As Bob Ehrlich continues his extended flirtation with a possible run for Governor, it’s important that the public take a good hard look at what he’s been up to for the last four years. He’s worked as a self-described “rain-maker” for a big North Carolina law firm, and he’s worked as a paid pundit and talk show host in Baltimore. Unfortunately, it appears he may be illegally using his media appearances to help make money for his firm.
Yesterday, the Maryland Democratic Party submitted to the Federal Communications Commission a request for investigation of FOX 45 TV and Robert Ehrlich, Jr., for violations of the FCC’s “Payola Rules.”
In 2009, Ehrlich was paid to promote the position of one of his clients on a highly controversial issue in Maryland: the awarding of a license for a slots machine facility. Mr. Ehrlich promoted that position in the course of a broadcast program on which he regularly appears on WBFF-Fox 45 TV, in Baltimore, Maryland. However, there was no disclosure at all to viewers, either by Mr. Ehrlich or by the station, of the payment made to Mr. Ehrlich to promote his client’s position in the broadcast.
Federal Communications Commission payola rules require he disclose his firm’s interests to avoid the appearance of neutrality, which clearly did not exist. Mr. Ehrlich clearly did not disclose this conflict during the broadcast.
When initially questioned about the complaint, Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said that our “allegations didn’t deserve the dignity of a response,” but later admitted he didn’t know whether they had disclosed that Ehrlich had a financial stake before pushing his client’s position.
Meanwhile, FOX 45 TV is “looking into it” and has indicated that its findings would be aired on the station.
Ehrlich needs to answer whether he put his firm’s financial gain ahead of the public trust. If he didn’t violate FCC rules, he needs to tell us that. If he did violate FCC rules, he needs to own up to it. What is he hiding? What does he know that he is refusing to share with the people of Maryland? Are there other instances where he promoted clients over the airwaves without properly disclosing the relationship?
It’s inappropriate for Bob Ehrlich to use his regular appearances on television and radio to promote his firm’s clients. It violates the public trust; and as a former public official, he should know better.
As he seeks to re-enter public life and seek public office, Bob Ehrlich needs to come clean about his questionable and possibly illegal activity.
Ehrlich Radio: We listen so you don't have to.
Is Bob Ehrlich “going rogue?” After months of stoking attention by publicly waffling over a potential gubernatorial run, the talk show host and self-styled political celebrity disclosed on his radio show Saturday that he may instead challenge popular Senator Barbara Mikulski. No doubt surprising Republicans who have been listening for months to his “Will I or Won’t I” Hamlet act of possibly running again for governor, Ehrlich this past weekend called a U. S. Senate candidacy a possibility, saying it is “something that certainly is an option out there for me.”
In fact, the former governor bashed Mikulski before his wife chimed in that, “It’s gonna be real fun to challenge her.” (Unedited transcript of full exchange at the end of this post).
We don’t know what Ehrlich’s focus groups are telling him as he goes office (or just attention) shopping, but his comments got us thinking: What sort of Senator would Ehrlich make?
We can take some clues from Ehrlich’s last stint in Washington, when then-Congressman Ehrlich was a self-proclaimed right-wing disciple of Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich and other discredited GOP leaders, voting against education and environmental measures.
And, despite his claims of fiscal conservatism, Ehrlich voted for George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy and voted to increase the national debt limit by hundreds of billions of dollars.
“Will I or Won’t I” Ehrlich also:
- Voted to eliminate the Department of Education
- Opposed minimum wage increases, but voted to increase his own pay
- Received a 15% rating from the League of Conservation Voters and a zero percent rating from the American Wilderness Coalition
- Voted to eliminate grants for more cops on the streets
- Voted with George W. Bush and the Republican Party 90 percent of the time
It’s not the best record on which to run against Barbara Mikulski or anybody for that matter. Maybe that explains why any Ehrlich Senate candidacy would be marked by negative and personal attacks against Senator Mikulski (even though, we’d point out, those didn’t work so well for Mikulski’s previous opponents). Come to think of it, any Ehrlich candidacy for anything is bound to be highly personal and negative.
Transcript below:
Caller: I volunteered for you in Howard County both times when you ran for governor, and volunteering again for you to run for Senate. Because I personally think that the winds of change in this country are such that … the expertise and your insight and experience [unintelligible] back in Washington because I personally think the winds of change are greater in Washington. And my thoughts on that are that, if you were the senator — to challenge Sen. Mikulski, who is in bed with ACORN and other nefarious groups, then her ability to be able to effect legislation in Washington which can bring the hammer down on Maryland, in some respect, because right now being able to effect change in Maryland is very difficult for Sen. Kittleman and Del. O’Donnell and I’m going to hang up and listen.
