The latest Maine Kids Count report notes that 16.5 percent of Maine children were living
below the federal poverty threshold in 2008, up from 15.5 percent the year before. About
7 percent were living in extreme poverty. Does this make the case for reordering state
budget priorities to fund children economic maintenance programs? Could a tax hike be
justified if it paid for these programs? Or are the poverty numbers just part of the
recession?