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Maryland AG files lawsuit against Kushner Companies real estate company

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Maryland AG files lawsuit against Kushner 

Companies real estate company

(CNN)Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Kushner Companies Westminster Management LLC and 25 property owners alleging illegal and harmful rental practices, according to a release from the attorney general's office.

"We're charging that Westminster and the rental property owners in this case took advantage of consumers, primarily low- and middle-income families, collecting fees and other unlawful costs from them and often failing to make the repairs needed to maintain suitable environments for their tenants," Frosh said in the release.

Kushner Companies belongs to the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser.

The lawsuit comes after Kushner Companies rejected a settlement offer from Maryland last month.

Laurent Morali, president of Kushner Companies, responded to the lawsuit by accusing Frosh of being politically motivated.

"We refuse to be extorted by an ambitious attorney general who clearly cares more about scoring political points than fighting real crime and improving the lives of the people of Maryland," Morali said. "We look forward to defending ourselves against these bogus allegations."

The suit alleges that Kushner Companies and the property owners "demanded, collected, and retained hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegitimate fees from prospective and actual tenants, including charging application fees that exceeded the amounts permitted under Maryland law."

The defendants have also been charged with repeatedly violating Maryland's security deposit law, after Westminster Management and the owners "routinely withheld damages from tenants' security deposits that were not caused by the tenants and constituted ordinary wear and tear, such as worn carpeting," according to the release.

In 2017, Frosh launched an investigation after media reports exposed allegedly coercive tactics and inadequate maintenance in multifamily housing developments run by Westminster Management or related entities. An affiliate of Kushner Companies, Westminster manages about 21 properties in Maryland, including developments in Baltimore, Middle River and Essex, according to its website.

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How Science Got Trampled in the Rush to Drill in the Arctic

28 July 19

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PEOPLE ARE HELPING, BUT WE ARE STILL IN TROUBLE - We greatly appreciate the help we are currently getting, and yes we have made up a little ground. But we are still far behind where we should and need to be. Donating is quick, easy and painless. Right now would be a great time. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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How Science Got Trampled in the Rush to Drill in the Arctic 

Adam Federman and Nathaniel Wilder, Politico
Excerpt: "Under the Trump administration, oil and gas development was poised to dramatically expand into a remote corner of Alaska where it had been prohibited for nearly 40 years. Tucked into the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a bill signed by President Donald Trump five months earlier, was a brief two-page section that had little to do with tax reform."
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Elijah Cummings delivers a press conference following Robert Mueller's testimony this week. (photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

Elijah Cummings Cites 'Moral Duty' to Voters After Trump 'Rat-Infested' Attack
Martin Pengelly, Guardian UK
Pengelly writes: "Donald Trump kicked off his weekend with a stinging attack on Elijah Cummings, the Democratic chair of the House oversight committee, that opponents including House speaker Nancy Pelosi said was another example of the president deploying racist invective for political ends."
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The Jerry Falwell Memorial at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Falwell founded Liberty University in 1971. His son, Jerry Falwell Jr., is now the school's president. (photo: Marlena Sloss/AP)

How Jerry Falwell Jr. Silences Students and Professors Who Reject His Pro-Trump Politics
Will E. Young, The Washington Post
Young writes: "What my team and I experienced at the Champion was not an isolated overreaction to embarrassing revelations. It was one example of an infrastructure of thought-control that Falwell and his lieutenants have introduced into every aspect of Liberty University life."
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Go claim your money from Equifax. (photo: Sitthiphong Thadakun/EyeEm/Getty Images)

You Have a Moral Obligation to Claim Your $125 From Equifax
Josephine Wolff, Slate
Wolff writes: "Go claim your $125 from Equifax. Right now. Even if $125 isn't a sum of money that matters to you, even if you don't feel you were really directly affected by the breach. Even if the prospect of filling out a relatively brief online form fills you with more dread than the theft of all your personal data."
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The White House at night. (photo: Susan Walsh/AP)

The Declaration of Independence Told Us What to Do About Tyrants Like Trump
Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, YES! Magazine
Warfield writes: "We don't have to wait for Congressional consensus on reparations to begin addressing the harm being done right now. What we can do is not let the hatred take us off of our square. We can not allow those in power to distract us with petty, ignorant comments." 