Ehrlich: Wow. I’ll just say this, thank you for the kind words … We’ve kept all options open, and that’s where we are. And all options are open. Sen. Mikulski’s pretty popular, her voting record is dismal. And we see each other from time to time, and we’re respectful. We disagree on just about everything –
Kendel: Not lately. She’s been in real hiding lately.
Ehrlich: Well we haven’t seen her lately, but we do see her, obviously, from time to time, and we see Sen. Cardin as well. I just wish we had more balance in our representation in the U.S. Senate. You always know where our senators are going to be, always, and I think even my detractors in congress, when I was in congress, sometimes they were surprised. And I think it’s a little disquieting to always know where your senators are going to be, and just about every time they’re wrong. So, in any event, that’s where we are.
…
Caller: I just want to second the motion from the gentleman from Howard County that I would love for you to run for Senate instead of governor. I think that Sen. Mikulski is an old pompous windbag who is out of touch with the people of Maryland. And you bring fresh and enthusiastic ideas, you have good common sense to you, and that you would serve the country and the state better by running for Senate and getting us some help over there in DC. And I think this is the time to do it, with the way the tide is turning. And I will hang up and listen to your response.
Kendel: There you go.
Ehrlich: Thank you, Cathy. That’s my cousin, by the way. No. (Laughs) Cathy, thank you for calling. We do need a new voice, obviously, from the Senate in Maryland, the United States Senate, we deserve better than this, and it’s something that certainly is an option out there for me. It’s a difficult race, obviously Sen. Mikulski is pretty popular. She certainly goes out of her way to try to pound us every election cycle, and she appears — she thinks she has a safe seat, and as Kendel–
Kendel: It’s gonna be real fun to challenge her.
Ehrlich: As Kendel earlier stated, this is an environment without consequences, when politicians — and there are some safe Democratic seats in the legislature, some safe Republican seats, it works both ways, everybody, but the fact of it is, when you have a U.S. Senate seat and you think you’re safe, your voting record gets to be what hers looks like and it’s pretty dismal as far as I’m concerned.
Recently, Ehrlich has taken to being hostile towards the middle class. For example, on the November 28 show, Ehrlich came out in support of a massive new tax on the middle class, endorsing a health care plan offered by conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer. A key part of the plan is imposing a tax on employer-provided health insurance. Krauthammer estimates that this would be a $250 billion tax increase. While others have slammed this proposal for its impact on working Americans, Ehrlich posted the column on his website and told listeners, “Please read this Krauthammer piece, everybody, it’s just fantastic. He is the best writer on the right today.”
Since Ehrlich is the de facto head of the Maryland Republican Party, we wonder if the GOP’s announced gubernatorial candidates, Larry Hogan and Pat McDonough also support this tax increase. They should publicly state a position, now, as Ehrlich has boldly done, so the people of Maryland know where they stand.
Then, this week, Ehrlich came out against helping middle class consumers get access to credit, even when told by another WBAL host that the lack of credit was hurting the economy. Ehrlich also acted as a cheerleader for the recession, declaring that he was “not buying” good economic news:
Brian Kroneberger (host, Financial Hour, previewing his show, which follows the Ehrlichs): We’re going to walk through mixed signals in the economy. We had a better jobs report but the service sector, the manufacturing sector slipped a little bit–
Bob Ehrlich: I’m not buying it, Kroney.
Kendel Ehrlich: Any consumer reports yet on big Thanksgiving weekend?
Kroneberger: November retail sales a little bit lower, uh, than last year’s numbers –
Bob Ehrlich: People showing up but spending less, right?
Kroneberger: They’re showing up, spending less, frugal consumers, but you know –
Ehrlich: Sales, right?
Kroneberger: Credit. Credit cards have just basically taken — if you’re not a worthy consumer in their eyes by the numbers, right? You make ‘em bring down your interest rates and give you plenty of time to pay your bill, well they’ve fought back now and they’ve basically said, “You know what? The heck with it. Anybody that we think is not gonna pay us back, just purely by numbers, we’re gonna just take away their credit line.” And so you’ve got people out there, especially low and moderate income, people who have jobs, they don’t have credit anymore, so it’s going to be very difficult. So everybody down in Washington — Governor, you know this better than everybody — you know, “Go get the mean banks,” right –
Bob Ehrlich: Congress always overreacts. They always overreact. Always.
Kroneberger: But they’re coming back and saying, “You don’t have the credit line.” So that is certainly a negative economic sign.
So, Larry and Pat — who’s side are you on? Do you agree with Bob?
