Annapolis - Change Maryland questioned Martin O'Malley's misuse of facts today on an interview this morning on business media outlet CNBC. While it's common for the Maryland Governor to launch hyper-partisan attacks such as the outrageous assertion that Republicans are somehow engaged in a conspiracy to impede job growth, his public appearances also require continuous monitoring for the purposes of accuracy when it comes to his own record.
"We are very familiar with Martin O'Malley putting out falsehoods about his own record when it comes to Maryland's economic performance," said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan. "Maryland is a laggard in economic performance in our region, so he compares us to states like Michigan and Nevada. The difference in those hard-hit states is that there top elected officials are dealing with structural problems in their economies while our Governor enjoys seeing himself on TV and making partisan attacks."
The following points were made today on CNBC followed by Change Maryland's clarifications:
Change Maryland: A balanced approach in Maryland means raising taxes and fees 24 times, removing an additional $2.4 billion out of the economy each year. Meanwhile, the most recent 2012 National Governor's Association report on state budgets shows Maryland's general fund spending has increased 15.5%, three times the national average, and the highest in the region between fiscal years 2011 and 2013.
"Fiscal Survey of the States," Spring 2012 (page 7, table 6)
http://www.nasbo.org/sites/default/files/Spring%202012%20Fiscal%20Survey%20of%20States.pdf
http://www.nasbo.org/sites/default/files/Spring%202012%20Fiscal%20Survey%20of%20States.pdf
2:31 Martin O'Malley: "Last year our state ranked 9th in terms of the rate of job growth."
Change Maryland: Martin O'Malley has earned a reputation for cherry picking data to his liking. Under his term as Governor, since 2007, Maryland lost 36,400 jobs. Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia saw higher rates of job growth during this period. This year, from January to August, Maryland's loss of 6800 jobs is worse than any state in the region except West Virginia and is a sharp contrast to Virginia, which has gained 8000 jobs during this period.
U.S. Dept of Labor, BLS: (Accessed 9.21.12)
3:00 Martin O'Malley: "We have the the 3rd lowest state and local tax burden in the nation as a percentage of income."
Change Maryland: Maryland's own non-partisan policy analysts characterize the state's reliance on the individual income tax as "high" compared to other states in a report issued for lawmakers for the 2012 General Assembly session. The Department of Legislative Services notes that Maryland's current collection of individual income tax revenue is the second highest in the nation as a percentage of personal incomes.
Department of Legislative Services (p.29)
Martin O'Malley: "Maryland enjoys a AAA bond-rating."
Change Maryland: Moody's Investors Service maintains a negative outlook, meaning the rating could go down anytime. Moody's cites “Maryland's over reliance on federal jobs in an era of retrenchment.” Standard and Poor's states that its downside risk for its rating includes the possibility of ”significant reductions in federal funding that currently flows to the state.”
Moody's Investors Service:
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