Compromise

President Barack Obama signaled on election night that he's willing to work with leaders in both parties on deficit reduction and tax reform. And House Speaker John A. Boehner said a day later that Republicans were open to new revenue. Is compromise possible? It's definitely needed. The country is headed for the so-called fiscal cliff because of steep spending cuts that automatically kick in next year on top of huge tax increases from the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts next month.

As this page has devoted much ink to criticizing Republicans in Congress for hardening their positions on matters of federal tax and budget policy to the point where compromise is impossible, it is beyond disappointing to see a leading Senate Democrat engaging in similar behavior. Whether it's equivalent or not, Sen. Charles E. Schumer went too far this week when he rejected any possibility of lower tax rates for the wealthy. Mind you, we understand where Senator Schumer is coming from.

Twenty million Americans live at or below the federal poverty line and are uninsured. The Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could leave many without access to affordable health insurance - but only if we let ideological warfare triumph over practical policy solutions. The court upheld the Medicaid expansion under the ACA as constitutional but stated that the federal government cannot punish states that opt out of this provision by taking away existing Medicaid funding for current enrollees.

Two pieces of legislation sponsored by 5th District Councilman David Marks - one regarding a bike trail in Towson and another on the county's Planned Unit Development ordinance - faced a rocky road last week with scrutiny from citizens and fellow council members. But after each was amended to assuage concerns, both passed at Monday's County Council meeting. The first, a resolution that adds a quarter-mile West Towson neighborhood trail to the Eastern Baltimore County Pedestrian and Bicycling Plan, had been challenged by the West Towson Neighborhood Association Friday.

It's bad enough when economists contradict each other, but it's even more frustrating when they contradict themselves. Or, as George Bernard Shaw once observed, if all economists were laid end to end, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion. That thought came to mind last week when the Congressional Budget Office reported that "Taxmageddon," the combination of expiring tax cuts and spending cuts scheduled to take effect in January, could push the nation back into recession. That's a worrisome prospect that appears to have gotten the attention of Congress.

Look who's smiling now? Even as the Maryland General Assembly was heading toward a budgetary train wreck last week, there was one unlikely group that had trouble believing its good fortune coming out of the 90-day session - the state's environmental community. Not only did Maryland's Chesapeake Bay lobby push through a doubling of the flush tax, but it managed to persuade lawmakers to require the state's largest jurisdictions to impose new fees that will be invested in storm water runoff controls.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller should promptly step down following his outrageous, irresponsible, unprofessional, petulant, self-centered performance during the final days and hours of the just-completed 90-day session of the General Assembly ("Debacle in Annapolis," April 11). He purposely sabotaged the budget compromise for his personal campaign to expand gambling to a sixth site in Maryland. Senator Miller's arrogance and egotism are breathtaking. Mr. Miller then has the audacity to suggest yet another, special session of the General Assembly at an additional cost of $21,000 to $100,000 per day to the already-overburdened Maryland taxpayers.

Gov. Martin O'Malley on Thursday accepted some of the blame for the budget impasse that left the state with a spending plan that cuts about half a billion dollars from key Democratic priorities such as education. "We all hold blame," O'Malley, a Democrat, said on WTOP's monthly Ask the Governor show. "We're all public servants. ... When the public is ill-served, as the public is right now, we all share the responsibility. " "I wish we had had a different result," he said. "It was not for lack of trying.

It wouldn't be right to call the calamitous end of the General Assembly session a failure. The word "failure" implies that those involved were trying to do the right thing and were for some reason unsuccessful. What happened Monday night, as the politics of an ill-considered gambling expansion bill tangled up a sensible compromise on taxes and the budget, was something quite different, a mixture of sabotage, negligence and too-cute-by-half gamesmanship. It reflects poorly on Maryland's leaders and belies the seriousness of the one real matter at hand: Who should be asked to pay more to maintain crucial state services, and how much?

MasterCard and Visa are warning banks nationwide of a massive breach at an unnamed U.S-based credit card processor, potentially involving as more than 10 million card numbers could be compromised, according to the blog, KrebsonSecurity . Blogger Brian Krebs says Visa and MasterCard started alerting banks to the problem late last week. So far, Krebs says, the compromised cards seemed to be concentrated in the New York City area. I will post more information from MasterCard and Visa when it comes in. Update 3: Response from MasterCard  "MasterCard is currently investigating a potential account data compromise event of a U.S.-based entity and, as a result,  we have alerted payment card issuers regarding certain MasterCard accounts that are potentially at risk.