O'Malley's Response to Change Maryland, Wall Street Journal Riddled with Errors, Falsehoods, Omissions

Governor's Response to Change Maryland, Wall Street Journal Riddled with Errors, Falsehoods, Omissions

In Remarkable 48-hour period, O'Malley Attacks Change Maryland, Comptroller, Governors, Mitt Romney, WSJ

Annapolis - While Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley completes a political crusade at the GOP convention to get TV exposure as an Obama campaign surrogate and in preparation for his own 2016 Presidential bid, Administration staff here at home have another agenda.  Using state resources, the Administration launched another personal, partisan and political attack yesterday against Maryland’s largest citizen organization in response to a Wall Street Journal article that angered the Governor.

In response to numerous political attacks on Change Maryland, The Wall Street Journal and many others, the organization's Chairman, Larry Hogan, said, "Rather than focus on facts, the Governor once again tries to simply demean the messenger. With our lagging economic performance and record tax increases, the evidence is clear, and grows by the day, that the real aberration in American politics today is Martin O'Malley."

Background:

Gov. O'Malley attack on Change Maryland / WSJ
http://cl.publicaster.com/SocialMedia.aspx?pubids=134%7c6784%7c6&digest=uMmOnaZ1q%2bXtrPy1lo1LUQ&sysid=1&1=WCC&2=R7u

WSJ:  Stephen Moore: An Economic Border War Right Under Washington's Nose
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444358404577608942254374370.html

Following are 1. Context, 2. Response 3. Facts


1. Context

Martin O'Malley's shoot-the-messenger approach is well-documented.

President Ronald Reagan:

An "aberration" in U.S. history.

O'Malley builds on tax-raising legacy, Baltimore Sun, 5.16.12
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-05-16/news/bs-md-taxes-omalley-future-20120516_1_income-tax-gas-tax-tax-package

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney:

Mitt Romney "doesn’t have what it takes to grow this economy."

O'Malley Zings GOP Governors, Romney on Economy, Baltimore Sun, 8.28.12
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bal-omalley-zings-gop-governors-romney-on-economy-20120828,0,3719563.story

GOP Governors:

Chris Christie, Paul LePage, Bobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell, Rick Perry, Scott Walker

Change Maryland press release, 8.7.12
http://www.changemaryland.org/2012/08/omalleys-battle-with-change-maryland-boosts-membership-to-over-20000/#.UD0dMsFlStY

CM Chairman Larry Hogan:

"Failed congressional candidate and would-be Republican candidate for governor..."

Governor O'Malley, 8.28.12
http://cl.publicaster.com/SocialMedia.aspx?pubids=134%7c6784%7c6&digest=uMmOnaZ1q%2bXtrPy1lo1LUQ&sysid=1&1=WCC&2=R7u

Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot:

Comptroller Peter Franchot incorrectly believes Maryland is "dependent on the public sector for economic growth."

Governor O'Malley, 8.28.12
http://cl.publicaster.com/SocialMedia.aspx?pubids=134%7c6784%7c6&digest=uMmOnaZ1q%2bXtrPy1lo1LUQ&sysid=1&1=WCC&2=R7u

Wall Street Journal reporter Stephen Moore:

"Stephen Moore, a longtime supporter of the Koch brothers and former President of Republican fundraising group, Club for Growth..."

Governor O'Malley, 8.28.12
http://cl.publicaster.com/SocialMedia.aspx?pubids=134%7c6784%7c6&digest=uMmOnaZ1q%2bXtrPy1lo1LUQ&sysid=1&1=WCC&2=R7u

2. Response

Others are on to Gov. O'Malley's record of distortion, denial and deflection.

Marta Mossburg, Columnist:

"Governor O'Malley personally attacked Larry Hogan of Change Maryland for publishing federal data showing people migrating out of Maryland, but he did not address why people are leaving."

"Governor O'Malley denies these are problems. Instead, he blames the Bureau of Labor Statistics for faulty jobs numbers."

Of all the problems in the world, Maryland is fixated on gambling and pit bulls? - Baltimore Sun 8.14.12
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-08-14/news/bs-ed-mossburg-special-session-20120815-20120814_1_pension-system-special-session-pit-bulls

Scott Drenkard, Tax Foundation Economist:

"...inaccurate tax stats put out this week by the office of Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley..."

Scott Drenkard Corrects Gov. Martin O'Malley on Tax Rates - Tax Foundation 7.12.12
http://taxfoundation.org/podcast/scott-drenkard-corrects-gov-martin-omalley-tax-rates

Marc Kilmer, Maryland Public Policy Institute Senior Fellow:

"Change Maryland won the first round by publishing a report with clearly researched facts that did not descend to petty partisan bickering."

