Martin O`Malley in ABC News N.H. Democratic Debate
On Budget & Economy:
Fix is neither socialism nor crony capitalism
Q: How important a role should corporate America play in a healthy economy?CLINTON: I want to be the president for the striving AND the successful. But I want to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share,
SANDERS: The greed of Wall Street is
destroying this economy. We have got to break the large financial institutions up.
O'MALLEY: I look at our economy as an ecosystem. And the fact of the matter is that the more fully people participate, the more our workers earn, the more they will
spend, the more our economy will grow. And most heads of businesses--large, medium and small--understand that. But there is a better way forward than either of those offered by my two opponents here on this stage. We're not going to fix what ails
our economy, we're not going to make wages go up for everyone by either trying to replace American capitalism with socialism, nor will we fix it by submitting to sort of Wall Street-directed crony capitalism.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Crime:
Policing the police: more transparency on use of force
There is no issue that I have worked on more than this painful issue of policing law enforcement. When I ran for mayor of Baltimore, our city had become the most violent and abandoned in America. I brought people together, and we were able to put our
city on the path for the biggest reduction in crime of any major city. There wasn't a single day that I wasn't asked whether I was delivering on the promise I made to police the police. We reported excessive force, discourtesy, use of lethal force.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Drugs:
Opioid addiction crisis comes from over-prescribing
I expanded drug treatment funding within our city and then I expanded it in our state, and we were saving lives doing the things that work, intervening earlier, understanding the care that's required until we got
hit with this opioid addiction, the over-prescribing. I have put forward $12 billion federal investment. We have to invest in local partnerships, and the best place to intervene is at the hospital.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Education:
Income-based college loan repayment plan for all students
Q: Senator, you want free tuition for public colleges. Doesn't that just shift the cost to taxpayers?SANDERS: We have some colleges and universities that are spending a huge amount of money on fancy dormitories and on giant football stadiums. Maybe
we should focus on quality education with well-paid faculty members [instead of] vice presidents who earn a big salary.
Q: Governor, how do you propose lowering some of these costs?
O'MALLEY: My plan actually goes further than Senator Sanders'
because a big chunk of the cost is actually room and board and books and fees. So as a nation we need to increase what we invest in Pell grants. Yes, we need to make it easier for parents to refinance. I propose a block grant program that will keep the
states in the game as well. I believe that all of our kids should go into an income-based repayment plan. There're families all across America who aren't able to contribute to our economy because of this crushing student loan.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Families & Children:
Universal national service option, to cut youth employment
Q: What do you propose for the middle class?O'MALLEY: [In Maryland] we actually passed a living wage. We raised the minimum wage. We were the only state in American that went four years in a row without a penny increase in college tuition. We invested
more in our infrastructure and we squared our shoulders to the great business opportunity of this era and that is moving our economy to a 100 percent clean electric energy future. The conclusion of all of those things is this: they weren't hopes, they
weren't dreams, they weren't amorphous goals out there. We actually took action to do these things and as president, I have put forward 15 strategic goals that will make wages go up again for all American families. Universal national service is an option
for every kid in America to cut youth employment. And I'm the only candidate on this stage to put forward a new agenda for America's cities so we can employ more people in the heart of great American cities and get them back to work.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Foreign Policy:
Leave Cold War mentality to the older generation
May I offer a different generation's perspective on this? During the Cold War, we got into a bad habit of always looking to see who was wearing the jersey of the communists, and who was wearing the U.S. jersey. We got into a bad habit of creating big
bureaucracies, old methodologies, to undermine regimes that were not friendly to the United States. Look what we did in Iran with Mosaddegh. And look at the results that we're still dealing with because of that. I would suggest to you that we need to
leave the Cold War behind us, and we need to put together new alliances and new approaches to dealing with this. I know Secretary Clinton was gleeful when Gadhafi was torn apart. And the world, no doubt is a better place without him. But look, we didn't
know what was happening next. And we fell into the same trap with Assad, as if it's our job to say, "Assad must go." We have a role to play in this world. But we need to leave the Cold War and that sort of antiquated thinking behind.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Foreign Policy:
Make USAID a cabinet agency, to get more intel
We have invested nowhere near what we should be investing in human intelligence on the ground. I'm talking about diplomatic intelligence. We do our military a disservice when we don't greatly dial up the investment that we are making in diplomacy and
humint [human intelligence]. As president, I would make the administrator of USAID an actual cabinet member. We have to act in a much more whole of government approach.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Gun Control:
We need more principle, not more polls
Senator Sanders voted against the Brady Bill. Senator Sanders voted to give immunity to gun dealers. Secretary Clinton changes her position on this every election year. What we need on this issue is not more polls. We need more principle.
