Politics

Under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, enacted during the Great Depression, when more than half of the nation’s senior citizens were in poverty. Ira Katznelson, professor of political science and history at Columbia, expands our definition of the New Deal by examining the domestic and global forces behind it. Katznelson is the author of Fear Itself: The New Deal and The Origins of Our Time.

The Congressional Budget Office thinks so. Currently, earned income in excess of $113,700 is entirely exempt from the 6.2 percent payroll tax that funds Social Security. Removing it, says the CBO, would stabilize the Social Security system. Others believe means testing makes more sense.

This week the Supreme Court considers the issue of gay marriage; on Tuesday the Court heard opening arguments concerning Proposition Eight in California, which prohibits same-sex couples from  marrying in that state, and today the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is on the docket. Midday on the Supreme Court and gay marriage today at noon.

A look at the 2013 session of the Maryland General Assembly and Governor O’Malley’s trip to South Carolina and other early forays into presidential politics with Baltimore Sun Opinion Editor Andy Green. 

Ohio Senator Rob Portman said Friday that he has a gay son and can no longer justify his opposition to same-sex marriage, making him one of the most prominent Republicans to oppose his party on the issue. In her latest DecodeDC report, former NPR correspondent Andrea Seabrook profiles former Rep. Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican who served in Congress from 1985 to 2003, and who came out in 1996.

A review of top stories of the region with the reporters who covered them and some of the newsmakers behind them.

March 15, 2013

Vicente Fox Quesada, former president of Mexico, will be in town next week for the Baltimore Speakers Series presented by Stevenson University.

In collaboration with Midday, a new polling center at Goucher College releases results from its most recent survey of Maryland citizens, measuring attitudes toward President Obama, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Sen.Ben Cardin and Gov. Martin O’Malley; transportation issues; direction of the state; gun control; the death penalty, and hydraulic fracking. Our guest:Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center.

Since taking over for disgraced county executive John Leopold, Laura Neuman has tried to clean house in scandal-scarred Annapolis. In addition to making staff changes to build a new administration, Neuman removed a secret system of 500 cameras that her predecessor had had installed in county office buildings. Neuman has been on a tour of the county to meet residents and public officials, and joins us for her first interview on Midday. 

A review of top stories of the region with the reporters who covered them. Plus, actress Stefanie Powers on her role in "Looped," the play about late-career Tallulah Bankhead that opens this week at Baltimore's Hippodrome.