Crisis

As finances unravel and the pressure builds, it's easy to feel you're the only one going through a crisis, or that there's no way out. The reality is just the opposite. If you're having money troubles, you're far from alone. Plus, there are plenty of programs - many of them free - to work out most financial problems. And if that doesn't give you some encouragement, remember this: If you suffer a setback now, it's only money. You can rebound. We're a nation that believes in second, third and more chances.

The Democrats are using the crisis in the economy to steamroll their long-term agenda through Congress under the guise of a stimulus package. It is unconscionable for the majority party to do this at a time when we, the people, are at their mercy ("Stimulus package will touch nearly everyone," Feb. 1). Not a single Republican member of the House supported the stimulus bill, and for good reason. They know when they are being steamrolled. If Mr. Obama is truly committed to bipartisan politics and solving the economic crisis at hand, he needs to tell his fellow Democrats to back off. Dudley Thompson, Waynesboro The fact that the entire Republican delegation voted against the bailout bill in the House is clear evidence nothing has changed in Washington.

Frank M. Conaway Sr., one of the oldest hands in Baltimore politics, announced officially yesterday that he will run for mayor, harshly criticizing the policies of Mayor Sheila Dixon and outlining his plan to remedy what he called Baltimore's crime-rate "crisis." At his announcement at War Memorial Plaza, the three-term clerk of Baltimore's Circuit Court argued that Dixon has lost control of the city, which he described as a lawless war zone. Bowing out Comptroller Joan M. Pratt decides not to run for mayor.

WASHINGTON -- Ten years ago this month, a financial crisis began in Asia and quickly spread, rocking economies and triggering political upheavals around the globe. Today, Asian economies are again growing quickly as stock prices shoot to record highs. Some are wondering: Could there be another meltdown? While economists say government actions can never entirely banish bubbles, many believe reforms are in place to prevent the latest regional boom from ending with the kind of bust seen in 1997.

Actor, psychologist and poet Michael Fowlin will present a one-man show, You Don't Know Me Until You Know Me, which deals with race, discrimination, violence, personal identity, suicide, gender equity, homophobia and the emotional pain felt by special-education children, at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Reservoir High School auditorium. Parents and students, grades six and older, are invited to the performance. Students must be accompanied by an adult. Information: http:--www.michaelfowlin.com.

Two months ago, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon - then 36 days into her term - walked into a silent conference room on the second floor of City Hall, filled with a dozen cameras and a palpable feeling of uncertainty over how the new mayor would handle her first crisis. Days before, 29-year-old fire cadet Racheal M. Wilson, a mother of two, had died during a live-burn training exercise in a vacant rowhouse. As early reports of what happened emerged, it became increasingly clear that the Fire Department had ignored safety protocols.

As the Utah mine saga moves from catastrophe to, inevitably, a place beyond our collective front-page consciousness, the national media will leave Crandall Canyon families to mourn their losses. Reflecting on the news coverage of the tragedy, we are left to ponder the strange legacy of the chief executive of the mining company, Robert E. Murray, and his bizarre style of crisis communications. Mr. Murray was in Montana when he received word of the collapse at the mine owned by Murray Energy Corp.

Those poor rich people Thanks to Jonah Goldberg for reminding us of the plight of the filthy rich - a tiny, too-often neglected minority - but I fear that he exaggerates their travails a bit ("The `rich people curse' in politics," Opinion Commentary, Nov. 14). Certainly, the filthy rich suffer much, what with the occasional call to pay taxes, the difficulty of finding good help amid anti-immigrant fervor, and the insatiable gnawing of their own pitiless greed. And think of the ugly stereotypes we so callously bandy about, particularly during this holiday season with its hurtful "Scrooge" caricature.

WASHINGTON -- Whether it's a White House sex scandal, dogfighting allegations or a referee accused of betting on games, the rules are the same: Be candid, be reassuring and, most of all, get your message out before public opinion hardens. Just ask Mike McCurry, Lanny Davis, Frank Luntz and Robert S. Bennett. Together, these crisis management experts have steered politicians and corporations through such well-known scandals as the Monica Lewinsky investigation and the Enron collapse. Responding to a Sun request, the experts offered some pointed suggestions for sports leagues dealing with image-damaging allegations.