When ISIL does videos that say the easiest way to get a combat assault weapon in the US is at a gun show, we should all be waking up. We need comprehensive gun safety legislation and a ban on assault weapons.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Gun Control:
FactCheck: Yes, ISIL made videos on buying assault weapons
Gov. O'Malley said, "When ISIL does training videos that say the easiest way to get a combat assault weapon in the U.S. is at a gun show, then we should all be waking up. We need comprehensive gun safety legislation and a ban on assault weapons." Is that
literally true?We checked, and it is, according to a CNN article from April 2013: "A video from 2011 has resurfaced showing American-born al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn discussing how easy it is to buy guns in the US & urging fellow radicals to do so.
In the video, the California-raised Gadahn said militants should arm themselves for attacks on Western governments. Gadahn says, "You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle,
without a background check. So what are you waiting for?"
O'Malley cited ISIL, and the video was actually made by al Qaeda, but the governor got the basics right. But the video is incorrect: a background check is actually needed.
Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on 2015 ABC/WMUR Dem. debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Homeland Security:
We need to collect and share more intelligence
We have a lack of investment over these last 15 years in intelligence gathering, intelligence analysis, intelligence sharing. Not only in Syria and Iraq, but here in the homeland. I believe that what's happened here is that the president had us on the
right course, but it's a lack of battle tempo. We have to bring a modern way of getting things done and forcing the sharing of information and do a much better job of acting on it in order to prevent these sorts of attacks in the future.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Homeland Security:
Stop creating safe havens where ISIS can flourish
We have not made the investments we need to make to have relationships with future leaders. Now what we have is a whole stretch of the coast of Libya, 100 miles, 150 miles, that has now become potentially the next safe haven for ISIL.
They go back and forth between Syria and this region. We have to stop contributing to the creation of vacuums that allow safe havens to develop.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Homeland Security:
Do not turn to unscrupulous leaders in times of fear
What our nation needs right now is to realize that, while we face a terrible danger, we also face a different sort of political danger. And that is the danger that democracies find themselves susceptible
to when unscrupulous leaders try to turn us upon each other. What our country needs right now is new leadership that will bring us together around the values that unite us and the freedoms that we share as Americans.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Immigration:
Accept 65,000 Syrians now, and more later if needed
Q: Gov. Maggie Hassan [D-NH] says, "we should halt acceptance of Syrian refugees until U.S. authorities can assure the vetting process, halt Syrian refugees." Is she wrong?O'MALLEY: No, what I would say is this is: I called for America to accept the
65,000 refugees we were asked to accept. And if this humanitarian crisis increases, we should accept more.
Q: So the idea of a halt or a pause?
O'MALLEY: There are wider vulnerabilities than when it comes to refugees. I met recently with some members
of the and the wait times are a year, 18 months, 24 months. There is a pretty excruciating process that refugees go through. We need to invest more in terms of the other sort of visas and the other sort of waivers. The sort of genocide and brutality that
victims like the Chaldean Christian communities are suffering, these are not the perpetrators. We need to be the nation whose enduring symbol is the Statue of Liberty, and we need to act like the great country we are, according to our values.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Dem. debate in N.H. on Syrian Refugee crisis
Dec 19, 2015
On Principles & Values:
Don't give up our freedoms for a promise of security
We should never give up our privacy or our freedoms in exchange for a promise of security. We need to figure this out together. We need to speak to what unites us as a people; freedom of worship, freedom of religion, freedom of expression.
We should never be convinced to give up those freedoms in exchange for a promise of greater security; especially from someone as untried and as incompetent as Donald Trump.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On Tax Reform:
Tax capital gains the same as normal income
There's one entitlement we can no longer afford, and that is those earning more than a million dollars feel they're entitled to pay a lower tax rate on capital gains. If we were to raise the marginal rate to 45 percent for people earning more than a
million dollars and if we tax capital gains the same we do earnings from hard work, you could generate $800 billion over the next ten years and that would do so much good for affordable college, debt-free college, investing in our cities.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
On War & Peace:
Constitution doesn't let us say when dictators must go
Q: What's your proposal for what comes after Assad?O'MALLEY: I believe that we need to focus on destroying ISIL. That is the clear and present danger. And I believe that we can springboard off of this new U.N. resolution; there should be a political
process. But we shouldn't be the ones declaring that Assad must go. Where did it ever say in the Constitution, where is it written that it's the job of the United States of America or its secretary of State to determine when dictators have to go?
We have a role to play in this world. But it is not the role of traveling the world looking for new monsters to destroy.
CLINTON: Assad has killed, by last count, about 250,000 Syrians. The reason we are in the mess we're in, that ISIS has the
territory it has, is because of Assad. I advocated arming the moderate opposition back in the day when I was still secretary of State, because I worried we would end up exactly where we are now.
SANDERS: The US is not the policeman of the world.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Dec 19, 2015
Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018