Who’s paying the tab?

Biden to announce $36 billion in relief for major pension fund to avoid benefit cuts | Dec. 8

We already have a president that wants taxpayers to spend $700 billion bailing out people who refuse to pay their full college loans, and now he wants us to pay for what appears in my opinion to be the poor investment of union administrations. To me, this is nothing short of buying votes. I hope that the U.S. Supreme Court stops the student loan bailout and that enough non-union taxpayers let President Joe Biden know their views on this irresponsible action. We have to quit paying off debts for those that make bad financial decisions.

Tom Craig, Riverview

Two paws up

Senate votes to ban cub petting with bill pushed by Tampa’s Carole Baskin | Dec. 7

Two paws up to the U.S. Senate for banning cub petting and private ownership of big cats, including tigers. Thanks in part to Netflix’s “Tiger King,” people now know that big cats are exploited by tiger exhibitors who use them for shameless for-profit photo opportunities. Captive big cats spend much of the time pacing because they cannot satisfy their natural instincts to hunt and roam, and they’re typically kept in climates they’re not suited for. Being separated is traumatic for both the babies and the mothers, and many cubs end up in roadside zoos or circuses. There’s never a good fate for a captive tiger or other exotic animal, which is why they belong in their natural habitats.

Heather Moore, Sarasota

A Florida history lesson

This is a bit of Florida’s history that many recent residents may not know. In early 1953, I was assigned to a place just south of Orlando called Pinecastle Air Force Base. Its mission was to train crews to fly the B-47, a six-engine jet bomber. I was transferred in mid-1954. In October 1957, Col. Michael N.W. McCoy was killed in a B-47 crash, and the base was renamed McCoy Air Force Base in his honor. Then, a few years after that, the base was closed. Its training mission had been transferred to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, but the people of Orlando and Florida were not about to let that 12,000-foot runway go to waste. That runway and what is left of McCoy Air Force Base is now the Orlando International Airport, the gateway to the Theme Park Capital of the World.

Lt. Col. Alfred J. D’Amario, USAF, Ret., Hudson