Governors Whom Martin O'Malley Attacked This Year, Grew More Jobs Than Martin O'Malley Did This Year

Annapolis - Governor Martin O'Malley, a partisan campaign surrogate for Barack Obama who is laying the groundwork for his own Presidential aspirations in 2016, has attacked eight other governors this year - in their home states, on Sunday talk shows and during the Democratic National Convention. All eight of these governors have created more jobs this year than Governor O'Malley has. This does not stop the Maryland governor from boasting about economic performance, however. In recent remarks in Iowa, O'Malley said, “We are the party that grows our economy; they are the party that wrecked our economy.” This false statement is borne out today in the latest August employment numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that show Maryland's loss of nearly 7000 jobs this year is worse than Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas, New Jersey and Maine. In some cases it is much worse. For example, under Gov. John Kasich, Ohio has created 68,300 jobs this year; Florida Gov. Rick Scott, 50,500 jobs; and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, 26,200 jobs. So far this year under Gov. Rick Perry, the Lone Star state has created 140,000 more jobs than Maryland, which some have dubbed the "Fee State" as opposed to the official "Free State." "Martin O'Malley has no credibility whatsoever talking about jobs," said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan. "What he can talk about, but chooses not to, are the 24 taxes and fees he has raised since taking office which remove $2.4 billion annually from the pockets of struggling Marylanders." In addition to attacking other Governors, it is widely known that Maryland fails to compete on job growth with neighboring states since O'Malley took office. "We are lagging in job growth in the region and are simply not competing with our neighbors," said Hogan. "This year's performance on job growth only continues the abysmal results we've seen going back to 2007." On a percentage basis of jobs lost, Maryland's decline of 1.4% since January of 2007 is the second-worst in the region after Delaware. Change Maryland, a non-partisan, grassroots organization with 22,000 followers, advocates for fiscal responsibility and restoring economic performance.