Quotes of the week
As we roll into the third-to-last weekend before Election Day, here are some of our favorite quotes from the week in Maryland Politics:
-- An exchange at the Board of Public Works: "I think we can all agree we'll be better off with slots revenue than without it," said Gov. Martin O'Malley.
"Want to take a vote on that?" replied Comptroller Peter Franchot.
-- "We've got to go out and do this, huh?" O'Malley, breaking a silent pause at a conference table before heading into a public room to propose and vote on $300 million in state budget cuts.
-- "I always appreciate a history lesson on previous votes," Franchot, in response to an unusually sharp retort from Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp.
Talking about how legislative decisions in the past decade to cut the state income tax and beef up education spending have cause long-term problems, Kopp said the Franchot, a former delegate: "Perhaps this was not what you had in mind when you voted for them."
-- "Blatantly and intentionally lying to voters speaks to a profound lack of personal integrity and makes Andy Harris completely unfit for the office he’s seeking.” Kevin Lawlor, a spokesman for Democrat Frank Kratovil, attacking a Harris ad in the 1st District congressional race based on a misquote.
-- "This was Kratovil's 'macacca' moment and he is going to have to answer to voters for it." Harris campaign manager Chris Meekins, refusing to back down from using the Kratovil quote on whether Congress's vote on a $700 billion bailout package "solved" an immediate crisis but not an underlying problem.
