Income

In 2008, the median household income in the United States plummeted 3.6% from the year before, and the percentage of people living in poverty soared to an 11-year high, recently released U.S. Census data reveal. Economists say the bleak news -- which they blame on the slew of layoffs that have accompanied the economic downturn -- is significant, if not entirely surprising. "The current recession has eliminated the gains that have been made in the last 10 years or so," said Lee Ohanian, an economics professor at UCLA.

When it comes to the state budget and state taxes, everybody knows the following facts: People earning $75,000 or less pay little or no taxes now. The same people use 99.9% of state social programs. Ergo, millions of residents of this state are getting something for nothing, and the rest pay for their freeloading. Of course I'm kidding. These are popular myths (I owe the formulation above to a reader's e-mail), not facts. Yet, like a cracked windshield, they have the power to distort almost everything we see when we turn our attention to state spending and taxation.

College loans: A Dec. 27 article in Section A about the costs of college loans said lawyer Marja Lopees spends about 40% of what she makes to pay off her student loans, including $88,303 she accrued in private loans. Lopees said her debt burden has lessened since she was interviewed and she no longer spends 40% of her income on her debt, but she declined to provide current income or debt figures.

Profits for U.S. farmers will fall to the lowest since 2003 as crop prices stay below last year's records and expenses decline more slowly than revenues, the government said. Net farm income will drop 20% to $71.2 billion this year, down from a revised $89.3 billion in 2008, the highest ever, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The USDA in November projected 2008 net farm income at $86.9 billion. Corn, wheat and soybean prices have fallen at least 40% from last year's records.

Aetna Inc., the third-largest U.S. health insurer, reported a 57% drop in profit because of investment losses and expenses for eliminating jobs. The Hartford, Conn., company maintained its earnings forecast for the year, saying it expected to add customers. Fourth-quarter net income fell to $194.7 million, or 42 cents a share, from $448.4 million, or 87 cents, a year earlier. Its shares rose 82 cents to $33.06.

U.S. trade representative nominee Ron Kirk, the latest top-level appointee in the Obama administration to have an income-tax problem, has agreed to pay about $10,000 in back taxes. Kirk, the former mayor of Dallas, has agreed to file amended income tax returns for three years and to pay the taxes. The tax discrepancies were discovered during a review by the Senate Finance Committee.

Re " 'Class warfare' shots," Letters, March 3 A letter writer who runs a small business states that she will lay off staff in order to avoid paying what amounts to a 4.6% increase in her taxes on the $50,000 her family earns over the $250,000 limit. I can only assume that she is foggy on the details of President Obama's new tax code. Or perhaps she is lying. To put employees in the unemployment line, plus give up tens of thousands in net income because she might have to pay an additional $2,300 in taxes, is just stupid.

Madoff tax relief: An article in Business on Wednesday about income tax reimbursements to swindler Bernard Madoff's clients said victims could claim tax deductions for losses of money invested with him over only the last five years. Taxpayers can claim deductions based on all of the money they lost investing with Madoff, according to the Internal Revenue Service. If that amount exceeds the investor's 2008 income, the losses can be applied against income dating back up to five years.

Hasbro Inc. said first-quarter profit dropped 47% as consumers cut spending and retailers trimmed inventory. Net income fell to $19.7 million, or 14 cents a share, from $37.5 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier, the Pawtucket, R.I., company said. Revenue dropped 12% to $621.3 million. Hasbro shares dropped 75 cents, or 2.7%, to $27.18.