Income

For all his talk of "compassionate conservatism," President Bush has done remarkably little to empower America's poor. What a contrast with his predecessor, Bill Clinton, who radically reformed welfare, moved millions of people off the dole and into jobs, and made a serious dent in poverty. The Bush administration's inaction leaves it to America's next president to pick up where Mr. Clinton left off. But while Mr. Clinton's reforms encouraged welfare recipients - mostly single mothers with children - to work, it's time to focus on the other side of the poverty equation: the men who father their children.

In 1990, newspapers around the country profiled the story of Grace Capetillo, a welfare mom from Milwaukee who, after managing to save $3,000 in the bank, was hauled into court by the county Department of Social Services and charged with fraud. Having breached the limit on allowable assets, Ms. Capetillo was found guilty and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000, spend down another $1,000 of the money she had worked hard to save, and promise not to save again if she wanted to stay on assistance.

A recent report from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that increasing numbers of the nation's poor are spending more of their income on rent while also waiting longer for federal subsidies. The report reflects the worsening crisis in the supply of affordable housing, a shortage that is certainly being felt in Baltimore. Steps are being taken here to deal with the problem, but far more needs to be done. Nearly 6 million households nationwide met HUD's definition of worst-case housing needs in 2005 (the latest available data)

As House and Senate leaders move to reconcile differences over Gov. Martin O'Malley's ambitious deficit-reduction and spending package, the greatest priority needs to be placed on fairness. Marylanders are willing to pay more for needed government services, but only if the tax increases are equitable. In terms of the bottom line, the House and Senate are not far apart at all: Both would raise about $1.5 billion in new revenue by 2010. But in terms of fairness, there's a sizable difference: The Senate plan lacks the needed progressivity.

Is President Bush a liar who hates children? That's what many of his critics now are asking. Why else, they say, would he refuse to sign a bill providing health insurance to poor kids? Specifically, the president has vetoed a bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which was designed to provide health coverage to lower-income children. One nationally syndicated columnist went so far as to call Mr. Bush's rationale in vetoing the bill a "pack of flat-out lies."

Anyone who follows the media has probably heard many times that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and incomes of the population in general are stagnating. Moreover, those who say such things can produce many statistics, including data from the Census Bureau, that seem to indicate that. On the other hand, income tax data recently released by the Internal Revenue Service seem to show the exact opposite: People in the bottom fifth of income-tax filers in 1996 had their incomes increase by 91 percent by 2005.

Fourteen families are getting ready to buy new, low-priced townhouses and condominiums, thanks to the latest Howard County moderate-income housing lottery. Thomas P. Carbo, deputy county housing director, said a lottery drawing last week awarded five new townhouses in Shipley's Grant on Route 108 near Snowden River Parkway, at $168,000 each; five Elkridge Crossing condominium apartments on U.S. 1, priced at $178,000 each; and four Elkridge Crossing garage townhouses at $204,000 each. Carbo said the housing winners were people employed by Howard County General Hospital, the county state's attorney's office, the National Institutes of Health, county schools, police, the state health department and Enterprise Community Partners.

OF THE millions of Americans without health insurance, a surprising 20 percent are eligible for an employer plan.That's a far higher percentage than anyone imagined, says Peter Cunningham, senior health researcher for the nonpartisan Center for Studying Health System Change (CSHSC) in Washington, which has just released a new study of the uninsured.Why do some breadwinners leave themselves and their families unprotected? Most of the time, it's because they can't afford the policy's price.

The retailer behind T. J. Maxx and Marshalls will bring an off-price concept targeted to lower-income shoppers to Maryland in November, with the opening of two A. J. Wright stores.TJX Cos. of Framingham, Mass., is going head-to-head with discounters Target and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. with the chain it launched last September.A. J. Wright stores will open by mid-November in the redeveloped Harundale Mall in Glen Burnie and in Meadows Park Shopping Center on Security Boulevard in Woodlawn.Like T. J. Maxx and Marshalls, the new chain will sell branded apparel at a discount.

This week in The Sun150 years agoAugust 22, 1849: For California -- The barque Martin W. Brett. Capt. Whittman, sailed yesterday for San Francisco. She carries out freight, lumber, bricks, tobacco, liquors &c., besides several houses ready framed for being put up immediately upon their arrival. ... The good barque has our best wishes for a speedy passage, and may the passengers reap, in this new world to which they are going, all that their hopes anticipate. Many of them go to remain permanently, and make California their future home.

