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Stuff the Comptroller Says

Want to know what Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot really thinks about a subject, all you have to do is wait for him to finish the prepared remarks.

Who can forget Franchot appearing on WBAL Radio the day after the 2012 General Assembly session and calling for Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller to step down or his 2010 visit to the Central Baltimore County Democratic Club and his telling them that Democrats didn't have to spend "every bent dime" the state collected.

The Takoma Park Democrat's frequent off-the-cuff remarks lead one to wonder if he's attempting to channel the spirit of his predecessor, William Donald Schaefer—who also had no problem saying what he thought.

It's in that vein, and that of Justin Halper's Twitter feed about the things his dad says, that I offer you "Stuff the Comptroller says."

On the future popularity of his proposed real-time campaign finance database (watch him use that English Degree from Amherst College):

  • "It will be the cognoscenti at first but I think it will be a broader audience down the road that want their representitives to not engage in the kind of broad-daylight brazen robbery that that three-day special session represented." 

On the General Assembly special session last month:

  • "All of them responded to some dog whistle to come back to Annapolis and do the bidding of the gaming industry. It can't be described as anything in the public interest."

On why he's not running for governor:

  • "Despite everybody kind of pulling at my sleeve saying 'would you take that fiscal message and run.' it's something I'm going to be very cautious about. I'm just speaking frankly. I've got a lot on my plate, frankly. I need the job like a hole in the head."

But then again...

  • But times are tough and my party has not responded in an objective way to the fiscal danger that our state and the country are in...So, chances are I'll probably be dragged into it."

On real-time campaign finance reporting:

  • "It's a disinfectant for the bacteria being injected into the political bloodstream."

On why gambling is bad for Baltimore City and who's to blame:

"They're going to put [a casino] by the football stadium with the kind of economic crisis that exists in that city, the kind of fiscal crisis. To bring in a gambling casino is just about the height of cynicism and I say to my own party 'guys, we can't blame the Republicans for that.'"

Calm down

10:25 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Hard to take the guy seriously. He grandstands in the county for air conditioning in schools when he has no fiscal contribution. He grandstands for on line campaign reporting but won't set the example by posting voluntarily. He rails against gambling but offers no solutions to balance the budget. He has no respect upon those who are in the know. Send this guy back to Montgomery Country!

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Joe

7:54 am on Thursday, September 20, 2012

One Democrat I could vote for for Governor. He seems to be the only Democrat in the state who even thinks about spending and how it must be lowered.

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Buck Harmon

8:51 am on Thursday, September 20, 2012

I like the William Donald Schaefer comparison...

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jnrentz1

3:47 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012

Will there ever be table gambling in Montgomery County?

If so, when, and where?

If not, why not?

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RARE MARYLAND INDEPENDENT

10:04 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012

He also tried to trade Martin O'Malley for a politician to be named later. Unfortunately it did not work.

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Len Foxwell

10:57 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012

It should be obvious by now, to anyone who reads on a regular basis, that "Calm Down" is merely a Baltimore County political operative who remains embarrassed and personally insulted that Comptroller Franchot continues to advocate on behalf of air conditioning in all of the county's public schools. Not entirely sure who it is, because he doesn't have the guts to post with his own name, but his lousy spelling and grammar would suggest that he wasn't educated in Baltimore County's fine school system. I suspect, however, that his own air conditioning is working just fine and that his little office is cool and comfortable.

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