Readers Write (July 9): The $10 bill, affordable housing, sugary drinks, mental health, long-term care insurance, toilet seats

It would be a good idea to forget the politicians and other activists who are well-known and celebrated and put your money on a real American icon who has brought thoughtful words and ideas to the American population for two centuries. Her name was Emily Norcross Dickinson of Amherst, Mass. Ten dollars would hardly cut it.

The commentary by Will Stancil ("The latest news favors integration," July 3) illustrates how people can draw different conclusions from reading the same academic studies. Based on the November 2011 HUD study "Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration Program" and the May 2015 study by two Harvard economists, Stancil concludes that the best way for minorities to break the poverty cycle is moving those in "poor" neighborhoods via subsidized housing to neighborhoods with a poverty rate of 10 percent or less.

What Stancil failed to point out was the demographic profile of the participants of the HUD study who volunteered to move from the "poor" neighborhoods. The average family size was 3.7 people. More than 97 percent of the adults were female, with 91 percent being the only head of household. Almost 72 percent were not working, and 75 percent were receiving Aid to Families With Dependent Children. More than 62 percent were never married. Only 38 percent had a high school diploma. And more than 77 percent wanted to move to "get away from drugs and gangs."

It would appear that the best way to break the cycle of poverty is to have families that are headed by both a male and a female, have at least one head of household working, and have fewer children, and to dramatically reduce crime and gangs in the poor neighborhoods.

To simply move to a different location is like fixing only one of four flat tires and expecting a smooth ride.

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"If we had an abundance of federal housing subsidies, we would have a lot fewer homeless people in our community locally," said Mikkel Beckman, director of Hennepin County's Office to End Homelessness ("HUD: Vouchers cut homelessness," July 8).

If we gave everyone a new car, it would also end any transportation problems they may have. If we gave them free tuition, it would prevent them from being strapped down financially with student loans. Maybe we could buy them a boat so that they could enjoy their weekends.

Your recent editorial ("A logical place to limit sugary drinks," July 3) warrants a response for the benefit of your readers.

There is nothing unique about beverages when it comes to calories. All calories count, regardless of the source.

We know that maintaining a healthy weight requires balancing the calories from all we eat and drink with those we burn through physical activity and exercise. To that end, education is the key to helping Americans achieve a balanced and active lifestyle.

Our industry is doing its part to make sure consumers have the information and beverage options they need to make the choices that are right for them and their families. Just last fall, America's leading beverage companies launched the Balance Calories Initiative with a goal to reduce beverage calories consumed per person nationally by 20 percent by 2025.

These are meaningful efforts that will have real impact — here in Minnesota and across America.

The writer is president of the Minnesota Beverage Association.

After every gun-related massacre, many voices, including that of former Vice President Walter Mondale, lament the apparent epidemic of such unspeakable horror ("Heed Mondale on tide of gun violence," July 5).

The one common denominator in almost all of these events is the mental instability of the perpetrators.

Mondale is probably correct in saying that this doesn't happen in other countries, because most of them have much better facilities for caring for those with mental health issues.

After several of these tragedies, families have lamented that they tried to get help for their child/relative/friend, but there is nowhere to go unless the person willingly seeks treatment. Jails all over the country are bursting at the seams, with many of the inmates in need of mental health services instead of incarceration.

President Obama could burnish his legacy forever if he used an executive order to nullify the ACLU lawsuit, include mental health care in the Affordable Care Act and reinstate a humanitarian way of caring for those in need of that kind of help.

Recently the Star Tribune has published several articles about long-term care insurance, the most recent was Chris Farrell's July 5 column ("Planning puzzle: long-term care costs").

As has been pointed out, the main problem is the high cost of premiums, which prevents many from purchasing this insurance and also reduces the revenue for the insurance companies.

The solution is simple: Provide the same tax treatment to long-term care premiums as there is for contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Let individuals use these premiums to adjust their gross income when filing their annual income tax returns.

The rationale in allowing long-term premiums to adjust gross income is the same as for retirement contributions.

In each case, individuals are encouraged to provide for their future.

Any immediate loss in tax revenue would be more than compensated in the future, by reducing the projected cost of government-provided long-term care.

The recent letters in the great toilet seat debate excluded the third and best option for how to leave the toilet. For sanitary reasons, the lid should be closed before flushing.

Once closed, there's no reason to raise the lid or the seat until the next user decides what she or he needs.