In a video interview with The Washington Post, Governor Martin O’Malley (D) shares his plans for easing health-care reform costs, Maryland’s concerns, and reversing unemployment trends in the state. The interview took place in their newsroom.
from mdroads.com
WASHINGTON, DC — Because of recent events in my life, I find my days starting sometimes in the Baltimore area, which we call Central Maryland. By the end of my day, I return to my domicile in Prince George’s County, which is referred to on this blog as being apart of the Capital Region. You might see me flip flop which region I am in because I live in Laurel. In any event, I am a regular traveler of Interstate 95 because of my regular employment in the commonwealth of Virginia. I could not help noticing in the area arounf the construction of the I.C.C. a sign. There were a number of signs in that area, including the one telling drivers what the construction was for. Then underneath the sign for the I.C.C., was a smaller sign which said “Martin O’Malley, Governor.” I also noticed a similar sign on Route 29 in Montgomery County declaring the same thing.
At this point, the red flag was raised. It was last year when O’Malley (D) criticized former Governor Robert Ehrlich (R) for appearing in state-financed ads, while at the same time appearing in state-financed ads on radio and on the sides of buses advertising a hotline to help those with mortgage problems. Republicans at the time railed against O’Malley doing the double standard. O’Malley spokeman Rick Abbruzzese telling The Washington Post at the time that the difference between Ehrlich in a state ad and O’Malley in a state ad is that the O’Malley ad is an effort to educate the public.
Over the weekend, Governor Martin O’Malley officially changed his tune on the death penalty, by asking the members of the House of Delegates, many of whome were going to try and revive the repeal effort, to support the Senate version of the bill which would put in place stricter protocols for a death penalty case.
The Baltimore Sun reporting that O’Malley (D) said that a repeal effort would not be possible unless the Senate gained new members in the 2010 elections. Governor O’Malley trying to put some chivalry on what is a defeat for his agenda said that “The Senate has spoken. I would have preferred that we repeal the death penalty, but we have made considerable progress with the Senate’s version. I plan to testify in favor of that rather than going back to a deadlock.”
O’Malley said that he is ready to go with new protocols for lethal injection, that he said earlier this year were prepared during the same time that his death penalty commission were studying the issue. The governor added that he would begin looking at the cases of the five men that are currently on death row.
The Gazette noted last week that Governor Martin O’Malley (D) refused to answer any questions from Len Lazarick, the state house reporter for the now-denfunct Baltimore Examiner. Before Lazarick was able to get his question out, O’Malley cut him off with a “no comment” adding that “I’m not answering any questions from your newspaper. I’m refusing to talk to the Examiner ever again after this week.” It was reportedly an acknowledgment of the demise of the Baltimore Examiner. What the governor may not realize is that Lazarick’s pieces also appeared in the Washington Examiner which is very much still in publication.
In any event, Governor O’Malley was rude and I would also like to add insensitive. Just because the publication is ceasing, does not mean that you embarass the person that is covering you. In other words, don’t snub the person you will more than likely see in the future. Should Lazarick be ressurected for Maryland coverage in the Washington Examiner (assuming that he did not lose his job,) Mr. O’Malley’s face will have a side of egg on it. In addition to that, to embarass Mr. Lazarick in such a way is uncalled for. What has The Examiner done to you Governor?
Let this be a stern example to other members of the press that Governor O’Malley will snub you at a moment’s notice should your publication close up shop.
P. Kenneth Burns is the editor of Maryland Politics Today. His email is kennyburns@marylandpolitics.us.
Church and state are separate, so they say. No one has said that to Governor Martin O’Malley who is soliciting support for his efforts to abolish capital punishment in the free state.
The Baltimore Sun reporting this afternoon that O’Malley (D) was making an appearance at African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Legislative Day event, asking those in attendance to not take any vote for granted and urged them to write to legislative leaders.
Will the third time be the charm for the Governor? His last two attempts stalled out in committee. This time he has a more current study…saying the same thing as a University of Maryland study. This report came from a commission which was established last year. Governor O’Malley had stated last month, should this third attempt fail, he will issue protocols to enforce the death penalty.
Governor Martin O'Malley (D) meeting with reporters following a radio forum at Phillip's Seafood Resturant at the City Dock in Annapolis. O'Malley said that death penalty protocols will be ready if the general assembly does not appeal capital punishment.
ANNAPOLIS — Governor Martin O’Malley said that should the general assembly fail to repeal capital punishment in the free state, new death penalty protocols will be ready to go.
O’Malley (D), who was speaking to reporters following a radio forum held by WEAA (88.9FM) host Marc Steiner, said that work on the new protocols were continuing at the same time as the state commission on the death penalty, which was charged to research the implementation of capital punishment in Maryland, in addition to making a recommendation about it’s future.
The governor was hopeful that capital punishment would be repealed in Maryland this year, adding that he believes that the report by the commission is very good and hopes that every member of the general assembly reads the report.
Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and WEAA Radio host Marc Steiner this morning at the Phillip's Seafood Resturaunt at City Dock in Annapolis.
ANNAPOLIS — This morning Governor Martin O’Malley (D) along with House Speaker Michael Busch (D-Dist. 30) and Senate President Thomas Mike Miller (D-Dist. 27) participated in a question and answer forum this morning at the Phillips Seafood Resturant at City Dock Annapolis.