EXCERPT:

As American racists increasingly make themselves known, often claiming to be “patriots” upholding the Constitution, I’m drawn to the most fundamental lines in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

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A woman holds a sign during a rally to celebrate the resignation of Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello. (photo: Marco Bello/Reuters)

Puerto Rico: Governor's Resignation Sparks Power Struggle
Al Jazeera
Excerpt: "The resignation of Puerto Rico's governor after mass protests has sparked a succession battle and the winner could be a Washington corporate lawyer not directly linked to his administration, which has been dogged by corruption scandals."
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Indigenous leaders gathered in Atalaia do Norte to discuss how best to defend their lands against the anticipated onslaught. (photo: Ana Palacios/CIDSE & REPAM)

'He Wants to Destroy Us': Bolsonaro Poses Gravest Threat in Decades, Amazon Tribes Say
Tom Phillips, Guardian UK
Phillips writes: "As a blood-orange sunset drifted towards the forest canopy, Raimundo Kanamari sat on the riverbank and pondered the future of his tribe under Brazil's far-right president."
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Shielding Hogan From the Democratic Wave - How the Washington Post, Big Money and a bit of racism re-elected a GOP governor in Deep Blue Maryland

Shielding Hogan From the Democratic Wave - How the Washington Post, Big Money and a bit of racism re-elected a GOP governor in Deep Blue Maryland view post on FAIR.org The Washington Post (11/6/18) touts a “sane center” that it did much to define and promote. The votes were hardly in when the Washington Post (11/6/18) started explaining why Republican Gov. Larry Hogan won reelection in deep blue Maryland. It was largely due “to his moderation,” the Post claimed. As it shilled for Hogan, the Post—which is influential in much of Maryland—simultaneously painted his opponent, Democrat Ben Jealous, as too extreme, even though most Marylanders supported his platform, which included Medicare for all, free state college tuition and a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Nevertheless, the Post, a fiscal hawk when it comes to spending tax dollars on public needs, said Jealous lost because he “opted for an expansive leftist platform that included so much spending on so many new, pie-in-the-sky programs.” The paper was noticeably less concerned when Hogan offered an eye-popping $8.5 billion to Amazon, whose founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, is the world’s richest man, and owner of the Post. For the Post, Hogan’s win demonstrates the appeal of “moderation,” but the real lesson is this: Money is king, and the Post is kingmaker. TV Ad$ Larry Hogan’s reelection bid was backed by an unprecedented $19 million campaign war chest and a deep pool of outside money, in particular from the Republican Governors Association, where Hogan serves as vice chair. With a comparative pittance in the bank—and little financial help from the Democratic Party—Jealous had to rely on the media to relay his progressive platform to voters. But the Post made this difficult by burying Jealous’s popular policies under unflattering coverage. This Washington Post editorial (10/29/18) gave the Hogan campaign a strong attack line with its “Chesapeake Bay–sized hole” accusation. The Post’s portrayal of Jealous as being too extreme was furthered by the RGA’s ad campaigns, which blanketed the state. “While the attack ads on Jealous haven’t been as blatantly racist” as those targeting the other two black gubernatorial candidates on the ballot this election, reported the HuffPost’s Julia Craven (9/14/18), “many of them have claimed Jealous is a ‘socialist’ who will ‘blow a Chesapeake Bay–sized hole’ in the state’s economy.” Jealous repeatedly denied being a socialist (“I’m a venture capitalist, not a socialist”), but the Post kept raising the issue, turning this line of questioning into a line of attack—one which Hogan and the RGAwere aggressively pursuing at the time. Meanwhile, the quote that Jealous will “blow a Chesapeake Bay–sized hole” in the budget is from a Post editorial (10/29/18) and was subsequently used in an RGA attack ad, which was part of a series of racially tinged ads that disturbed Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik (11/2/18): Hogan’s media success rests in part on some very old and ugly tactics. I can’t overstate how troubled I was by the way the RGA ads framed Jealous visually in darkness and shadows and consistently showed him with facial expressions that would best be described a snarling, glaring, frustrated or angry. There is a history of African-American men being depicted this way in media, and it’s disturbing that Hogan’s allies would go there. Rather than joining the Sun in condemning these ads, the Post (7/30/18) eagerly cited them. Elsewhere, the Post described Jealous (whom I supported) as a “coup leader” pushing “craven” and “reckless” policies, and promising “free lunches.” This echoed Hogan’s campaign, which called Jealous “too extreme” and said he wanted to hand out “free stuff faster than Jos A. Banks at a Labor Day suit sale.” The Post was as hard on Jealous as it was gentle on Hogan, whom it described as a “jocular,” “frustrated Everyman.” The Post’s treatment of Hogan—whose right-wing politics align with the paper’s—wasn’t just over the top, it was calculated. To win reelection in deep blue Maryland, Hogan had to appear “bipartisan,” “moderate” and “pretty much the opposite of Trump,” which is how the Postportrayed him. Meanwhile, the Post hid the fact