TPMDC Martin O'Malley: July 2011
Debt Ceiling
O'Malley: Eric Cantor And 'Dinosaur Wing' Of GOP Already Hurting States In Debt Limit Fight
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Debt, Debt Ceiling, Default, Deficit, Education, Eric Cantor, Haley Barbour, Infrastructure, Martin O'Malley, Maryland, Mississippi, Moody's, Spending, Taxes
Martin O'Malley
Martin O'Malley Preps New, More Aggressive Push For Gay Marriage In Maryland
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."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, 2012 elections, Andrew Cuomo, Gay Marriage, Martin O'Malley, Maryland, New York
Andrew Cuomo
Democrat or Republican, Cutting Back on State Workers Becoming Popular Move for States
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Andrew Cuomo, Dan Malloy, Martin O'Malley, New York, unions
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