Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley came out swinging today on Meet the Press. He took on Bohener and the GOP's latest talking points and said we need an urban agenda.
NBC video won't embed but here is the link to the interview:
Partial Transcript:
O'MALLEY: Well Chuck, that's just not true. We haven't had an agenda for America's cities for at least two decades.
TODD: So there's money, but no agenda?
O'MALLEY: No, that's not what I'm saying. We have not had an agenda for America's cities, probably since Jimmy Carter and the UDA grants and that era. We have left cities to fend for themselves and you know what? Because of the dedication of a lot of mayors and good people throughout cities in America, cities have been actually coming back. [...]
But look, the structural problems that we have in our economy, the way we ship jobs and profits abroad, the way we failed to invest in our infrastructure and failed to invest in American cities, we are creating the conditions. Please, Speaker Boehner and his crocodile tears about the $130 million, that is a spit in the bucket compared to what we need to do as a nation to rebuild our country. And America's cities are the heart of our country. We need an agenda for American cities. We need to stop ignoring especially people of color and act like they are disposable citizens in this nation. That's not how our economy is supposed to work, it's not how or our country works.
When asked about 2016, O'Malley had the
following to say:
"I did not dedicate my life to making Baltimore a safer and more just place because it was easy," O'Malley said on NBC's "Meet The Press." "I am more inclined and more deeply motivated now to address what's wrong with our country and what needs to be healed and what needs to be fixed."
O'Malley said he was proud of his record as mayor, calling protests and rioting sparked by the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody "a heartbreaking setback for an otherwise remarkable comeback for Baltimore over these last 15 years."
Asked if would launch a presidential run in Baltimore, O'Malley responded: "I wouldn't think of announcing any place else."
The media is irked that O'Malley won't roll over and play dead and is refusing to follow their narrative that Democratic policies are the reasons for the Baltimore riots.
On another note, are people still interested in reading about O'Malley and his possible presidential run? There seems to be dwindling interest and since these diaries take a lot of time for me to put together, I'd like to know if I am wasting my time.