Debt Ceiling

O'Malley: Eric Cantor And 'Dinosaur Wing' Of GOP Already Hurting States In Debt Limit Fight

Brian Beutler | July 20, 2011, 2:10PM

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD)

The ratings agency Moody's is threatening to reduce the rating of five states with AAA credit (along with the rating of the federal government) if Congress fails to raise the debt limit in early August. Now the governor of one of those states -- Maryland's Martin O'Malley -- is publicly singling out the Republicans in Congress who are preventing swift action on the debt limit.

"All of this brinksmanship and these threats of the dinosaur wing of the Republican party led by Eric Cantor to drive us needlessly into a default have impacted confidence I think throughout the country," O'Malley told me in a Tuesday interview. "It's impacted consumer confidence, it's impacted investor confidence, it's impacted the confidence of small businesses who are the backbone of this economy and who need to hire again. In that respect it's already had an effect. The closer we get to this deadline, and the more immediate ramifications that has for those of us that are going out into the bond market."

These concerns will become very real if Congress doesn't raise the debt limit in the next few days.

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Martin O'Malley

Martin O'Malley Preps New, More Aggressive Push For Gay Marriage In Maryland

Brian Beutler | July 20, 2011, 1:19PM

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD)

At the end of this week, or the beginning of the next, Gov. Martin O'Malley -- the chair of the Democratic Governor's Association -- is preparing a bold push for gay marriage rights in Maryland.

In a sit-down interview with TPM at DGA headquarters in downtown Washington, DC, O'Malley explained what's changed since the last time Maryland tried to enact marriage equality, and why he plans to be at the front of the issue this time around.

"There is a broad coalition of people coming together -- broader than we had in the last session," O'Malley said. "And this coalition is encouraged by the fact that our neighbors in New York found a way to protect religious freedom and the quality of marital rights at the same time.... Sometimes in the history of our Republic, fundamental rights appear to eclipse each other for a time, and this is one of those times, and we need to sort it out."

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Andrew Cuomo

Democrat or Republican, Cutting Back on State Workers Becoming Popular Move for States

Michael R. Corjulo | July 20, 2011, 6:00AM

Climbing out of "The Great Recession", many state governments found themselves faced with gaping budget shortfalls. A popular solution has been downsizing government work forces and reducing the power of public sector unions.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker became a mascot for the cause earlier this year when he began a push to take away collective bargaining rights from public workers in his state, a step so drastic that the state senate Democrats found it necessary to flee to Illinois to prevent a vote on the matter (which eventually became law anyway). Republican governors John Kasich (OH), Chris Christie (NJ), and Rick Scott (FL) all stirred up controversy for looking for similar places to scale back.

But while the most publicized and most agressive anti-union fights have been in states with newly elected Republican governors, unions are being pinched in more traditionally friendly democratic territory as well.

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Progressives

New Progressive Group Aims To Close The Talent Gap Between Left And Right

Brian Beutler | March 30, 2011, 1:56PM

Mark Begich (D-AK)

This winter, progressives and elected Democrats in states across the country found themselves blindsided by a coordinated wave of conservative legislation. The policies themselves were tailor-made to both advance right-leaning policy objectives, and undermine the electoral hopes of the Democratic Party: union-busting, voter ID laws, tort reforms.

Despite high unemployment, and a public clamoring for jobs, these political measures popped up in just about every state where the GOP took control of part or all of government after the 2010 midterm romp -- the ideas themselves were drafted and circulated by a network of conservative groups, and advanced by a crop of politicians that has been nurtured by the movement for years.

Looking forward, progressives want a piece of that action.

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Martin O'Malley

DGA Chair: With Their Union Battles, GOP Has Given Democrats Their Mojo Back

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 28, 2011, 11:10AM

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD)

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley -- the man in charge of seeing to the election of Democratic governors in the current cycle -- says that the fights between Republican governors and union workers across the Midwest is just the kind of thing that could stop the Republican tide and put Democrats back in charge.

