FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2013
Contact: Steve Crim
Governor
O'Malley held a self-congratulatory, dog-and-pony show today, where he
once again bragged about his "success" in job creation. The event today
was the first in a series of planned events on the "O'Malley Reputation
Rehabilitation Tour," where he will try to overcome his negatives by
attempting to change the facts of his record. Business leader Larry
Hogan said, "The governor is entitled to his own opinions but he can't
just make up his own facts and pretend that they are true."
Governor O'Malley continues to claim that his has had
tremendous success in job creation, that he is "driving down
unemployment" that he has "recovered 94% of all the jobs lost" in the
recession. Those statements are absolutely false. The irrefutable facts
show the actual situation to be completely the opposite of his false
claims. "What we saw today was a governor spinning magical tales of
successes that only exist in his own mind," said Hogan, founder and
Chairman of the economic think-tank Change Maryland.
When Martin O'Malley became Governor in January 2007
the unemployment rate was 3.6%, contrary to the governor's latest
outrageous claim, unemployment is currently 7.1%. So rather than driving
unemployment down, as he claims, unemployment has, in fact, nearly
doubled under the O'Malley Administration.
When O'Malley took the reins of state government in
January 2007 there were 108,096 people unemployed in Maryland, today
after nearly seven years of his leadership, there are now 218,741 people
unemployed. That is an increase of 110,645 additional people unemployed
-- it represents an increase in unemployment of more than 100%.
"This is a tragedy, these aren't just terrible numbers,
these are real people, fathers and mothers struggling to make ends
meet, to keep a roof over their head, put clothes on their kids back and
food on the table," said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan.
Hogan, a successful businessman, who has brought
hundreds of companies and thousands of jobs to Maryland said, "Sometimes
politicians think that if they repeat something enough times people
will eventually believe it. Governor O'Malley is pretty good at weaving
magical tales with no basis in reality. But, no amount false spin can
change the cold hard fact that no other governor in Maryland history has
ever lost as many jobs as Martin O'Malley."
"The time for results is long overdue. There are no
more excuses left for the O'Malley Administration. After nearly seven
years of failed economic policy, there is no one to blame but
themselves. We need Democrats, Republicans and Independents to put aside
partisanship and work together on the shared goal of increasing
employment is Maryland. Governor O’Malley may think he’s moving Maryland
forward but most people feel the need for a real change in direction
for Maryland has never been more clear," said Hogan, a former State
Cabinet Secretary.
Change Maryland is the largest independent citizen
activist group in Maryland, and advocates for pro-jobs policy in the
state. The movement is made up of more than 54,000 people from every
jurisdiction in the state, and was founded by Hogan, who is also a
Director of the Maryland Public Policy Institute, a respected economic
think tank and policy group.
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For a link to this release, including the above graph, click here:
http://www.changemaryland.org/2013/08/worse-choices-worst-results-for-omalley/