Letters: Kids consume enough sugary drinks to fill a bathtub
On average, children drink more than 30 gallons of sugary beverages annually – enough to fill a bathtub, and seven times the recommended maximum. We all want healthy kids, and the Healthy Default Beverage ordinance is a small way to support parents wanting healthy options for their kids. Once a treat, now 85% of U.S. households eat out about five times a week on average. Under this policy, parents can still choose a sugary drink for their kids but makes milk, 100% juice or water the offered options. This is a commonsense approach toward a positive outcome: healthy children.
Alyson Poling, Executive Director, Cincinnati American Heart Association, Finneytown
Soda ban will have no effect on childhood obesity
Cincinnati City Council is about to pass a non-sensical regulation that will ban private companies from listing soda items on kid's menus. This will have absolutely no affect on childhood obesity. City Council can do no more to stop obesity than they can to stop global warming – another lofty (lefty) goal they have adopted.
I moved here last summer. I love Cincinnati. But I have lived in several different cities, and have to say the roads here are atrocious. City Council members, if you really want to improve the lives of your citizens, fix the damn potholes! That's something you can control.
Jack Felton, Green Twp.
Oil companies should make sacrifice for the common good
As consumers, we are all being asked to make sacrifices in one way or another to make ends meet. During the pandemic, we have seen our businesses struggle as well, and they too have made necessary sacrifices to stay afloat. Many restaurants absorbed costs to keep customers in order to survive. Fast forward to today with the high gas costs. Why is it that when fuel costs rise, the oil companies immediately pass those increased costs onto the consumer? Wouldn't it be admirable if the rich oil companies made some sacrifices for the common good and absorbed some of the excess costs instead of passing it on to the consumer?
Louise Easterly, Mason
We must embrace the hard work of democracy
Thank you, Robert Rack, for your guest column, "Reflection on the gift of democracy before it's too late." Americans have become so coddled by comfort ,and convenience, and so lazy when it comes to really understanding our government. With one-issue voters, social media, misleading soundbites, unquestioning devotion to left or right news stations, we're in trouble. We need an informed electorate and a willingness to compromise.
Democracy has not failed because it was found lacking. Democracy was found to be difficult and so many are leaning toward something easier – follow the leader and don't bother thinking. Just hope Americans find the courage and character to embrace the hard work of democracy.
Mary Scherl, Sharonville
Veto law allowing guns to be carried with no permit
Gov. Mike DeWine: Please veto the gun law that allows for Ohioans to carry a gun without a permit and without training. There are already too many guns out there that are resulting in increased deaths. We have road rage incidents and hostile stranger encounters which result in fights that quickly escalate to gun casualties. We had one recently where two men argued and guns came out and one person died. That could easily endanger innocent bystanders also. Please think hard about this and do the right thing. We don't need more guns out there!
Jean Swartley, South Cumminsville
Logic is still logic even if we disagree on some facts
In my freshman year at Xavier University, I had to take a logic course, a requirement that I have come to appreciate more and more. One of the logical fallacies that I learned about was not to turn chronological sequence into a causal connection. Monday's letters to the editor (Feb. 7) had two prime examples of that fallacy.
One letter accused President Joe Biden of eliminating the mask requirement the day before the State of the Union address for political reasons even though the science had not changed. This letter betrayed more of an ignorance of the latest guidelines and a cynicism about the president's character than any logical connection between the events.
A second letter from a Montfort Heights resident pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not invade the Ukraine during Trump's administration but did under George W. Bush's, Barack Obama's and Biden's administrations. The letter writer turned a complex sequence of geopolitical events into a simplistic analysis of Putin's motivation. Come on, folks; we can disagree about the facts, but logic is still logic.
Michael Marchal, North Avondale
Slow down or buy an electric car
President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg both put forth the perfect solution to counter the high cost of gasoline at the pump: buy an electric car! According to CNBC, the average cost of such a vehicle is currently around $56,000. Now, if that's out of your price range and you insist on driving your gas-powered auto, NBC provided a tip on a recent evening news broadcast that is sure to get America moving in the right direction: slow down a few miles per hour when driving on the interstate. Two really great pieces of advice to keep the Biden Green Energy Plan moving forward.
William Moffat, Oakley
Foolish to think US can go green overnight
One has to wonder if Joe Biden is compromised in some way to the progressive wing of his party, since common sense dictates that he let America "do its thing" and start utilizing the natural resources at our disposal to get us out of the current energy crisis. Instead, he remains entrenched in the leftist agenda to destroy traditional American energy sources by refusing to divert from his self-destructive Green Energy policies.
Most of us realize that a gradual transition to "greener" energy would be a good thing, but to eliminate fossil fuels in an "overnight" manner is not only foolish, but it puts a severe financial strain on middle and lower-class Americans.
Jack Peters, Mt. Lookout
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Letters: Kids consume enough sugary drinks to fill a bathtub
