Franchot tells county Dems to learn to love penny-pinching
Comptroller Peter Franchot came to Towson last week, preaching the gospel of penny-pinching in a place even he seemed to think was a bit odd — a Democratic club meeting.
Franchot spoke to about 50 attendees of the Central Baltimore County Democratic Club last Tuesday and compared the economy to a blizzard.
“The snow has stopped falling, but there’s 10 feet outside and it’s going to take a while to dig out,” Franchot said, adding that the possibility of new taxes to support state spending is slim to none until the economy rebounds.
“As Democrats, we have to reform state spending,” Franchot said. “A lot of Democrats look at me like, ‘What’s that?’ Like they took an oath to defend every last dime of spending in public programs.”
The message was interesting coming from Franchot. Before being elected comptroller in 2006, he spent 20 years in the House of Delegates as a liberal Democrat from Montgomery County and established a reputation as a progressive voice in the General Assembly.
Franchot said less spending is unavoidable because “the economic calamity has changed consumer spending habits,” resulting in less tax revenue for the foreseeable future.
“We simply have to accommodate it because there’s no way to change it,” Franchot said.
In addition to a projected $2 billion budget shortfall for the 2011 budget year, Franchot said ongoing expenses paid for with one-time federal stimulus money will increase pressure on the state budget.
“We’re going to have big problems with that,” Franchot warned.
Previous budget deficits, including one this year that required Gov. Martin O’Malley to cut $780 million and furlough 67,000 state employees, “have been papered over under Republicans and Democrats.”
Franchot said Democrats need to embrace a new mindset.
“Better performance, better results, less money,” Franchot said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. We’re not talking about a heavy-handed, thoughtless approach (to the budget). We’re not like that.
“This idea that successful programs are defined by Democrats as spending money is just wrong. We can learn to live within our means, pinch pennies and learn to like the private sector.”
But don’t sign up Franchot for a change of party registration. The consummate politician remembered to whom he was speaking and took a swing at Republicans.
“Thank God for the Republicans,” Franchot said. “No matter what the state of the Democratic party is, we’re always rewarded by the incompetence of the Republicans, and it looks like this year won’t be any different.”