"It certainly draws the contrast doesn't it?" O'Malley, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, told TPM in an interview this weekend.

"I think because of the difficulty and the challenges and what we've all lost in this recession, the distinction between Democratic and Republican governors became a little bit blurred for some," he said, reflecting on the Democratic losses of 2010. "But I think it's pretty clear now the sort of ideological detour that these governors are taking when all of us should be creating jobs, contrasting with our message of job opportunity now."

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MD-GOV

Candidates Debate In MD-GOV Race Where Dem Is Allowed To Play It Safe

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 12, 2010, 11:18AM

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD) and former Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R-MD)

Here's a phrase you don't read very often this year: "[The Democratic nominee] stuck closely to his campaign talking points, while [the Republican] -- whom observers said had more to gain from a strong debate showing because he trails in the most recent polls -- pulled material from a wider pool of topics."

That's how the Baltimore Sun described last night's Maryland gubernatorial debate between incumbent Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and the man he beat four years ago to get the job, former Gov. Bob Erlich (R). The race is a rare bright spot for Democrats, with polls showing O'Malley leaving Erlich in the dust as the election nears. (The TPM Poll Average shows O'Malley leading 49.6-43.1.)

So did Erlich get the job done last night and set the stage for a reversal of the polling trend? Doesn't sound like it from the Sun's writeup. The pair squared off on federal spending, taxes, fees, schools and who did a better job managing the state's criminal DNA database, but didn't break new ground on any topic. "Many of the arguments Monday could have been made four years ago, the first time the two candidates faced each other," the paper writes.

The most exciting drama of the evening may have come when no one was talking at all, as the paper describes:

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MD-GOV

Bob Ehrlich Cuts Off Voter On-Air: 'Get Him Out Of Here' (AUDIO)

Christina Bellantoni | June 21, 2010, 6:18PM

Former MD Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R)

A Democratic source sent along audio clips of the awkward moments on former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich's radio show this weekend that TPMDC detailed earlier today.

In one, Ehrlich (R-MD) argued with a caller who said that, as a political candidate, the former governor should be kissing his "butt." Ehrlich, embroiled in an electoral rematch with Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) told the caller that he doesn't "kiss anybody's butt." When the person protested, Ehrlich noted the guy's language and said, "Get him out of here ... we don't want to put up with that."

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MD-GOV

Rough Radio: Bob Ehrlich Hammered By Callers On Oil Politics (AUDIO)

Christina Bellantoni | June 21, 2010, 10:47AM

Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-MD)

Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-MD) cut the microphones of callers to his talk radio show this weekend after they questioned his stance on oil drilling. Ehrlich is in an electoral rematch with Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) to win back the governor's mansion and, after Democrats tried and failed to force his radio show off the air, they settled on a different approach.

They bought commercial air time on "The Kendel and Bob Ehrlich Show" on WBAL radio to run an attack ad using Ehrlich's own "Drill, baby, drill" words against him. The ad and a series of callers criticizing Ehrlich's time in office began "getting under Ehrlich's skin," according to a Baltimore Sun reporter.

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Stimulus

VP Biden, Schwarzenegger Laud Jobs Saved With Stimulus Cash

Christina Bellantoni | October 30, 2009, 2:45PM

Gov. Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Vice Pres. Biden, Gov. O'Malley (D-MD)

Vice President Joe Biden this afternoon outlined a report collecting the jobs saved or created across the country, the product of states sending in their data.

As TPMDC reported this morning, he was joined by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), who was a key ally when President Obama was selling the stimulus to the American people this winter.

Biden said the report shows the $787 billion economic stimulus plan has created or saved 642,239 jobs through the federal government and an estimated "at least" another 400,000 jobs. He said it is only a third of the way through.

"So far we have created over a million jobs," Biden said. "We know that more jobs are on the way as we continue to spend out these dollars."

Biden said the detailed Recovery.gov site is "quite simply something that has never happened before in the federal government."

He bemoaned worries that millions would go to polar bears and frisbee parks, adding, "So far, thank god, that's a dog that has not bitten yet."

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