Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley spent what little speaking time he was given during the fourth Democratic debate Sunday railing against Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street reform plan.
“I have a plan that most commentators have said is tougher, more effective and more comprehensive …” Clinton was telling the NBC News moderators when O’Malley interjected from stage right.
“That’s not true,” he said.
“Yes, it is,” Clinton shot back.
“It bills on the Dodd-Frank regulatory theme, but it goes much further,” she continued. “Both the governor [O’Malley] and the senator [Bernie Sanders] have focused only on the big banks — Lehman brothers, AIG, the shadow banking sector — where its biggest problem is what caused the great recession. I go after them and I can tell you that the hedge fund billionaires who are running ads against me right now … I’m the one they don’t to be up against.”
O’Malley, who’d begged for 10 extra seconds of speaking time just minutes before, immediately responded with a stinging critique of Clinton’s Wall Street ties and reform proposals.
“What Secretary Clinton just said is actually not true,” he began. “I have put forward a plan that would actually put cuffs back on the people of Wall Street. I have put forward a plan that is very comprehensive and realistic.”
The former Maryland governor continued, “Secretary Clinton, I have a tremendous amount of respect for you. But for you to say there’s no daylight on this between the three of us is also not true. I support reinstating a modern version of Glass-Steagall that would include going after the shadow banks, requiring capital requirements that would force them to no longer put us on the hook for these sorts of things.”
“In prior debates, I’ve even heard you bring up President Obama in defense of the fact of your cozy relationship with Wall Street,” he added. “In an earlier debate, I even heard you bring up the Sept. 11 victims to defend it.”
“The truth of the matter is, Secretary Clinton, you do not go as far reigning in Wall Street as I would. And the fact of the matter is, the people of America deserve to have a president that’s on the side of protecting the mainstreet economy from the excesses of Wall Street,” he added, drawing heavy applause from the crowd.