Governor’s Attack Misses the Target - Maryland Public Policy Institute 7.11.12
http://www.mdpolicy.org/policyblog/detail/governors-attack-misses-the-target

Politifact Virginia:

"So O’Malley’s claim only approaches validity when he gets to cherry-pick the data. We rate his statement False."

Maryland is "creating jobs at 2 ½ times the rate that Virginia"  is....False." - Politifact 2.05.12
http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2012/feb/13/martin-omalley/gov-omalley-says-maryland-creating-jobs-2-12-times/

3.  Facts

Following are points raised by the Wall Street Journal, Martin O'Malley and Change Maryland.

WSJ: "An additional problem: Over the next six months (January through July of this year), Maryland has lost jobs while most of the nation has gained them."

MOM: "Maryland actually gained 1,700 jobs over the first 6 months of the year while many neighboring states continued to see a decline."

CM: Maryland has lost 6,600 jobs during the first six months of this year. The Administration back-dated BLS data one month to December of 2011, while omitting July, attempting to cherry pick data more to their liking.  During the first six months of this year, Maryland's job loss compares to a gain of 40,800, Virginia; Pennsylvania, 8,300; the District of Columbia 7,800.  Since January of 2007 to present, which can not be cherry-picked, Maryland has lost three times as many jobs as Virginia and has the second-worst job performance among neighboring jurisdictions.  

WSJ: "Mr. O'Malley's gamble—that high tax rates don't hurt businesses and workers, that the way to rev an economy is to spend more on schools, rail and centrally planned economic development—is the same as Mr. Obama's."

CM: The widely-reported offshore wind, Plan Maryland, Invest Maryland, septic tank ban and State Center schemes are central economic planning.  The state selects winners and losers and "invests" accordingly.

WSJ:  "He's since won increases in the state's sales tax, tobacco tax, gas tax, and income tax for earners above $100,000 a year."

MOM: "The gas tax has remained unchanged during Governor O’Malley’s tenure.  In fact, it has been at the same rate since 1992."

CM: The Governor has raised taxes and fees 24 times, taking an additional $2.4 billion a year out of the economy.  The Governor tried, and failed, numerous times to increase gasoline levies. That's because nearly $1 billion has been raided from the Transportation Trust Fund and not been paid back.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/426496

MOM: "Governor O’Malley has cut more state spending than any governor in Maryland’s history - $8 billion."

CM: Nobody understands where this number comes from and nobody ever will.  That's because state spending increased from $28.8 billion in 2007 to $35.5 billion today. Adding the Governor's purported "cut" with this spending increase, the Governor's math is off by nearly $15 billion.

MOM: "According to the conservative group Change Maryland, 30,000 taxpayers fled the state for Virginia after Governor O’Malley raised taxes on millionaires in 2007.  Change Maryland used data that the IRS openly recognizes as incomplete to draw their erroneous conclusions. Maryland saw the smallest tax filer change in the region from 2007 to 2010, losing 25% fewer tax filers than Virginia.  In Maryland, tax filers decreased only 5.3% from 2007 to 2010 compared to a 7.1% decrease in Virginia, an 8.5% decrease in Pennsylvania, and a 15.5% decrease in West Virginia.

CM: This one paragraph contains 10 false statements.  A user-friendly way of fact-checking each state's taxpayer migration status is the Tax Foundation's web-based Tax Migration Calculator below, which uses the same IRS data that Change Maryland did. 

1. 11,455 Marylanders fled to Virginia during the period in question not 30,000.  The Administration may be confused - over 30,000 Marylanders fled to all states.
2. Nowhere in CM's tax report is the word "millionaire" mentioned. The Administration is attempting to deflect the tax flight problem as a class-warfare issue.
3. The IRS does not say the data is "incomplete."
4. Nobody but Martin O'Malley and a radical Daily Kos blogger say the conclusions were "erroneous."
5. According to the IRS, Maryland saw the largest taxpayer exodus of any state in the region, and seventh-highest nationally.
6. According to the IRS, Virginia's net inflow of residents was nearly 30,300.
7. According to the IRS, West Virginia's net inflow of residents was just over 14,600 residents.

8. According to the IRS, Pennsylvania's net outflow of residents was just over 8200 residents.
9. Delaware, which is also in the region, but omitted from the Governor's statement, saw a net inflow of nearly 7500 residents, according to the IRS.
10.The District of Columbia, which is also in the region, but omitted from the Governor's statement, saw a net outflow of just over 1100 residents, according to the IRS.

http://interactive.taxfoundation.org/migration/

http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=212683,00.html

http://www.changemaryland.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/StateCountyTax.pdf