Closing the door on the poor

The article ``The Push for Welfare Reform,'' Nov. 16, states: ``mean-spirited, punitive welfare `reform' would be simply wrong. Welfare reform motivated by a genuine desire for the economic empowerment of the poor, including the working poor, is what is called for.'' Unfortunately, the aspirations of the new Congress are not in the direction of empowering the poor. Rather, the new Congress seeks to give tax breaks to those who sell their homes at a loss. If that isn't a transfer payment from the have-nots to the haves, I don't know what is. Erlyn Baack, Denver, Colo.

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