Appropriations and financing debt are two different things.–Vaughn Golden

They’re not two different things.–Rep. Molinaro

The speaker is made clear to the President that we’re not taking up what you what the world refers to as a clean bill.–Rep. Molinaro

Vaughn Golden interviewed Rep. Molinaro (NY-19) for WSKG on Feb. 13, 2023. At one point in the interview, Golden asked:

And, real briefly, what are some areas do you think you could find some bipartisan support for for cuts to include in a debt ceiling negotiation?

Molinaro replied:

Yeah, you use the term that that I have hesitated to use from the day I became a village mayor. And the reason I say this is that the you say cuts, I say efficiencies, they are very different things. I came into office as a County Executive some years ago. I had a $40 million budget gap, and I was most people told me, you’re gonna have to cut stuff. And thank God, I didn’t take that approach. And I don’t think the president should start there either. There are real efficiencies that need to be taken. And to your point earlier about, you know, the debt ceiling conversation is about debt already accumulated. That is true. And so my point is, we need a roadmap that gets us to a balanced budget, the way you do that is by demanding greater efficiency, effective delivery measurements of the outcomes, how do we spend dollars? Are we effectively doing that? If there is a commitment to that kind of roadmap, meaning over the next 10 years, there’s a commitment to showing that we’re going to rein in waste and abuse like the unemployment insurance fraud that occurred in New York State $10 or $11 billion of spending that we can’t account for if there’s an honest effort to justify the use of taxpayer money for certain programs and real measurement tools to decide whether or not we’re getting outcomes we safe to say we are. That is that’s what gets us to balanced budget. And it’s what gets us to a more effective and efficient government. That’s my focus. Having been an executive the President is obligated like it or not to come to the table with that kind of roadmap. And he’ll find people like me and others willing to come to the table, to have that conversation and hopefully to come to agreement.

My take on this:

• Cuts aren’t cuts, if called efficiencies.
• Don’t be fooled: politicians often have a narrow definition of spending cut.
• “Balanced budget” is a talking point, generally neither possible nor desirable.
• “Waste and abuse” is a talking point, waste is not easily identified and reduced.
• Don’t be fooled: politicians often have a broad definition of waste.
• If Congress knows how to promote efficiency and measure outcomes, let them legislate that.
• Rep. Molinaro and others might discuss a reasonable agreement, but certain others would not.
• The President isn’t obligated to accept Rep. Molinaro’s roadmap.
• It is the duty of Congress to pay the bills, which means raising or repealing the debt ceiling without condition.

This was an interesting and informative interview, which covered a wide range of issues.