that Hogan was aided by the Tea Party movement, is backed by the right-wing Koch brothers, is close friends with Vice President Mike Pence, and is not that far removed from some far right-wingers. Cover for White Democrats The Washington Post (10/29/18) modestly omits its own role in encouraging black voters to warm up to Hogan. But forget all that. What the Post (10/29/18) needed readers to know was that “Hogan’s popularity among blacks has flourished.” Polls showing this were prominently featured by the Post, while a poll showing otherwise was buried, as was former President Barack Obama’s endorsement of Jealous. The Post’s efforts and Hogan’s millions help explain why Hogan’s black support doubled from 2014, reaching 28 percent, according to a survey by Fox News and the Associated Press. Still, Hogan lost the black vote by a yawning 43 points to Jealous, which might surprise Post readers, since the paper disproportionately quoted African-Americans critical of Jealous and praiseful of Hogan . Highlighting Hogan’s black support served two purposes. It helped Hogan get a second look among black voters, who may have been reluctant to go along with the Post’s choice, because of the paper’s past targeting of candidates with black support. And it also may have given white Democrats—a core readership of the Post’s—permission to vote for Hogan, since doing so seemed to be a multicultural thing. The Post’s strategy seems to have worked, as Hogan—who improved on his 2014 showing in every county—made some of his biggest gains in Montgomery and Prince George’s, where the Post’s shadow is most heavily cast. By preventing Jealous from running up the score in these vote-rich Democratic strongholds, Hogan, who dominated the whiter, more suburban and rural jurisdictions, won decisively, becoming just Maryland’s second Republican governor to be reelected. Voting Irregularities Local NBC reporter Shomari Stone (11/6/18) tweets about long voting lines in majority-black Prince George’s County. Even as Hogan doubled his support in Prince George’s from 2014, the county, which is majority black, went overwhelmingly for Jealous. Still, the Democrat likely would have won Prince George’s by more votes if not for widespread voting irregularities. On election day, over a dozen Prince George’s polling places ran out of paper ballots, leading to long waits and an unknown number of people leaving without voting. At one precinct, over 1,500 people waited in line, some for four and five hours. “We just trying to get our vote in, get our voices heard,” a “totally exhausted” man told NBC4’s Shomari Stone. “The conditions that bring about five-hour wait times, or thousands standing in line… are concentrated overwhelmingly in minority precincts,” Carol Anderson, chair of African-American Studies at Emory University, writes in One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy. These “long, seemingly interminable lines,” which are often artificially created by providing fewer resources and poll workers to minority precincts, are one of the tools used by Republicans, who “clearly believe their future success depends more on constricting rather than convincing the electorate,” writes Anderson. Throughout Maryland, elections are overseen by Republican-led, and frequently Hogan-appointed, boards of elections. When the Associated Press called the governor’s race at 9:07 pm on election night, many voters were still in line, particularly in Prince George’s, where up to three dozen precincts stayed open past 8 pm due to complications. Meanwhile, next door in Montgomery, a heavily black precinct experienced hours-long waits, which County Councilmember Tom Hucker called “de facto voter suppression.” The day after the election, the Post (11/7/18) had a front-page story on voter suppression across the country, but it inexplicably failed to mention what occurred in the paper’s own backyard. (The online version of this story—11/6/18—was updated to include a paragraph that lightly touched on the voting problems experienced in Prince George’s.) For print readers, the Post finally covered the local issue the following day (11/8/18), but on page A40, in a story weakly headlined, “For Some in Md., Long Waits to Vote.” For the Post, the farther away voting irregularities took place, the more alarming they seemed to become. Kingmaker The power of the Post’s full-throated support may be most apparent not in Hogan’s win, but in the losses of his fellow Republicans. Come January, the congressional delegation for the immediate Washington region—the Post’s primary coverage area—will be entirely Democratic. Barbara Comstock, a Republican from Northern Virginia, was the lone holdout, but she lost her swing district decisively this election. The congressmember wasn’t helped by the Post, which tied her to Trump, who is deeply disliked throughout the region. On issues like the president’s push to freeze federal pay (Twitter, 8/30/18 ) or his controversial pick for the Supreme Court (11/1/18), the Post made Comstock answer for her party’s leader—something the paper carefully avoided doing to Hogan. Like Comstock, a number of Hogan’s fellow Maryland Republicans will soon be out of a job. Unlike the governor, they had to face the electorate without the Post’s protection, and it didn’t go well for many of them, even as Hogan notched a historic win. On election night, an ebullient Hogan boasted that the blue wave was no match for him. “It turns out I can surf,” said the governor, who neglected to thank the Post for giving him his surfboard. Messages can be sent to the Washington Post at letters@washpost.com, or via Twitter@washingtonpost. Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective.

