O'Malley blasts GOP's 'strange view' on income inequality (ANOTHER RIPPING FOR THE GOP OUCH!!)
emocrat Martin O'Malley gets fired up over the fact that some GOP presidential contenders are railing against the growing income gap between the rich and the poor.
"How ironic since their choices led to it," he told The Des Moines Register in an interview Saturday. "This is their theory, and we tried it for the better part of these last 30 years: Concentrate wealth at the top, take regulation out of the equation and keep wages low. So for them now to say that they're somehow very appalled and concerned about inequality is ironic, to put it most kindly."
O'Malley, who was governor of Maryland until January, is in Iowa for a two-day swing, testing Democratic caucusgoers' appetite for a challenger to presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton. He booked stops in Davenport on Friday night, and Tipton, Des Moines and Council Bluffs on Saturday.
Democrat Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland, talks about the Republican Party's plans for income equality during a sit-down interview with Jennifer Jacobs, chief political reporter with the Des Moines Register. Michael Zamora/The Register
In a 30-minute interview with the Register, one question that elicited a passionate response was about why he thinks the Democratic message is better than the GOP message on income inequality.
"I mean, ask yourself: Why is it that many of those who are running for president in the Republican Party when they were governors fought so hard against any increase in minimum wage?" O'Malley said. "These guys are not on the side of seeing wages go up. In their strange view of how the economy works, they believe the economy works best when you concentrate wealth at the top. All of us are paying for this concentration of wealth, and we're paying for it in lower wages."
O'Malley, 52, who pitches himself as a results-driven progressive, wants to see whether he can build on support for a White House bid during two Iowa trips — this one and another in April. Top Iowa activists said Democrats are hungry for visits, especially as GOP potential candidates blanket the state and draw national headlines and Clinton stays away.
An Iowa Poll in late January showed that O'Malley has just a tiny seed of support here among likely Democratic caucusgoers. He ranks dead last in a Democratic field of six potential contenders, the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll found.
Democrat Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland, discusses what his family thinks about a potential presidential run during a sit-down interview with Jennifer Jacobs, chief political reporter with the Des Moines Register.
Although O'Malley remains relatively unknown to rank-and-file Democrats, he cached a reservoir of good will with Iowa's most hard-core activists by doing two dozen events here last year, campaigning and fundraising for state and federal candidates during the midterm elections. His PAC gave $46,000 to Iowa candidates and two party organizations, the Pottawattamie County Democrats and the Iowa Democratic Party, PAC records show.
Those who back O'Malley, who in his spare time is also the lead singer/guitarist in a Baltimore-based Irish folk-rock band, say there's nowhere to go but up in Iowa.
Saturday night in Council Bluffs, O'Malley climbed up on a chair for "a little more elevation so I can make eye contact with those of you in the back."
He told the audience of about 70 at a Pottawattamie County Democrats' event that the party had a very disappointing midterm election, "but it's not how low you go it's how high you bounce, and we are going to bounce back."
He ripped tea party Republicans, saying: "They belittle science. They create traffic jams. Give them a few more weeks and they'll deny Copernicus."
The main theme of his speech was that it's time to stand up to powerful special interests "who think they can gamble with our money and with the economy." Nearly shouting into his microphone, he said: "We have to, as Democrats, step up and regulate Wall Street and make sure that they are never able to create that kind of economic devastation again. That's our job."
Democrat Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland, talks about the need for immigration reform during a sit-down interview with Jennifer Jacobs, chief political reporter with the Des Moines Register. Michael Zamora/The Register
O'Malley said that under his leadership, Maryland increased the minimum wage, made it easier for unions to organize and practiced "the economics of inclusion."
After his 20-minute speech, O'Malley grabbed the acoustic guitar that belonged to the Flatwater Drifters, an old-time string band that was playing that night at Dixie Quicks, and told the audience he wanted them to sing along. "It's going to sound like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!" And the crowd gamely played along, laughing, as he sang a sanitized version of "Scare Away the Dark" by Passenger.
Iowa Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal was there wearing a "Martin O'Malley" T-shirt.
"It doesn't necessarily mean that I've endorsed anybody," Gronstal told the crowd. "I welcome any candidate that will come to Council Bluffs. I will put on their T-shirt."
Gronstal noted that O'Malley as Maryland governor passed marriage equality, started the process of cleaning up Chesapeake Bay and improved access to higher education.
"I think he would be a great president," Gronstal said. |