In 2008, Americans will pick a new president. How will we make our decision? We'll look at the candidates' records, certainly - but they'll have no record showing how they'd act as president. We'll listen to their stump speeches, but those are invariably more like advertising pitches than genuine windows into their minds. We'll watch them debate, but presidential debates mostly summon forth the candidates' usual talking points. And, of course, we'll watch countless TV commercials. Wouldn't it be better if before hiring someone to guide our country through these dangerous times, we could get a meaningful look at how he or she would perform as president?

A state agency is sorting through its waiting list of 19,000 developmentally disabled people to see if they still need services, a step that highlights a decades-old backlog of families seeking scarce state funding. Starting with those in the highest need category, the Developmental Disabilities Administration is working its way through the list, a process that is estimated to take six months. "It will help us with planning for services," Executive Director Michael Chapman said. Those services range from behavioral support services to medical day care, but Chapman said most people are seeking home support services or funding for a day care program.

President Barack Obama is fast approaching completion of his first 100 days in office. He's run at a sprinter's pace, goaded by the urgent needs of an extraordinary economic crisis and the daunting issues of health care, strategic defense, budget and foreign policy. He made a few predictable rooky mistakes in choosing his team and discovered that achieving bipartisanship is going to be harder than he thought. But he deserves good grades for lifting the national mood at a time of crisis and energetically seeking answers to many of the nation's toughest problems.

As finances unravel and the pressure builds, it's easy to feel you're the only one going through a crisis, or that there's no way out. The reality is just the opposite. If you're having money troubles, you're far from alone. Plus, there are plenty of programs - many of them free - to work out most financial problems. And if that doesn't give you some encouragement, remember this: If you suffer a setback now, it's only money. You can rebound. We're a nation that believes in second, third and more chances.

Every horror movie comes with interludes in which the stalker appears to be dead, the demon exorcised, the vampire staked. "Our business momentum is strong," Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf said Thursday after the big banking company released an unexpectedly brilliant profit report. "We're starting to see progress," President Barack Obama said Friday. "U.S. Economy Could Recover Much Sooner Than Expected," said the headline from CNBC.com. Slasher-film auteurs know exactly how to write the next scene.

The very real need to address the nation's immediate economic crisis has drowned out meaningful debate on how to address the much more serious long-term fiscal challenges the nation faced before the collapse of housing, credit and stock markets. Because of the economic crisis and the splurge in federal spending during the last year, the terms of discussion from just a year ago have changed drastically. The Obama administration has claimed the right to use extraordinary measures - spending a lot of money, and spending it now - to "get the economy back on track."

China has called an urgent meeting that could affect your life, and it's not about the global economic crisis - or global warming. Instead, it's about a quiet global health threat that is more disturbing than you probably assume: the silent spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) around the world. Many global health leaders are in Beijing this week trying to draw attention to the danger, including Bill Gates, whose foundation has given billions of dollars to fight diseases; Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organization; and senior representatives from more than two dozen nations, including the United States.

Maryland hospitals say: We want our bailout! Not in so many words, but that's the upshot of last week's Chewbacca-like cry of anguish from the Maryland Hospital Association. "Economic Crisis Hits Maryland Hospitals," said the official statement, launched as the association seeks to push up prices for Marylanders needing hospital treatment. Terrible news, if true. Health and social care make up only about an eighth of the Maryland economy, but they have accounted for well over half of the state's job growth over the past five years.

Fire Department can't afford cuts The Baltimore Sun's article "Dixon would cut city jobs, services" (March 19) glossed over the fact that in addition to closing two fire companies, Mayor Sheila Dixon's budget cuts would also lead to daily closures of fire companies. These "rotational closings," along with the permanent closures, are a direct result of the city's unwillingness to properly staff and fund the Fire Department. This will put the citizens of Baltimore at a greater risk. The city cannot close a fire company and expect the response time to the incident to be the same.

WASHINGTON -The wave of layoffs that pushed unemployment to its highest level in more than a quarter-century last month confronted American workers with the worst job market many have faced in their lives - and gave worried consumers a new jolt of anxiety. Capping a week of breath-taking stock market plunges, new fears for the survival of the biggest U.S. automaker and fresh concern over the banking system, the government's report yesterday that unemployment climbed to 8.1 percent in February was only the latest sign that the economic crisis is getting worse.

Washington - President Barack Obama made it clear last night that the worst economy in decades won't keep him from trying his best to redeem his campaign promises. His first appearance before a joint session of Congress was designed to reassure Americans that better days are ahead. But he also cast the economic crisis as an opportunity for "bold action and big ideas," namely, his own. Obama wants to overhaul the U.S. health care system, put the country on the road to energy independence and make major new investments in education.