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RSN: Listen to WSJ's Bret Stephens Secretly Plot With "Pro-Israel" Evangelical Group Against Iran Deal, New Study: Black Students More Likely to Get Criminalized Discipline Than White Students

It's Live on the HomePage Now: 
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Glenn Greenwald | Listen to WSJ's Bret Stephens Secretly Plot With "Pro-Israel" Evangelical Group Against Iran Deal 
 
Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept 
Greenwald writes: "The fanatical Israel-devoted group Christians United for Israel, which calls itself 'the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States with over two million members,' yesterday held an off-the-record call to formulate strategies for defeating the pending nuclear deal with Iran." 
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Two UC Officers Who Backed Up Story on DuBose Death Put on Administrative Leave 
Amber Hunt, Cincinnati.com 
Hunt writes: "The suspensions came just hours after former Officer Ray Tensing was arraigned on a murder charge in the July 19 shooting of DuBose, 43." 
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Maryland Governor to Shut One of America's Worst Prisons 
Donna Owens, Reuters 
Owens writes: "Baltimore's scandal-plagued jail will be shut down immediately, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said on Thursday, calling the pre-Civil War site and its gang-related corruption 'a disgrace.'" 
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New Study: Black Students More Likely to Get Criminalized Discipline Than White Students 
Abby Haglage, The Daily Beast 
Haglage writes: "In the midst of rising racial tension nationwide, new data on school discipline is bolstering the argument that America's race problem begins in school." 
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Conservative Fault Line: Koch Brothers Giving Trump the Cold Shoulder 
Kenneth P. Vogel and Cate Martel, Politico 
Excerpt: "The Koch brothers are freezing out Donald Trump from their influential political operation - denying him access to their state-of-the-art data and refusing to let him speak to their gatherings of grass-roots activists or major donors." 
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If the ICC Is to Regain Credibility, It Must Investigate Israeli War Crimes in Gaza 
Audrey Bomse and Azadeh Shahshahani, Al Jazeera America 
Excerpt: "In a highly unusual pretrial chamber ruling on July 16, International Criminal Court (ICC) judges reversed a decision by the court's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, not to investigate Israel's assault on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, which left 10 people dead." 
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Portland Icebreaker Protesters Cleared After Judge Fines Greenpeace $2,500 an Hour 
Ellen Brait, Guardian UK 
Brait writes: "Authorities force back kayakers blocking the path of Royal Dutch Shell ship headed to Arctic oil drilling fields." 
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RSN: Martin O'Malley, the Progressive Executive?

Martin O'Malley. (photo: AP)

Martin O'Malley, the Progressive Executive?