Marylanders' earnings dropped in the spring as the national recession ate away at jobs and incomes, the first reversal in 15 years. Wages and benefits - which together add up to earnings - fell about half a percent here during the April through June period, compared with the previous three months, according to estimates released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That does not account for the fact that the cost of goods rose during the spring, making the drop feel worse to residents as they spent their money.

The Federal Communications Commission now has a full complement of five commissioners, bringing decades of professional experience to the task of overseeing the dynamic information, communications and technology sectors that make up one-sixth of our national economy. Their first major assignment is to develop a congressionally mandated nationwide broadband plan. That process has begun, although unfortunately much of the $7 billion in federal stimulus funds appropriated to further increase broadband deployment and adoption will already have been distributed by the time the FCC's plan is released early in 2010.

Tax hike was mistake Even if there isn't a mass exodus of Maryland millionaires, the law of diminishing returns still holds: The more you tax of something, the less you get from it. Implementing a millionaire's tax is a bad idea even in good economic times. Mark Newgent Millionaires ready to contribute The Sun published an article Thursday claiming that Maryland's temporary tax surcharge on high incomes "appears to be backfiring," meaning that it is driving high-income earners out of the state ("Top payers fade away," May 14)

Speaking to Congress recently, President Barack Obama praised "the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their jobs." His sentiments need to be echoed and acted upon by community leaders everywhere. Some have already heeded the call. In early February, Montgomery County teachers accepted school administrators' proposal that they forgo raises they were expecting in order to avert layoffs. Last year, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank voluntarily cut his salary from $500,000 to $26,000, saying he should be paid according to his Baltimore-based company's performance.

Drive down any number of blocks in the Nehemiah community in West Baltimore's Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood and you will find something noticeably absent from the windows and front porches of the community's well-kept homes: Foreclosure signs. Despite the conventional wisdom, this neighborhood is living proof that it is possible for low-income homeowners to avoid foreclosure. There's a reason why more than 500 residents in Sandtown-Winchester enjoy stable homeownership despite annual incomes of only $14,400 to $44,600.

For middle-income families who want to live in Howard County, the four new detached homes sitting in a row in Elkridge offer discount prices and guaranteed financing. But they lack one thing - qualified buyers. The 1,728-square-foot, three-bedroom homes on Cherry Avenue near the Anne Arundel County border are newly finished - three by the nonprofit Columbia Housing Corp. and one by Habitat for Humanity, the church-backed affordable-home builder. Although several families are working with the groups to qualify as buyers of three of the residences, no sales are complete, even though the project broke ground nearly a year ago. "I think it's just hard to get the message out there," said Grace A. Morris, executive director of Columbia Housing, a 41-year-old group that operates hundreds of units of subsidized rental housing, mostly in Columbia.

Palins' income tax returns released 5 WASHINGTON: The McCain campaign released financial documents yesterday showing that Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska had assets of over $1 million, consisting largely of an ample retirement portfolio, real estate and her husband's commercial fishing business. Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, kept her tax rate low by putting all of her investments in tax-deferred accounts. In addition, she did not report as income the $17,000 that she received in per diem payments from the state while she remained at her home in Wasilla, a position debated by tax experts.

More than 650 older Howard County homeowners received a collective $380,000 discount on their local property tax bills so far this fiscal year, but several members of a residents committee looking at the program think that is not enough relief. Under the two-year-old Senior Tax Credit Law, people ages 70 or older who own their homes, have household incomes under $70,000 and assets of less than $500,000, excluding their homes and retirement accounts, are entitled to a 25 percent reduction in property taxes.

WASHINGTON -- Lofty is out. Lists are in. On economic issues, Sen. Barack Obama has deflated his soaring rhetoric as he moves closer to the Democratic nomination. Instead, he's focusing on specifics. Recent speeches are packed with detailed lists of assistance for middle-class families, senior citizens, students and job seekers. "We're going to provide an income tax cut to ordinary families, like the ones that work in this plant, that's worth up to a thousand dollars per family per year," Obama said during an appearance at a Missouri clothing manufacturer last week.

After almost four decades of charging families a fraction of their income to live in Howard County's largest public housing complex, county officials are considering substantial rent increases. Concern over the ability to cover operating costs at the 94-unit Hilltop Housing community in Ellicott City while major repairs on the aging complex are looming has led county housing director Stacy L. Spann to propose the increase. Funding for the townhouse and apartment community comes from a one-eighth share of the county's real estate transfer tax. But the housing slump has reduced that revenue from $4.7 million in fiscal 2006 to a projected $2.8 million this year.