It was the 6th Annual Annapolis Summit presented by Marc Steiner of WEAA (88.9FM) and Steiner says that it was the biggest turnout in the event’s history. The program will be aired this evening at 5:00p.m. on WEAA. Miller and Busch are featured in the first hour of the program, while the Governor will be in the second hour of the show.
The Governor during his hour declared that he was a Ravens fan. Among serious issues, he addresses questions concerning the budget, the sales tax, teacher pensions, police spying, open space preservation, BGE rate hikes and the death penalty.
Steiner’s program will air on Public Radio Delmarva and WAMU (88.5FM)
We did not do this last year, but now would be a good idea to implement the Best and the Worst of Maryland Politics for the year 2008. The criteria for the best and the worst is pretty obvious, although the best has a little bit of a tougher criteria because it has to be a story that is in my opinion did not get the proper perspective it deserves.
First, the best of Maryland. This one you can say mimicked national events, but this story is much better.
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The best of Maryland in 2008 goes to Victoria Jackson-Stanley and the citizens of Cambridge, Dorchester County.
Ms. Stanley is the first black mayor of the eastern shore town which was placed on the national map four decades ago when it was embroiled race riots. Cambridge is a different place these days. The Washingotn Times said that in the non-partisan election, race nor gender was a factor. Not only is Ms. Jackson the first black mayor of Cambridge, she is also the first female mayor of an eastern shore town. Jackson, who works as a social worker, says that she was not trying to make history. I think it is kind of hard for her to avoid considering that she was one of the first black students to attend the the county high school, which was all-white.
Congratulations to Mayor Jackson and the city of Cambridge, for displaying Maryland’s verion of hope and change. You guys are the Best of Maryland for 2008.
There was no winner-up in this category. The person who would have filled that void was Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) for actually providing some tangible improvement to the city, but the fact that she initially decided to keep a raise without any real remorse during a tough budget year pretty much rescinded my naming her.
Which brings us to the Worst of Maryland, a contest where Governor Martin O’Malley (D) actually did not make the list believe it or not.
Remember when….
That ad was paid for by Club for Growth during the primary earlier this year, linking U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrist (R-Dist. 1) to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Upper Shore Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-Dist. 36) to Governor Martin O’Malley (D). It worked for Club for Growth in helping to get the nomination for Baltimore/Harford Senator Andy Harris, but will it workfor a Marylander who has no affiliation with anyone?
Enter a new website, KratovilisOmalley.com. Kratovil is Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney Frank Kratovil (D) who is running against Harris for Gilchrist’s congressional seat in Washington. The website is a collection of quotes and stories pointing out the similarities between Kratovil and O’Malley.
Leave it to The Gazette to point out something that I have been pointing out for over a year now, Governor Martin O’Malley (D) is continuing to take cheap shots at his predecessor, Robert Ehrlich (R). As a matter of fact, O’Malley has been criss-crossing the free state to highlight how much more money is being spent in the first two years of his administration.
The Governor’s spokesman Rick Abbruzzese says “Because of the scope of the challenges that we faced with regard to
energy policy, with regard to the structural deficit that we inherited,
with regard to the environment, smart growth, land use and restoring
the Chesapeake Bay, there was a need for the administration to
communicate where we were starting from and the choices that have been
made in the past as we worked to move our state in the right direction.”
Some, like me, believes that O’Malley should move on. It has been nearly two years since the last election. Bad economy aside, O’Malley has managed to spend more money, raise taxes and is starting a spending plan for money that is not even gauranteed to be there. O’Malley may have jumped in the polls, but he is still not as popular as Ehrlich.
Governor Martin O’Malley (D) tells PolitickerMD.com that he received a phone call 20 minutes before the roll call at the Democratic National Convention in Denver from someone who in my view threw him a life raft as far as keeping his hopes for higher aspirations alive, now-Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.
O’Malley says that Obama wanted to be sure that he was involved as much as possible. O’Malley also said that the junior Illinois Senator wanted him to be involved even more on the policy level in addition to beinf a co-chair of the campaign in Maryland, and that’s not all.
“He asked me if I would travel for him this fall and I told him I’ll go anywhere do anything that you ask,” the Governor said.
O’Malley always had the long time speculation of aspiring for higher since his days as Mayor of Baltimore. Four years ago, he was a shining star in the party with a prime speaking role at the convention then. Four years later, the person he supported for the nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), did not win the free state primary, let alone the nod. O’Malley’s job approval is well below 50 percent, hovering in the 30s and at this year’s convention, he did not have ANY speaking time.
As you all know, I spent yesterday at the Maryland Association of Counties meeting in Ocean City. Meanwhile, Governor Martin O’Malley (D) was over in Wicomico County to celebrate the $21 million the state is giving Wicomico County to build a new version James M Bennett High School.
MarylandPT Eastern Shore Correspondent Joe Albero from Salisbury News (not a promotion, just a renaming of a title) was on hand with some snap shots. Forgive me if I do not have the usual preview graphic as I am not near my normal facilities (I am coming to you from Media Centre West.)
Also on hand was Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt (D), Wicomico/Worcester Dels. Jim Mathias and Norm Conway(D-Dist. 38B) along with members of the Wicomico County Council. Construction for the school actually began in June and is slated to be complete by the 2011-2012 school year.
I would not be doing my job if I did not mentioned that O’Malley seems to have not put the guitar down permanently if at all. The Daily Times captures the governor doing an impromptu jam session with student group, Do Run, during the festivities. The playlist was “Stand By Me” and “Pretty Woman.”
It should also be noted that there are no reports of any blame being placed towards Ehrlich during the event.
