now will make him a lame duck and somehow less effective. I see the opposite: By announcing he will not run, he will elevate himself from politician to statesman and patriot. President Lyndon Johnson did it more than 50 years ago and improved his stature in the eyes of his countrymen. Biden should do the same.

BOB HESSE

Sonoma

Newsom’s tantrum

EDITOR: I’ve been pretty much ignoring all the talk about Gov. Gavin Newsom possibly throwing his hat in to run for president, but with his feud with all other states (red states) mostly and your Aug. 4 article (“Don’t film in conservative states”), I had to put pen to paper. As most folks know, California is a complete mess. Homelessness is completely out of control, fuel prices are the highest in the country, there’s absolutely no affordable housing, and businesses are leaving for Texas and other red states, as are many people who can’t afford to live here. Newsom sounds like a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum, calling other governors names and telling them to run their states like he runs California. We are in serious trouble if he ends up being elected to the presidency; just look at California.

RALEIGH CHAIX

Willits

A chilling raid

EDITOR: So now the FBI has staged a dramatic raid on the home of Donald Trump in the wee hours of the morning. It is getting to be a familiar sight for outspoken Republicans, but one that members of the opposition party need not fear. And it is chilling. What protections do any of us have if a former president is fair game for those who do not agree with him? If there was ever a time when transparency in government was needed, it is now. If we are to be a nation respectful of the rule of law and faithful to our founding principles, we must apply justice equally.

JUNE KEEFER

Santa Rosa

Comic without a joke

EDITOR: Sometimes I think of Donald Trump as a standup comic without jokes. He has set ups but no punchlines. Great comics don’t memorize jokes and go out on stage and repeat them like robots. They improvise. It’s a strategy. They’re just talking, often in a somewhat transgressive way. Like court jesters, they say things polite society keeps mum. When they get to a punchline, it seems natural. Trump walks up to a mic and starts improvising, but what he says goes nowhere, and it has grown repetitive. He’s lost in a personal fog. If he has a point, it’s that he is a victim of a system that made him a billionaire.

GARY GOSS

Santa Rosa

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.