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

26 April 15

artin O’Malley: “Well I think that Secretary Clinton and I bring different backgrounds and different experience to the task of getting things done. I have been a big city mayor and I have been a governor. In other words, I’ve been an executive and a progressive executive with a record of accomplishments.”

While I don’t remember O’Malley ever being referred to as a progressive before this presidential run, a close look at his record reveals a politician who has usually come down on the progressive side of the issues. As mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland, he didn’t often have a chance to put himself in the middle of the debate on progressive issues, but when the opportunity presented itself, O’Malley was on the right side. He is no Bernie Sanders – I don’t see O’Malley leading the fight against the billionaire class – but I do see him representing working people’s interests.

 

While O’Malley is right on the issues, he is a savvy politician who will adjust to the political climate.

 

In 2007 he didn’t support Barack Obama or even John Edwards. My guess is O’Malley was positioning himself to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate. He penned an op-ed in the Washington Post with Harold Ford Jr., then the chairman of of the Democratic Leadership Council:

With President Bush and the Republican Party on the rocks, many Democrats think the 2008 election will be, to borrow a favorite GOP phrase, a cakewalk. Some liberals are so confident about Democratic prospects that they contend the centrism that vaulted Democrats to victory in the 1990s no longer matters.

The temptation to ignore the vital center is nothing new. Every four years, in the heat of the nominating process, liberals and conservatives alike dream of a world in which swing voters don’t exist. Some on the left would love to pretend that groups such as the Democratic Leadership Council, the party’s leading centrist voice, aren’t needed anymore.

But for Democrats, taking the center for granted next year would be a greater mistake than ever before. George W. Bush is handing us Democrats our Hoover moment. Independents, swing voters and even some Republicans who haven’t voted our way in more than a decade are willing to hear us out. With an ambitious common-sense agenda, the progressive center has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win back the White House, expand its margins in Congress and build a political and governing majority that could last a generation.”

Usually any involvement with the DLC would be a deal breaker for me, but O’Malley’s record puts him to the left of the DLC. Although he is the kind of politician who tries to be all things to all people, Martin O’Malley is clearly more progressive than he appeared in that column, and since the column didn’t advocate any specific centrist positions, I am willing believe that O’Malley is closer to an Elizabeth Warren than a Harold Ford. But make no mistake, he is still somewhere between Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren – he is not as progressive as Bernie Sanders. Sanders is the true progressive in this race, but if he doesn’t decide to run or his campaign does not gain traction, O’Malley might be the best option for progressives.

 

Why? Let’s start with his record, then look at his stump speech this year.

 

Living Wage

 

After a speech on Tax Day at Harvard University, O’Malley responded to a question from the audience, saying he supports raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He reminded those in attendance that Maryland was one of the first states to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. “It is not fair, it is not right, it is not just that people should play by the rules, work 16-hour days and still be raising their children in poverty,” he said when he signed the bill last April. It was the last piece of a very progressive legislative agenda that O’Malley achieved in his two terms as governor of Maryland. At Harvard last week, O’Malley said that $10.10 an hour was as much as he could get support for in Maryland but that he expects other places, including the District of Columbia, to go to $15 dollars an hour. He said the raise would be “good for the economy and fuel economic growth.”

 

Death Penalty

 

In one of his final acts as governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley commuted the sentences of four death row inmates to life without parole. O’Malley helped end the death penalty in his state in 2013, arguing that it wasn’t a deterrent for criminals. He also argued it could end up being applied to innocent people, and was far more costly to the state than other punishments. When commuting the sentences, O’Malley said: “In the final analysis, there is one truth that stands between and before all of us. That truth is this – few of us would ever wish for our children or grandchildren to kill another human being or to take part in the killing of another human being. The legislature has expressed this truth by abolishing the death penalty in Maryland.”

 

Immigration

 

Martin O’Malley was out front on immigration when he was governor of Maryland. Representative Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), a congressional leader on immigration reform, said this when introducing O’Malley: “There’s another wonderful, wonderful champion of our community, and he’s with us. And I have the distinct honor and pleasure of introducing him. It’s Governor O’Malley. He wasn’t afraid to challenge the president to implement a more humane approach to the refugee crisis. He doesn’t just talk, he walks the walk. His state of Maryland has cared for more unaccompanied children per capita than any other state in the United States of America.”

