‘We’re getting our clocks cleaned, economically’: Doug Gansler

Six of seven candidates vying for the Maryland governorship in 2014 spent the morning of April 21 explaining to business and tech leaders why they deserve the votes of the state’s business community.
It was the Gubernatorial Candidates Forum put on by the Tech Council of Maryland. (Only Republican candidate Larry Hogan did not attend the event.)
Technical.ly Baltimore has been posting the main talking points of each candidate who spoke at the two-hour forum in Bethesda, Md., as they relate to their thoughts on the innovation and tech economy in the state. (Find other candidates’ talking points here.)
Up today: Doug Gansler.

• The basics: Democrat and current attorney general of Maryland. It was at this forum that Gansler said, referring to opponent Anthony Brown, “You know his ads are about how he was a lawyer in Iraq, and that’s all fine and good, but this [being governor] is a real job.” (The moment was catalogued by BuzzFeed, a site Gansler is evidently not familiar with.)
• His one-liner: “We’re getting our clocks cleaned, economically.”
• Three points:
  • Gansler said a “Buy Maryland First” policy is needed, as well as tax incentives for companies willing to manufacture in Maryland for at least five years. What do those incentives look like? Two to three years tax-free to the company doing aforementioned manufacturing.
  • He said the corporate income tax rate in Maryland needs to be reduced from 8.25 percent to 6 percent, as it is in Virginia, in order to attract companies.
  • Gansler offered a piece of rhetoric related to Baltimore city when he said, “Bringing people back there is going to be important.”