Commentary

Expectations in Maryland are high for Gov. Wes Moore to lift from the bottom. His campaign put ending poverty — a systemic, intractable issue that politicians usually shy away from — on the agenda, by raising the minimum wage, increasing affordable housing and making pre-K free, among other reforms. Over half a million Marylanders live in poverty, which is defined as making less than $25,926 annually for a family of four. Many others who earn slightly more are unable to pay for inflated rents, high food prices or child care.

Given all the billions of taxes collected from sales of tobacco products, not to mention the billions more provided through a 1998 settlement over the cost of tobacco-related illness, one would think that states like Maryland would fully fund programs that deter young people from using tobacco (or encourage them to quit). Yet a recently-released report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Lung Association and other health advocacy groups, found most states fall woefully short in this mission. In Maryland, the good news is that the state ranks better than most. The bad news is that its 11th ranking is mostly because so many of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are abysmal.

A treatment that improves Alzheimer’s disease would be a great advance, but Leqembi (lecanemab), which recently received accelerated approval from the FDA, is not that drug. Yes, lecanemab slows decline to an extent detectable on a test, but not to an extent that a relative or caretaker would notice. This drug doesn’t actually make anything better. It just slows the rate that someone goes downhill over 18 months — by less than half a point on an 18 point scale. And we don’t know whether things get better or worse after that. Leqembi is similar to Aduhelm (aducanumab), approved last year by the FDA, despite its advisory committee soundly rejecting it.

Early last week Ivan Bates was sworn in as the new state’s attorney in Baltimore City. His first announced change to the office once headed by Marilyn Mosby was to do away with his predecessor’s policy of not prosecuting low-level criminal offenses, such as marijuana possession and prostitution. Bates has made clear that prosecuting these types of cases will be discretionary rather than having a total ban on prosecution. We agree with this rational approach to prosecuting even what may appear to be minor crimes in the city. While we applaud Bates for this change to his office, we do encourage him to keep two units created by Mosby that are truly critical: the Sentencing Review Unit and the Conviction Integrity Unit.

When crooning about love, The Everly Brothers (under 50, it’s Google time again) reminded us that, “She always breaks my heart in two. It happens every time.” With apologies to Phil and Don, when it comes to crisis management, we could write our own song about those in power, “They always screw it up, they do. It happens every time.” The latest news that classified documents have been located at a number of private Biden locations is simply the latest reminder that our esteemed leaders get it wrong over, and over, and over again. And folks, it just ain’t that hard to get it right. Here are the facts: President Trump had classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. President Biden evidently stored documents at the Penn Biden Center at the University of Pennsylvania and in his garage next to his Corvette at his home in Wilmington, Del. That one would have been a great Beach Boys song.