O’Malley was critical of Obama for deportation of children who illegally crossed the border to escape violence in their own countries, saying they would meet “certain death.” O’Malley also got legislation passed in Maryland to allow tuition assistance for children of undocumented immigrants, and access to driver’s licenses.

 

Marriage Equality

 

In response to the rise of the same-sex marriage movement in the 70s, Maryland established the first law in the United States that expressly defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In 2012, Democrats led by O’Malley began a movement for marriage equality. In February 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill allowing same-sex marriage. It went into effect in January of 2013 after a state referendum ratified the law. O’Malley supported same sex marriage before it was popular. Hillary Clinton was still not prepared to go that far in 2012, and even Obama was still acting like he was opposed. Remember, it was an election year for Obama, who was talked into not supporting same-sex marriage by his handlers so he could get elected.

 

Environment

 

According to an op-ed in Grist: “Environmental protection has been one of O’Malley’s main focuses, from Chesapeake Bay restoration to combating climate change.... O’Malley is the rare elected official who seems genuinely motivated to address climate change. ‘I deal with a lot of politicians in my work as a climate advocate,’ says Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. ‘Martin O’Malley, more than any politician I know, really loses sleep over climate change. He is deeply concerned about climate change and his actions over the last eight years reveal that. He’s pushed the envelope more than anyone I’ve seen.’”

 

Education

 

One of O’Malley’s first acts as governor was to freeze public university tuition. He also dramatically increased funding for school construction. Maryland was ranked #1 in public school education 5 years in a row. While most states were cutting budgets, Maryland increased spending on education during O’Malley’s tenure.

 

Gun Control

 

This can be a very telling issue. Many progressives who are as politically savvy as O’Malley calculate that being pro-gun makes them more electable. Governor Martin O’Malley, however, pushed for and signed one of the toughest gun control measures in the country. Under the legislation, anyone buying a handgun will have to submit fingerprints to obtain a license. The bill also bans 45 types of assault weapons.

 

Jobs

 

Not only did O’Malley spend on education, his spending on the environment and infrastructure allowed Maryland to create jobs at a much higher rate than the national average. O’Malley became governor during the economic crisis in 2007, and because of his spending priorities, Maryland recovered jobs quickly. His opposition to the TPP and support for a $15 minimum wage indicates he will be a pro-labor candidate.

 

Electability

 

While those were the progressive accomplishments, some of his other accomplishments make him a candidate who could appeal to centrists and make him a viable, electable alternative. O’Malley, often called a technocrat, used technology to fight crime and govern both in Baltimore and the governor’s mansion. He expanded that use of technology to other departments in his government. O’Malley’s staff meetings were stat driven, and the result was an efficient, competent government. His CitiStat system helped lower crime in Baltimore by making the police force more efficient. He increased the scope to other city agencies, holding managers publicly accountable for their department’s performance. The result has been a more efficient city government that is a model spreading throughout the country. While statistics are not exciting, I think Americans could appreciate a more efficient government.

 

O’Malley has a strong record to run on, and that record would make him an attractive candidate in the general election. I’m not sure how many Independents will gravitate to Hillary Clinton. O’Malley could attract more interest from that all-important voting block.

 

2016 Campaign

 

O’Malley is clearly staking out the space to the left of Clinton. He would reinstitute Taft Hartley to break up banks he considers to big to succeed. He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, supports raising the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, and rails against student debt and economic inequality. Among the candidates considering a run, I see him as the 2nd most progressive, with Bernie Sanders the most progressive. The question: Is O’Malley more electable than Sanders?

 

Sanders has to overcome the Socialist label, not an easy thing to do in American politics.

 

O’Malley has yet to talk much about foreign policy. Like all of the other Democratic Party candidates, he is pro-Israel. Even Green Party candidate Jill Stein has a very nuanced position on Israel, so it would be a mistake to eliminate O’Malley based on his pro-Israel stance. The O’Malley campaign has plans for foreign policy speeches in the near future.

Martin O’Malley, better known as a technocrat than a progressive, does have a record that indicates he can govern as a progressive.

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Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

 

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.