O’Malley Praises Rick Perry For In-State Tuition Law

Arguing that both political parties need to create a “new narrative” as the nation heads into a polarizing 2012 presidential election, Gov. Martin O’Malley said Thursday that none of the leading GOP candidates have “offered policies that are terribly different than the ones that got us into this mess” and he predicted that President Barack Obama would be reelected despite sagging poll numbers.

Speaking to a regular breakfast gathering of political reporters in Washington, O’Malley also offered sly praise for the leading GOP presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, for supporting a 2001 law in Texas that permits some illegal immigrants to attend college at in-state tuition rates. The law, similar to one passed in Maryland this year, has recently been used against Perry by his Republican opponents.

“One thing I do like about Perry -- I do like the fact that he recognizes that fair is fair and if a family’s paying in-state taxes, they should pay in-state tuition,” the Maryland Democrat said at the breakfast, hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “I think he’s right in making that assertion… Just because Congress can’t get things done and just because we can’t overcome our current affliction of xenophobia and have a rational immigration policy again, is no reason to condemn hardworking kids.”

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