O'Malley Pushes Radical Economic AgendaFfor U.S., Maryland

Annapolis - Change Maryland released a fact sheet today to expose a radical nationwide movement underway to redefine economic progress in America. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley recently hosted an Annapolis summit for advocates of what is called a "Genuine Progress Indicator."  The national forum received scant media attention and the issue itself has largely been under the radar of most mainstream media outlets.

The impetus behind the Genuine Progress Indicator, or GPI movement, is to supplant traditional federal government statistics with new and arbitrary criteria that deducts what other government bureaucrats deem as environmental and social costs that accrue from prosperity.

"Under Martin O'Malley, Maryland is falling further and further behind competitors in the region and across the country according to legitimate organizations, and objective, accepted and proven measures," said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan.  "He wants to throw out real economic reports and adopt a radical propaganda campaign inspired by the failed model of central economic planning."

The GPI consists of 26 arbitrarily-chosen economic, environmental and social "indicators" that attempt to deduct or add various scenarios that occur with everyday life to state-government planning models.  For example, deducted would be a wide range of wildly-subjective indicators such as noise pollution and income inequality.

Nationally, the GPI agenda is pushed by groups such as New York-based Demos, a liberal public policy non-profit that describes itself as dedicated to "empowering the public sector" and that advocates "re-thinking American capitalism as it exists today."

GPI is also pushed by a cadre of left-wing university professors who say that people just need food and shelter for happiness, economies do not need to grow, individuals are interchangeable with one another and that corporations will collapse.

The web-based Maryland GPI initiative, implemented in the executive branch of Maryland State Government since 2010, also contains a number of meaningless platitudes.  For example state government tells us that, "Marylanders' social well-being is reduced when the underemployed are not working to their full potential by consequential negative feelings and actions, such as frustration and substance abuse."

"Maryland's well-being will be greatly enhanced when we stop losing businesses, jobs and our tax base," said Hogan. "It's absolutely ridiculous that accepted measures such as IRS tax migration data are ignored and this radical left-wing nonsense is what the state wants to use to measure it's lack of progress."

Maryland has lost 6,500 businesses and 31,000 members of taxpayer households between 2007 and 2010, which puts Maryland at or near the bottom of the region.  The loss of 36,000 jobs since 2007 also cements Maryland's place as a regional laggard in economic performance.

In addition to Maryland, Oregon is exploring the GPI program.  Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed GPI legislation into law this Spring.