O'Malley Calls GOP Ideas On Inequality 'Patently Bullshit'—And Fundraises Off It

Source: TPM

Martin O'Malley is exploring an innovative tactic in seeking to establish himself as the progressive alternative to Hillary Clinton: cursing at Republican ideas.

The potential Democratic presidential candidate appeared in an NPR interview over the weekend and declared that claims by Republicans that government regulations worsen income inequality were "patently bullshit."

"Our tax code's been turned into Swiss cheese and certainly the concentrated wealth and the accumulated power and the systematic deregulation of Wall Street has led to this situation where the economy isn't working for most of us. All of that is true. But it is not true that regulation holds poor people down or regulation keeps the middle class from advancing. That's kind of patently bullshit," he said.

On Monday he doubled down in a fundraising email titled, "Yeah, I said it." The email linked to the NPR interview. "So stand with me and tell Republicans to cut the bull," he wrote, before asking for a donation. In one example of what O'Malley was referring to, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told CBS' 60 Minutes in January that "frankly, the president's policies have made income inequality worse. All the regulations that are coming out of Washington make it more difficult for employers to hire more people."

O'Malley, a former governor of Maryland, appears interested in a run but he's struggling in early Democratic primary polls, garnering between 0 and 3 percent over the last month. (Clinton is towering over the field, pulling between the mid 50s and high 60s.) He has said he'll decide in May.

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